[bio] Professor Jun Ni received his undergraduate education at ShanghaiJiaoTongUniversity and earned a MS and a Ph.D. degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1984 and 1987, respectively.He is currently a professor in the department of mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan, USA.He is the director of the S. M. Wu Manufacturing Research Center that has maintained a very close working relationship with US manufacturing industries.He also serves as the deputy director of a National Science Foundation sponsored EngineeringResearchCenter for Reconfigurable Machining Systems at the University of Michigan, and the co-director of a National Science Foundation sponsored Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Intelligent Maintenance Systems. From 1993 through 1998, he also served as the director of another National Science Foundation sponsored Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Dimensional Measurement and Control in Manufacturing.

Professor Ni’s research and teaching interests are in the area of manufacturing science and engineering, with special focuses on precision machining, manufacturing process modeling and control, statistical quality design and improvement, micro/meso systems and manufacturing processes, and web-enabled intelligent monitoring, maintenance and service systems.Professor Ni has published over 180 archival technical journal and conference papers, and book chapters. Professor Ni has produced 40 doctoral and 27 master students as a chair or co-chair.He has been responsible as a principal investigator or co-investigator of research projects worth more than 25 million US dollars. Many of his research results have been successfully implemented in industrial applications at Boeing, Changan Automotive, DaimlerChrysler, Delphi Automotive Systems, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Kelsey-Hayes, Perceptron, Saginaw Machine Systems, Tecumseh Products, etc.

[title] Manufacturing in China: Current Status, Challenges and Future Prospect

[abstract] The phenomenal economic development of the People’s Republic of China in recent decades has been primarily driven by a strong surge in its manufacturing industry. Its total manufacturing output has now reached the fourth place in the world after US, Japan and Germany. Over 39% of its GDP is attributed to manufacturing activities. And, over 77% of its industrial output is produced by manufacturing industries. The current trend of global outsourcing strategy has transformed China into a global production center. “Made in China” products can be seen almost every corner of the world.On the surface, China is becoming a world powerhouse of manufacturing. This presentation will first review some statistics related to manufacturing in China, following by some in-depth discussion and observation related to the challenges facing Chinese manufacturing industry as well as global companies that are considering their China strategy. Finally, some thoughts on the future prospect of manufacturing in China will be offered.