The textile factories that cluster along the roads on the outskirts of Nantong, in China’s Yangtze River Delta, came to the city mainly because of its proximity to the sea. It is only just inland from the vast port of Shanghai, the world’s busiest container port.
Plus, if a sudden trend in Europe or a change in North American weather suddenly alters demand for a factory’s products, the customer has the option of asking for a truckload to be rushed to Shanghai’s airport, put on an aircraft and flown to where it is needed.
Meanwhile, hundreds of kilometres north-east of Nantong, a car component plant in Shenyang operated by BMW, the German car manufacturer, takes an entirely different approach to its supply chain. Every 24 hours, a train of containers arrives at the factory after a 23-day, 11,000km journey from a BMW plant in Leipzig.