28.09.2007 | Christian Cahn von Seelen

Manufacturing Location Germany - Return of the Repentant, 2nd Edition

A recent article in the German news weekly Spiegel strongly supports PQ+' view of the underestimated hidden cost of a relocation of manufacturing. Based on a study by the renowned Fraunhofer Institute for System and Innovation Studies, based in Karlsruhe, a full return of specifically SME companies is currently under way.

More than 3.500 SME companies have pulled back their produciton to Germany since the turn of the Millenium. In a two year timeframe, 1.200 out of 6.500 attempted relocations to abroad in the chemical and metal industry failed entirely. Similar thoughts have been presented by PQ+ on various occasions, lastly in our presentation Manufacturing in Germany - A Renaissance, held on the occasion of an SME conference.

As additional evidence the Spiegel cites various multinationals, having newly established manufacturing (e.g. Rolls-Royce) or science and technology centers (Hyundai, Honda, Panasonic and others) in Germany.

The general high performance and the continous potential for process innovation do make Germany an ever more attractive location in the growing Euopean Union.

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