Electronic Enclosure reflections from Asia

I recently returned from Asia on a trip to see our factories there.  I continue to be amazed at the rapid development of the infrastructure in these countries.  There are many new roads, buildings, and transportation hubs being developed.  The factories have new issues to deal with, labor shortages, rising prices, inconsistent government policies on growth, all of which create an unstable business climate.  Yet I continue to be impressed with the strong desire of the companies that seek to export, especially to the US.  With a product that is as large as electronic enclosures, export can often be a challenge, so they have to continue to improve their productivity and creativity to remain competitive.  We continue to see that with our various enclosure factories, developing improved products in areas ranging from large cabinet racks to extruded boxes.  We have also seen some creative us of plastics in mounting boards and tablet screens.  Yet we still find that the most creativity comes from the US and the ideas that our customers present to us to meet their specific needs.  As the economy becomes more global, the improvements in productivity will continue to be important, but the creativity will drive the market.