MET overseas research project 2005

China … A tiger in the supply chain

Download this info as a PDF file (the original 'flyer')

China is increasingly important to the business community and the global economy as a whole. The Manufacturing Engineering Tripos (MET) annual overseas research programme has a long tradition of visiting areas of great importance to global manufacturing, presenting honest and challenging findings about current manufacturing trends. This year, the focus of its investigations was be China.

Programme objectives

• investigate the opportunities and problems of investing in China
• understand the nature of, and potential for, manufacturing there
• raise awareness of the emerging trends and economic benefi ts of Chinese operations
• foster links between UK and Chinese industry

Focus

The programme concentrated in particular on:

• the evolution of China beyond its role as a low cost manufacturing base
• China as a centre for innovation and R&D
• the growing domestic market in China

Implementation

A team of 32 Manufacturing Engineering Masters graduates and staff completed a two-week tour in China (Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong) from 3-17 July. During this period, the team visited around 40 Chinese and multinational companies. The tour built on a foundation of research and analysis carried out by the team in Cambridge between January and July.

Report and conference

The detailed findings of the project were communicated in two ways:

• A comprehensive written report [694k PDF, 105 pages] or executive summary [264k PDF, 8 pages
• A presentation at the Institute for Manufacturing's workshop 'Making it in China' at the end of July in Cambridge.