How Should We Fight In The Battle Of Manufacturing Industry?

Gary Pisano, a small business administration professor at Harvard Business School, and Julio Buchuni, a researcher from Venice University (Giulio Buciuni), published his work paper in 2015: can Marshall's cluster survive in a globalized environment? It answers the question of the success or failure of industrial clusters. (Pisano)

In recent years, some economists believe that manufacturing clusters are withering away, because the importance of geographic location for business success has diminished.

In today's

In order to develop, build and sell products, enterprises have a variety of procurement options.

In order to study this subject, Professor Pisano and Mr Bu Qiu Ni explored 4 industrial clusters in northeastern Italy.

"Italy is a very suitable research object.

Because of historical origin, the industrial clusters distributed around these specific areas all over the country.

Each region is associated with a particular industry.

"Pisano said.

Cluster is not a new concept.

As early as the early twentieth Century, Alfred Marshall (Alfred Marshall) began to study this concept in Britain and called it an industrial area.

From the wine making industry in northern California to the automobile manufacturing industry in Detroit, manufacturing clusters can appear in any region or any industry.

At the same time, it is easier to establish clusters with abundant natural resources, well educated labor force, and a university or other research institution.

In the face of this theory of "cluster extinction", Professor Pisano and Mr Bu Chung decided to find out.

"I think people's general idea is right. Now that the market is globalized, we no longer need industrial clusters."

Professor Pisano said.

"And we have come to the conclusion that we need to analyze the situation in detail, which is neither black nor white."

They studied 4 clusters of different destinies on the spot.

Among them, the two industrial clusters of sports shoes and wooden chairs are on the decline and high-end.

And the two industrial clusters of furniture not only survived but also thrived.

The two shoe industry clusters studied are only 50 kilometers apart, but their development is quite different.

The sports shoe industry cluster in Montebelluna is traceable to the early nineteenth Century when local artisans made mountaineering shoes.

Later, the industrial cluster expanded its production of ski boots and sports shoes and attracted the investment of big brands such as Nordica (Nordica) and Nike (Nike).

As the number of employees employed in the production process is huge and most of the technology is not needed, leading enterprises are beginning to outsource production to Romania and China, which are relatively cheap.

To separate the company's R & D and production business.

They developed soles, molds and other components that can be shipped to all parts of the world.

As a result, the number of local staff dropped by 15% between 2006 and 2012.

"In some cases, you do not need to be adjacent to the production base.

Examples of ski boots illustrate this point.

Once you have made the mold, the boots can be produced around the world, "Professor Pisano said.

The industry cluster of women's shoes also sprouted in the early nineteenth Century, when the production of leather shoes began in the Riviera del Brenta area.

While maintaining local production, the industrial cluster has continuously increased investment in R & D and design.

Today, the world's 90% high-end shoes priced at more than $500 are produced in the region.

The success of clusters depends largely on whether leading enterprises can play the role of Pisano as a knowledge integrator.

Knowledge integrators must be rooted in the local market, but at the same time they need to be able to enter the global market.

It is a bridge connecting two worlds, helping the cluster to maintain its competitive advantage.

The skilled workers from the tower area can convert the sketches of international designers into prototype templates, thus promoting local suppliers to continuously improve their production capacity.