In our January/February issue, we talked about creativity as a strategy. This becomes a particularly essential tool if you happen to be in the manufacturing sector.

Let’s face it, almost all manufacturing is now being done in China (and soon, Vietnam) because of their cost and logistical advantages. China is aggressively attracting producers from all over the world, promising low costs and high product quality.

This means that if you are in the manufacturing sector, chances are that either you already face tough competition from Chinese imports, or you eventually will.

So where does that leave you? The Philippines does not have cost advantages. Labor here is not exactly cheap when compared to that of other countries, and we even have disadvantages in utility costs. And we can’t exactly compete in terms of quality because, after the quality-conscious 80s and 90s, quality is now taken as a given.

Which leaves us with design as a product strategy. China and its ilk have advantages in terms of volume manufacturing, so why not focus on high-value, high-skill production that requires not assembly lines, but careful attention to detail and craftsmanship? This is where design comes in, because design goes hand in hand with craftsmanship.

Our furniture sector is leading the way with this, incidentally. Our January/February issue, for instance, featured Cebuano Kenneth Cobonpue who is now an international celebrity in furniture, and who is now preaching the gospel of design. We cannot compete when it comes to knock-down furniture because there’s Sweden and Thailand (and of course Taiwan and China) that can do these more efficiently. But when it comes to high value handcrafted furniture, then that’s where we can have a fighting chance.

A design strategy means rapid progression and rapid turnover of ideas. It means having brilliant creative minds who can churn out interesting new designs to quickly make previous designs obsolete… and therefore nullify any imitations that would eventually come out from manufacturing-strong countries and competitors. See our story on Sapato de Manila (November/December 2006).