I Visit China!

I have just returned from visiting a major audio loudspeaker manufacturer in Huizhou, China (north of Hong Kong). What an adventure!

It was interesting to see first hand how the audio manufacturing capability that once resided in the Canada and Europe, (especially Denmark) has been moved offshore to China over the past ten years. Sad thing is, once the production of these components is moved overseas, the knowledge of how to make these products goes with it as well.

I was over there because Chinese companies have been hiring audio design engineers from Europe and Canada to supplement and work with their local engineering teams to offer their OEM customers (located in North America and Europe) complete turnkey engineering system design and manufacturing capabilities.

So most of the audio brands we now see in the stores are conceived by marketing departments and industrial designers in the West and then subcontracted to be engineered and manufactured by OEMs in the Far East, therefore less and less work for audio engineers like me in Canada!

It was exciting to be in China especially southern China, which is experiencing a high tech boom, as companies from the West seek higher margins and lower unit costs for their products. Unfortunately, it comes at the expense of low wages for the factory workers and a very high toll on the environment. The air is very polluted and citizens wear masks and keep their children indoors on bad days when the air is thick with a haze of black soot.

We did, however, note some of the advantages of central planning in the beautiful government square and parks and gardens located in the downtown core of Danshui. No doubt the pollution problems will be improved quickly when the central planners decide this has become a high priority. But for now, the cars and factories are taking a toll on the environment and heath of the local citizens.