United Technologies says overseas factories are essential

Manufacturing & Technology News, May 2, 2003

Building components overseas is essential for the survival of America's largest corporations, says United Technologies Corp. senior vice president of science and technology John Cassidy. Speaking at the National Academy of Sciences recent meeting on the future of manufacturing, Cassidy pointed out that the direct labor rate in the United States is $30 an hour. In Japan and throughout most of Europe, it's $24 per hour. By comparison, it's $4 per hour in Mexico; $3 in Eastern Europe; $2 in China and $1 in India.

UTC's Pratt & Whitney division has opened a plant in Rzeszow, Poland, that is able to produce a bevel gear for the cost of $256. The same gear made in the United States cost $921. "Can you tell the difference" between them? he asked the audience upon showing a slide of the two identical gears side-by-side. The only difference was the number on the price tag.