Useful terms and expressions

• moving assembly line – движущаяся сборочная линия, конвейер

• mass production – массовое производство

• disruptive – разрушительный, приносящий вред, подрывающий

• retail(ing) – розничная торговля

• upstart (syn. start-up) – недавно созданная компания

• subsidy – субсидия

Answer the questions.

1. What is an industrial revolution? What are the basic differences between the three industrial revolutions mentioned in the article?

2. What are the key features of the current industrial revolution?

3. Which positive and negative consequences will the current industrial revolution have for companies, consumers and workers?

4. Why will it be harder for governments to adapt to the new conditions?

5. Do you agree with the recommendations which the author gives to governments in the last paragraph? Why or why not?

READING AND SPEAKING II

1. What does the term “offshoring” imply? What is the main distinction between “offshoring” and “outsourcing”, if any? What are the most common motives for offshoring production or services? Search the Internet for the information, if necessary.

2. Comment on the headline.

3. Read the article and find the words which match the definitions in the table.

   effective and able to be successful
   to be unsuccessful, or to not develop in a satisfactory way
   to give attention to or deal with a matter or problem
   to expand the level of output of (an economy) by government stimulus, using either fiscal or monetary policy
   action by a central bank aimed at boosting the money supply and stimulating economic activity
   a favourable economic situation or condition that will help move growth higher
   not working or being used
   a factory system in which parts or components of the end product are transported by a conveyor through a number of different sites at each of which a manual or machine operation is performed on them without interrupting the flow of production
   to cause something to rise to or remain at a high level
   not willing to do something and therefore slow to do it
   a decline in the value of one currency relative to another currency

4. Do the assignments that follow.

“Made in Japan” is back in vogue

Weaker yen and robots make reshoring local manufacturing more viable

After decades of pursuing cheaper manufacturing overseas, “made in Japan” products — from Honda scooters, Panasonic microwaves to Canon cameras — are back in the vogue thanks to the weaker yen.

But “reshoring” this time around is more about robots than human jobs and bigger factories — a far cry from the multibillion-dollar investments of the mid-2000s that soured in the wake of the global financial crisis. Expansion is also largely designed at serving the domestic market, rather than making goods for export.

Thus what is good for Japan Inc is less likely to feed through to the broader economy and instead, may prolong the blocked transmission between a tight labour market and higher wages as more robots man the production lines.

Take Canon, which aims to fully automate the production of digital cameras by 2018 to lift its domestic production ratio to 60 per cent in a few years from 43 per cent last year. It also plans to invest $110m to build a technology development facility in Oita prefecture of southwestern Japan.

The installation of more robots at its factories will allow Canon to lower manufacturing costs while addressing the deepening labour shortage in Japan. Officials insist, however, that employment levels will be maintained by shifting workers to roles that cannot be replaced by machines.

The tilt towards domestic production comes three years after the yen started its sharp decline on the back of prime minister Shinzo Abe’s bid to reflate the economy through massive monetary easing. The weaker yen, which makes Japanese goods cheaper overseas, has driven the profits of many companies to record highs.

The latest survey by the Development Bank of Japan also showed that major Japanese groups are planning to increase domestic capital spending 13.9 per cent from a year earlier in the financial year ending March 2016. That compares with 5.8 per cent on overseas spending.

The lower manufacturing costs in Japan also coincide with rising labour costs in China and other emerging markets where Japanese companies have historically shifted their production to in the strong yen era.

In another tailwind, the value of “made in Japan” watches and other goods has been buoyed by the influx of tourists from China and other parts of the world. To meet strong inbound demand, Casio, maker of the G-Shock watch, last month increased production of luxury watches at its plant in Yamagata, northern Japan, by 60 per cent from a year earlier.

In spite of increasing chatter of “reshoring”, most of the action, however, has been limited to locally manufacturing goods that will be sold in the Japanese market rather than importing them from overseas. Panasonic, for example, is shifting production of some microwaves and air cleaners from China to Japan.

Mizuho Securities estimates that a switch to domestic production for imported goods targeting Japanese consumers could still lift Japan’s overall industrial production by up to 3 per cent. Mr Fukuda further projects that if 30 per cent of machinery products manufactured in Asia shift to domestic production, that could create 90,000 jobs, although the actual figure could be smaller with the use of more robots.

Last week Honda shifted production of smaller-sized motorcycles intended for the Japanese market from China to a domestic plant, restoring an idled production line in southwestern Japan. By bringing manufacturing back to Japan from China and Vietnam, it plans to raise the domestic production ratio of these motorcycles from 10 per cent to 80 per cent.

But Honda’s move highlights a deeper problem of weak demand. Its Kumamoto plant was originally intended to produce 500,000 motorcycles a year. In reality, annual production is stalled at 140,000 units. Even by shifting production from China and Vietnam, the boosted annual capacity will still be half of its initial target.

Companies such as Toyota have also been reluctant to increase capacity in Japan due to bitter memories of the previous cycle of yen depreciation a decade ago. From the early to mid-2000s, car and electronics makers such as Sharp and Panasonic built expensive new factories in Japan that turned into massive financial burdens when the yen surged in the wake of the global financial crisis.

Underscoring that lingering cautiousness, less than 10 per cent of the country’s manufacturers have plans to shift production to Japan from overseas for the current fiscal year according to the Development Bank of Japan survey published in August.

The Financial Times, September 17^th, 2015

NOTES

tight labour market - more jobs than workers- высокий спрос на рабочую силу при ограниченном ее предложении.