Comment by mlyle
Comment by mlyle 2 days ago
> Our military can't find the capacity it needs!
This has a lot more to do with the stance of the past 30 years to manufacture defense materiel at relatively constant, small rates. There was no capital investment, because why pay to have a huge line that isn't being used. We spent our military dollars on wonder-weapons that would probably win a direct war quickly, but that we can't give to allies in a proxy conflict. Going so far was a strategic mistake.
> And they, along with aerospace, are the best customers there are,
Military are terrible customers, especially if you're a subcomponent manufacturer. Gravy might pour, it might not; it's very unpredictable. You spend a lot of effort and business just evaporates.
> Howard Vollem died and the MBA took over.
On the flip-side, can you imagine being the high-cost Tek of old in today's test equipment marketplace? Tek already struggles to compete against cheaper, adequate solutions. So much of that market has commoditized out.
> nobody seems to recognize the massive opportunity costs in all that.
Actually, that's exactly what I'm talking about, in both directions. Having a ton of manufacturing means we would have opportunity costs in the other direction. We've traded the manufacturing we had 50 years ago for other things. It's not possible to specialize in "everything."
> There was no capital investment, because why pay to have a huge line that isn't being used.
I'd like to suggest that what Tek did worked back then, and the same insightful leadership wouldn't simply copy the solutions from 20 years ago.
Thus the problem is "there was no capital investment, because there was no visionary leadership," and the problem is also that the short-sighted leadership simply saw "a huge line that isn't being used," instead of a workforce ready to take your company into the next century.
> Military are terrible customers ... You spend a lot of effort and business just evaporates.
This only applies to companies that lack vision, that seem to only be able to keep stamping out the same widget as 20 years ago.
> Tek already struggles to compete against cheaper, adequate solutions.
Seems like a lack of leadership, instead of an existential proof that Tek can't compete.
> We've traded the manufacturing we had 50 years ago for other things. It's not possible to specialize in "everything."
This actually sounds like the kind of visionary leadership that Tek or the larger Portland metro needs.
If I sound combative, please only read this in a curious voice. What kind of visionary leadership could rise from the ashes of the Silicon Forest?