Assessing manufacturing plant competitiveness - An empirical field study

Over the past decade we have witnessed free trade agreements (FTA) established among countries in a number of regions around the world, including Europe, North America and Asia. A key concern for countries involved in FTA has been to maintain a strong, competitive local manufacturing base. Globally trade in manufactured goods is growing while trade in commodities is falling as a percentage of total world trade. Therefore, for countries like Canada it is essential that a viable manufacturing base is developed and maintained. At the time of establishing the North American Free Trade Agreement, there was considerable coverage in the...