The shop jobs in Michigan, those jobs making car parts/ small electronics, nearly all but a few vanished overnight.
In any case, those mom & pop tool and die shops along Telegraph don't exist anymore for other reasons. Would Ross Perot have saved us from just in time manufacturing as well?
It wasn't just Nafta, read on.
The small shops got hit with multiple whammies.
* One, Common CAD systems with the big 3.
* They all used different CAD systems, Ford SDRC, GM Unigraphics, and Chrysler Catia.
* So if they wanted to compete, they needed 3 systems and or conversion software at $20,000 a seat. Ouch, it added up quick.
* ISO 9000
* In order to move up the supplier "Tier" chain, they needed and ISO audit and documentation to obtain ISO 9000 certs. ( Insert 100 large for Consultants.
And this is not getting into CAM, Stereo-lithography ( 3D printing in it's infancy ) and Finite Element Analysis.
Let us not get into Pensions, employees being stolen in a go-go economy.
The smart ones after NAFTA?
With all the crap I mentioned, they sold out to a bigger Fish, bought a place in Tampa and worked on their Cast or their Golf Swing....