Raise the Hammer

Undustrial;

This response is definitely off topic but I think your point about "globalization" is an important one and deserves some feeback.

I cannot deny the fact that my company has an office in Hong Kong and an assembly facility in the PRC. As the article you pointed out clearly indicated we were essentially driven there by our largest customers. It is also true that our head office is here in Burlington where we employ approximately 110 people and at our pre recession peak almost 150. Here in Canada we produce about 6 Million electronic products annually destined for customers primarily in the U.S., Mexico, Sweden, Germany, Luxembourg, Great Britain and yes, China. There are several items that are produced in Canada and exported for consumption by companies in China. This is due to the superior quality and technology that we can provide from Canada. Sadly, only a small portion of what we produce is for manufacturers in Canada as most of these industries have left. The feeling that you have regarding globalization is probably felt by many individuals in the countries that we serve. In China, they produce less than 2 million products for Germany, Israel, Australia, Sweden and the U.S. but very little for domestic consumption.

This month our facility in Burlington begins high volume production of a new product fo a new customer that was previously produced in Taiwan. I guess you could say this was globalization in reverse!

The industry that we are in was decimated by the recession and we survived with strong management and adherence to our long term strategic plans. This is a concept that we seem to consistently abandon at the municipal level. The City of Hamilton routinely violates sound principles such as Vision 2020 for the latest "big bang theory". The aerotropolis is just another example.

I encourage you to visit our website and learn more about our Canadian operations and would be happy to communicate with you off line to discuss this further.

M. Desnoyers