Quote:
Originally Posted by rice rocket
Okay but why are you ignoring the whole custom loom part of it?
|
I suspect the custom (automated) loom is the key to this operation. A common way to build carbon rims is to laying pre-cut carbon layers into a mold, which requires a lot of hand labor. So choosing where to build a factory to do carbon molding can depend a lot on the local labor rates. This is why so much carbon component manufacturing had been moved to Asian countries, where labor rates are generally cheaper. But when manufacturing is highly automated, requiring less human labor, manufacturing may instead be moved to locations which improve efficiencies in other aspects of the supply chain (such as shipping, warehousing, customer support, etc.). So for the North American market, it may be cost effective to locate a highly automated carbon rim manufacturing plant in North America.