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Made in Ireland?

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  • 13-02-2012 7:41pm
    #1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 98 ✭✭


    Can't think of where would be a better place to put this.

    Apart from some foods or drinks, what products are manufactured in ireland & exported?

    World class products I mean, stuff that's sold everywhere, not necessarily an Irish brand, but manufactured here using Irish labour & raw materials (where possible) & then sold throughout the world


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Comments

  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,943 ✭✭✭smcgiff


    gremha wrote: »
    Can't think of where would be a better place to put this.

    Apart from some foods or drinks, what products are manufactured in ireland & exported?

    World class products I mean, stuff that's sold everywhere, not necessarily an Irish brand, but manufactured here using Irish labour & raw materials (where possible) & then sold throughout the world

    Sadly Doctors and nurses, and youth.

    But to specifically answer your question - Ireland has a large trade surplus. Such exports would be computer products, electronics and pharmaceuticals. However, these are largely by multinationals.

    We used to have a glass and textile industry of note, but alas...


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 98 ✭✭gremha


    That's just it. I can't think of anything that's manufactured here & exported. There isn't even "cool" T-shirts any more

    There used to be the likes of Gateway computers & I remember that Raybans were made here & exported (& then re-imported before sale here) for some reason.

    Apple is in Cork. What products do they make down there ?

    There has to be more than cheese & guinness


  • Registered Users Posts: 975 ✭✭✭newman10


    gremha wrote: »
    Can't think of where would be a better place to put this.

    Apart from some foods or drinks, what products are manufactured in ireland & exported?

    World class products I mean, stuff that's sold everywhere, not necessarily an Irish brand, but manufactured here using Irish labour & raw materials (where possible) & then sold throughout the world

    Viagra :D:D


  • Moderators, Education Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 35,080 Mod ✭✭✭✭AlmightyCushion


    gremha wrote: »
    That's just it. I can't think of anything that's manufactured here & exported. There isn't even "cool" T-shirts any more

    There used to be the likes of Gateway computers & I remember that Raybans were made here & exported (& then re-imported before sale here) for some reason.

    Apple is in Cork. What products do they make down there ?

    There has to be more than cheese & guinness

    In Cork, Apple have their customer support centre, they also do some R+D and some manufacturing. No idea, exactly what though.

    By removing food and drink you are taking a chunk of our brands and export revenue out. The only big brand that comes to mind apart from the obvious food ones would be intel. Intel's Fab24 is their largest plant outside the US and was the only one to ship more than 2 billion die. Apart from that we export a hell of a lot of software and software related products. As smcgiff says, pharmaceuticals would contribute a lot to our exports as well. CRH are pretty huge but I don't know if they produce much here.

    Regardless of the lack of brands, the main thing is our exports are strong and increasing.


  • Registered Users Posts: 499 ✭✭graflynn


    some Pharmacuetical products???


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  • Registered Users Posts: 9,800 ✭✭✭antoinolachtnai


    Apart from foodstuffs (including bananas), there are heavily knowledge-dependent products. Examples of these are medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and silicon chips. Another big one is inkjet cartridges.

    In reality, these are more like services than manufactured products in many respects.

    There is also a big service industry originating in Ireland and this is the part that is labour intensive and creates jobs. Certain types of financial products, customer services (for Google and Facebook, for example and specialized areas like aviation leasing.

    There are also small specialized manufacturing companies in many fields, for example the guys in Shannon who make the drill bits for mining and oil exploration. Again, these are knowledge-intensive industries with a large service and knowledge component.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 98 ✭✭gremha


    We really need to start manufacturing things again. What we have, while good, is not enough to sustain our nation.


  • Registered Users Posts: 9,800 ✭✭✭antoinolachtnai


    What could we really manufacture that we do not already manufacture? For sure we need to increase the things that we are currently making. Anything that is not highly skilled won't work here, because our minimum wage is way too high.

    Our manufacturing sector as it stands is actually not very labour intensive.

    There are export sectors involving services that are much more labour intensive.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,130 ✭✭✭The Apprentice


    Our exports have died really over the last 20 years in comparison to say Germany or one of the larger export led economies.. We have priced ourself out of the markets in producing certain "material" items because of fuel prices, import costs of materials and labour costs.. there are also lots of other mitigating factors

    Our service exports are quite good as mentioned above, were leading the pack somewhat in an IT Service perspective, with customer services and others helping us out. But dont be swaying by the right wing pr spins that we hear, the reason google and facebook plant themselves here is lucractive workforce and generous tax breaks (Did anyone read googles tax bill for their 7bill turnover - 42m )

    Pharma is massive in ireland and exports on our pill companies is a massive chunk of our gdp.
    I cant really think of anything major that is world renowned taht is not Food or drink or pharma/service related really. :(


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 98 ✭✭gremha


    When you consider what used to be manufactured here (even cars), it's shameful.

    Relying on small sectors to provide most of the GDP is a dangerous game.

    I used to work for a company that did a lot of work for Microsoft. They amounted to about 60% of our turnover & then one day, they cut us loose. From that point on, we could have no more than 6% of our income from any one company.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 4,585 ✭✭✭honru


    I have a big pair of headphones by the German company Sennheiser that had 'Made in Ireland' engraved on them. Bought them around ten years ago. It's still pretty heartening to read.

    Can also remember some Microsoft software on the original Xbox with the 'Made in Ireland' label.

    That's about it really,


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,295 ✭✭✭Joe10000


    Eamon Ryan was on the radio this evening and he broke it down quite well, we said we have only six major sectors in Ireland.

    Tourism, food & drink, energy, I.T. services, financial services and pharmaceuticals.


  • Moderators, Education Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 35,080 Mod ✭✭✭✭AlmightyCushion


    honru wrote: »
    I have a big pair of headphones by the German company Sennheiser that had 'Made in Ireland' engraved on them. Bought them around ten years ago. It's still pretty heartening to read.

    Can also remember some Microsoft software on the original Xbox with the 'Made in Ireland' label.

    That's about it really,

    Cheers for that. I didn't realise Sennheiser were made here.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 98 ✭✭gremha


    That's interesting about Sennheiser.

    There was so much more production here in the 90s compared to now, pharma is good to have but it's easily moved, we really need to be looking at maybe getting in something like car manufacturing


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,230 ✭✭✭Solair


    Exports:

    About €30 billion worth of pharmaceuticals, mostly from multinationals but also from a few Irish companies like Elan.

    Other chemical products: €28 billion worth

    Medical devices : €4.3 billion worth (including your AccuView / J&J contact lenses and quite a lot of hips, knees, shoulders, heart valves etc)

    IT products : €7.6 billion


    Food and Drink: Around €8.85 billion

    Top 15 food exporters in 2010:

    1. Kerry Group
    2. ARYZTA
    3. THE IRISH DAIRY BOARD CO-OP
    4. GLANBIA PLC
    5. KELLOGG EUROPEAN TRADING
    6. DAWN MEATS EXPORTS LTD
    7. ORIGIN ENTERPRISES PLC
    8. IRISH FOOD PROCESSORS
    9. DIAGEO
    10. ATLANTIC (Coca Cola) INDUSTRIES
    11. PEPSI-COLA MANUFACTURING
    12. KEPAK GROUP
    13. R & A BAILEY & CO
    14. GREEN ISLE FOODS LTD
    15. GREENCORE GROUP PLC

    Many, many more that are indigenous.

    Services:
    Banking via IFSC mostly
    Transportation : Ryanair's enormous.

    Info on our balance of trade: (Note currency symbols are incorrect on graphs LOL)

    http://www.tradingeconomics.com/ireland/balance-of-trade

    Greek data:

    http://www.tradingeconomics.com/greece/balance-of-trade

    UK :

    http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-kingdom/balance-of-trade

    Spain:

    http://www.tradingeconomics.com/greece/balance-of-trade

    Germany :

    http://www.tradingeconomics.com/germany/balance-of-trade


  • Registered Users Posts: 13 2pink


    I was really interested to read these comments. I am in very early stage trying to develop a business. Does anyone know of any Irish company producing (made in Ireland) bags / vanity cases / lap top cases etc.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,230 ✭✭✭Solair


    I'm not aware of any.

    In general, that kind of stuff is not really produced in the developed world anymore as manufacturing costs in the China, India and other developing economies are really low and those kinds of products are fairly pretty much the textile industry.

    You'd want to be offering something very niche and high end to make it in Europe or the US in that kind of sector.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,295 ✭✭✭Joe10000


    2pink wrote: »
    I was really interested to read these comments. I am in very early stage trying to develop a business. Does anyone know of any Irish company producing (made in Ireland) bags / vanity cases / lap top cases etc.

    I don't know either but I do buy bags direct from China and they are so cheap you would be amazed. Do a search on alibaba to see what you would be up against. Good luck with your venture, come back to me if you like.


  • Registered Users Posts: 19 Nana Wan


    Joe10000 wrote: »
    I don't know either but I do buy bags direct from China and they are so cheap you would be amazed. Do a search on alibaba to see what you would be up against. Good luck with your venture, come back to me if you like.
    That's big venture.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,295 ✭✭✭Joe10000


    Nana Wan wrote: »
    That's big venture.

    Explain please ?


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 12,395 ✭✭✭✭mikemac1


    Sudocream
    A product most of our parents used on us and realy, a lot of us now have

    I always assumed it was owned by some American corporation like most products
    Setup decades ago by an Irish chemist who invented/developed it and now there are ninety people employed in the factory. It's in North Dublin or Louth, somewhere around there

    Nice to have a household name that's Irish :)

    Procter and Gamble are in North Tipperary. The Clearasil products your teenage son or daughter use are made there. Well they are shipped to a distribution centre in Bournmouth and then imported back in again. Same for Max Factor, Oil of Olay, Ellen Betrix and other famous brands.

    The worlds supply of Botox is made in Mayo as far as I know


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,791 ✭✭✭prospect


    There are loads of specialized products made in Ireland and exported.

    Wasn't the drilling equipment used to rescue those Miner in Chile made in Tipp?

    My own company make unitised facades & curtain walls and we are currently exporting completed sections to Two buildings in the UK and one in Holland.


  • Registered Users Posts: 19 Nana Wan


    Joe10000 wrote: »
    Explain please ?
    The entry threshold for Alibaba is pretty low, so the products many factories sell there are not good. You need to be careful enough to find good ones.

    There are many good ones, good and cheap, and that's depend on whether you are lucky or not.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,295 ✭✭✭Joe10000


    Nana Wan wrote: »
    The entry threshold for Alibaba is pretty low, so the products many factories sell there are not good. You need to be careful enough to find good ones.

    There are many good ones, good and cheap, and that's depend on whether you are lucky or not.

    I'm not sure that explains it but I do agree with you regarding alibaba. Most of the time you are better finding a local supplier rather then going to china, you really need to be bringing in containers at a time to make it worthwhile.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,222 ✭✭✭bigneacy


    mikemac1 wrote: »
    Sudocream
    A product most of our parents used on us and realy, a lot of us now have

    I always assumed it was owned by some American corporation like most products
    Setup decades ago by an Irish chemist who invented/developed it and now there are ninety people employed in the factory. It's in North Dublin or Louth, somewhere around there

    Nice to have a household name that's Irish :)

    I never realised sudocrem was Irish - I had a look at forest labs products there -I have used all but one of their over the counter range either on myself or my son and daughter.

    Learn something new everyday


  • Registered Users Posts: 911 ✭✭✭endabob1


    I work in manufacturing (not in Ireland) and I had this conversation with my brother the last time I was home,
    Do the sums
    Minimum Wage €8.65
    plus prsi contributions and other on costs and you could be looking at close to €10 an hour

    Where I am our cost to company rate is about 40-50% of that and we can't compete with the east who are in some cases half of our rate.

    Ireland can't compete in mass manufacturing, specialised stuff is different and is where the economy needs to be. Which is why we are in more technical areas, like pharmaceutical & it & food production, because it's not easy to replicate the skills required cheaply.

    The balance of trade numbers are good reading, the economy is in pretty good shape, there are problem areas and issues to be addressed form our iccarrus years.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 98 ✭✭gremha


    Found out the most bizarre piece of useless information this morning.

    45% of the world's Tic Tacs are produced in Cork.

    :)


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,157 ✭✭✭srsly78


    honru wrote: »
    Can also remember some Microsoft software on the original Xbox with the 'Made in Ireland' label.

    This is something that really annoyed me. In the past I saw xbox games with "made in Ireland" printed on the back. This only means they print the DVDs and packaging in Ireland, the actual product (software) was NOT made in Ireland at all. And yes, this counts towards our software export statistics.... Rubbish! The law should be changed to stop this misleading labelling.

    I don't know if they are still doing it... Game development in Ireland was pretty nonexistent (few exceptions aside) until the last few years. Even today there are no AAA console developers in Ireland I think. All we have are some middleware companies, casual game development, and call centers for world of warcraft support :(


  • Registered Users Posts: 19 tomyhome


    I wanted to do my little bit so I set up a page on Facebook called Lets Get Ireland Working. Every day I add another MADE IN IRELAND company. This thread is a wealth of information, because it can be quite hard to find enough info on the web. If every household added 1 more Irish Product to their weekly shopping basket, we would have 10,000 more people employed. Think it really is up to us to make our own future :)


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  • Registered Users Posts: 3,542 ✭✭✭paddylonglegs


    So if there seems to be a lack of manufacturing in Ireland, are there incentives to get manufacturing going in Ireland by Irish run companies? I don't necessarily mean huge manufacturing plants, but also cottage industries intending to export heavily?


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