Editor's Note: Green=$
Aug/Sep 08
![](https://cdn9.areadevelopment.com/article_images/id99189_greenware.gif)
Environmentally responsible businesses that started to think "green" years ago are also shifting their efforts into high gear. They're looking for energy savings in their manufacturing operations and facilities, as well as in their sourcing of materials and distribution of products. This may, in turn, lead to a change in the globalization of their businesses.
Does lowering wage costs by manufacturing in Asia really pay now that costs to transport goods back to the United States have dramatically increased? Some furniture-makers are among those who've answered "no" to that question; they're moving their manufacturing operations back to places like Virginia and North Carolina - states hard hit by the outsourcing of production to China. Other businesses are also tightening their supply chains, as the cost of shipping a 40-foot container from Shanghai to the United States has gone from $3,000 to $8,000 over the last decade.
We further explore these concerns in this issue in an article about the importance of proximity to markets in the location decision ("Who Needs - or Wants - to be Near the Consumer?") as well as in our cover story this month, "Green(Ware)House Effect." As noted by Chris Steele of Transystems, "A distribution strategy that reduces a company's carbon footprint because of efforts to use less fuel has been embraced by environmentalists and accountants alike." And Rick Underwood of APL Logistics agrees, saying that centrally located distribution centers are equally attractive from a cost-cutting as well as reduced carbon footprint perspective.
Also, according to a recent study conducted by IDI, a global provider of market intelligence advisory services, small and mid-size companies are seeking:
• Manufacturing applications that support and sustain renewable production processes;
• Warehouse/distribution applications that streamline and improve inventory management; and
• Mobile-enable applications that help suppliers, manufacturers, wholesalers, and distributors to use energy-conservation devices.
It seems that industry's buzzword has shifted from "globalization" to "green," and all cost-cutting measures, which coincidentally reduce a company's carbon footprint, are being labeled as such. There's just one problem with this strategy: If and when cost issues become less of an imperative (although that seems improbable for the foreseeable future), will "green" measures be discounted? If businesses and individuals are really serious about our commitment to reducing our carbon footprint, then we must all continue to think "green" for green's sake.
Project Announcements
PEAK Precision Manufacturing Plans Bowling Green, Kentucky, Operations
07/26/2024
Italy-Based Sipcam Agro USA Upgrades Wayne County, Mississippi, Operations
07/26/2024
Cleveland-Cliffs Plans Weirton, West Virginia, Operations
07/26/2024
IDEXX Laboratories Plans Wilson, North Carolina, Production Operations
07/26/2024
Germany-Based Ritz Instrument Transformers Plans Waynesboro, Georgia, Operations
07/26/2024
AirJoule Plans Newark-Wilmington, Delaware, Operations
07/26/2024
Most Read
-
19th Annual Area Development Gold and Silver Shovel Awards
Q2 2024
-
2023's Leading Metro Locations: Hotspots of Economic Growth
Q4 2023
-
2023 Top States for Doing Business Meet the Needs of Site Selectors
Q3 2023
-
The CHIPS and Science Act will bring jobs back to the United States
Q2 2024
-
2023 Top States Commentary: Top-Ranked States Have What It Takes to Win Mega Projects
Q3 2023
-
The Bring Your Own Energy (BYOE) Party Is Starting
Q2 2024
-
Midwest becomes hotspot for semiconductor manufacturing and supply industries
Q2 2024