Last day in Shanghai

Our last full day in Shanghai concluded with a manufacturing facility visit, where we heard from two groups of speakers. First up was David Williams, Managing Partner at Asentio Design. David took us through several case studies and showed how innovation and design is being done in China. Where most of these firms have traditionally been located in the US and Europe, now the shift is causing many of these design firms to be housed closer to the manufacturers in China. A few key take aways included learning more about how China is no longer just a manufacturing nation; now much more innovation and design is moving to this region.

After a short coffee break, we heard from Russ Schroader and Cao Wei who are the founders of Far East Sourcing, a manufacturing company where we conducted our discussion. After their talk, we toured the facilities and watched Dell computers being manufactured. This was a great complement to our trip because we were able to see first hand how production is conducted in China.

Overall, I have taken a lot out of this China trip to Beijing and Shanghai. It has opened my eyes to how much China is changing, and how there is still so much opportunity in this nation. Not everything is perfect, there is still a lot of progress to be made, but overall, China is accelerating, and I feel that we have a better understanding of what that acceleration looks like.

This concludes this blog. It has been a pleasure keeping you up-to-date with our journey, and if you have any questions about this trip, please feel free to contact me at dharmon1@nd.edu.