global

Global parts procurement presents challenges to any product designer. If a component is sourced from multiple suppliers, how do you keep track of these suppliers from initial design to production, especially in a global manufacturing environment where products are made in multiple locations? Do you really have the right manufacturing and process controls to manage such an environment? The unit submitted to a certified test facility had a specific supplier but is there assurance that other suppliers will perform the same during testing? If not watched carefully, these variables could wreak havoc with product certification and regulators worldwide.

Standards are increasingly important in our modern global economy – supply chains can be dizzyingly complex, and implementing the economic theory of comparative advantage has been more and more possible as the relative cost of transportation has declined over the years. Since the 1890s, the United States has been the world’s top manufacturing country. The world continues to change. Recently it was reported that China surpassed Japan as the second largest economy, and it is estimated that China will soon surpass the United States.