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For decades, the pace of technological change in manufacturing has outstripped that in the economy as a whole. And, so, firms - manufacturing firms - have found it easier to continue producing by - with - reducing their workforces.

Lots of companies don't succeed over time. What do they fundamentally do wrong? They usually miss the future.

So it takes years to make a solid company.

Whatever the trend in exchange rates or whatever the external factors, a manufacturing company is always faced with the mission of transforming itself into a company that can produce higher value-added to absorb the increase in the cost of living in the country it's operating in.

You know, a lot of people are just interested in, in building a company so they can make money and get out.

If companies don't think systemically enough - if they try to capture too much of the value - eventually, innovation moves somewhere else.

It's harder than ever to build an enduring company. As soon as a product strikes a nerve with customers, competitors emerge globally because the costs to start are so low.

I think that companies always become complacent, over time. Or most companies, that is.

No one has ever been able to stop the process and evolution of technology, not even I.B.M. That is going to continue. Those who grab it and move ahead with it will determine the future in this industry.

Do we want in this nation to lose the backbone of manufacturing in this country? Do we want to be a nation that doesn't want to manufacture anything?