This post isn't for those who think any criticism of China is just blind America-loving, Taiwan-obsessed nonsense. This is for those with real-world experience in manufacturing and detail implementation (not just clocking in and out/ management from the far-end).
You understand why China's rise was both predictable and... not that surprising..
There's no such thing as "leapfrogging" in this industry. It's all about standing on the shoulders of giants. The pioneers spend a century building the foundation, the followers just copy it in a decade. No mystery there.
Think of it like a factory simulator game: copying someone else's blueprint is easy, designing a whole new production line from scratch? Brutal. So how do you quickly make a new blueprint in the real world? Simple, you "borrow" a proven design and tweak it. Yep, the classic "pirate kingdom" strategy.
Want to go further and create something truly original? That's where it gets tricky. You have to grasp the underlying principles of the original and reimagine the entire production logic while keeping the core idea intact. This is how early Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and later China, claimed to forge their own path.
Honestly, there's no shame in admitting it. The Industrial Revolution isn't an Eastern invention. So what if you copied from the West? Does it make you less of a nation? This gets into ideology and how governments use it to drum up support, but I won't go there today.
Here's what I really want to talk about: the human element.
Copying factories and buying machines is easy. Copying the ingrained habits of skilled workers? Not so much. That's why TSMC is flying Taiwanese engineers to its Arizona plant and shipping materials across the ocean. Foxconn is flying Chinese factory workers to its India plant to assemble iPhone. If human resources were interchangeable, they could just hire locally, right?
Nope.
People who've never worked on the factory floor, especially academics/ journalist/ politician, completely miss this. I'm not exaggerating. If they haven't spent time on a production line, they just don't get it. Even when they try to understand, it's superficial. A few sentences in, you see the confusion in their eyes. They can't grasp why this stuff can't be quantified and put in a neat report.
It's not that it can't be quantified, it's that the learning curve varies wildly between industries. This makes every sector's "future" sound the same, when in reality, they're worlds apart.
For example, why does a seasoned technician add chemicals slightly differently than the supplier's SOP? I won't give the answer (there isn't one), but if someone says "because they're just a dumb high-school grad," they have no clue what they're talking about.
Taiwanese factories which do OEM often specialize in one specific process, with decades-old machines held together by the experience of frontline workers and supervisors. They keep things running with tweaks and workarounds, often with limited knowledge of the bigger picture.
When problems arise, it's a blame game. Everyone protects their own interests. I used to work for a supplier, writing reports where everyone pointed fingers. We saw massive learning curves everywhere.
A shift change, a new batch of workers, even the sunlight could throw things off. I've seen it all. New workers, lacking experience and proper handover, would follow the rules rigidly, causing delays and losses.
You might think: "Just standardize everything, more training!" Sure, we all know that. So why doesn't it happen?
Because people are different. The ones who lecture me about standardization (those senior management), with their fancy degrees and "brilliant plans," have never seen the reality. Manufacturing industry wasn't built by academics, it was built by countless workers with practical skills.
When orders surged, how did factory ramp up production? Let's be blunt: give me a factory with top university grads, and I'll have it running like a dream in three years. Every problem solved, every process documented. But that's not how it works. The best talent doesn't go to those factories anymore. During the economic downturn, I saw graduates choose backpacking over stable office jobs.
I get it. The point is, building that expertise takes time. You need skilled people to implement those perfect systems. A manager alone can't do it. Like with the sunlight example, I could write a thesis on the impact of temperature variations, but the supervisor who instinctively knew how to adjust the factory layout was far more valuable. I once found a temperature-sensitive issue in a supposedly climate-controlled facility. A tiny difference, invisible to most, almost ruined a multi-million dollar order. The solution? Switch to a Japanese supplier with a wider tolerance range.
Insulting? Maybe. On paper, the Taiwanese and Japanese products were identical. But that subtle difference mattered. It took my own curiosity and access to specialized equipment to even find it.
This whole post is about learning curves. Has China truly caught up, or is it just a facade? They're standing on the shoulders of giants, claiming to be taller. Sure, the machines are the same, the processes look the same, but it's not the same.
Think it's crazy? Replace TSMC's engineers with less experienced ones and see what happens. We have SOPs, but why do tech companies still want top talent? Why not just hire any high-school grad?
Human capital can't be easily measured. Every step of the process needs skilled eyes and hands. The better the attitude, the better the results. Excellence is built on layers of dedication and attention to detail.
To replicate that, you need people with the right attitude. Without it, no amount of education matters. Those who lack it will only complain and do the bare minimum. "Professionalism" becomes a tool of oppression.
But without that dedication, how do you push the boundaries? We praise craftsmanship, but few are willing to put in the work. It's tedious, repetitive, demanding constant attention. The rewards are often small, the pay even smaller.
If you've read this far, you're already unusual.
China's rapid industrial growth is undeniable, but it's built on a foundation laid by others. While they've mastered the art of replication, true innovation and sustained success depend on more than just hardware and blueprints. It hinges on the often-overlooked human element: the accumulated experience, the meticulous attention to detail, and the unwavering dedication of skilled workers. These qualities, nurtured over time, are what truly drive progress and create lasting value. They are the "ghost in the machine" that no amount of copied technology can replace. And they are precisely what nations like Taiwan must continue to cultivate to maintain their competitive edge in the global economy.
