American Rapid-Manufacturing Team to Visit China.

SALT LAKE CITY -- A team of American manufacturing executives is slated to visit China early next month to continue briefing their Chinese counterparts on the benefits of investment in fractional ownership of U.S. rapid-prototyping and rapid-manufacturing (RP-RM) assets.

For China, which is a global manufacturing colossus, the concept offers the prospect of dramatically reducing the wait times and expense its global customers incur creating manufacturing molds, models and prototypes before committing to large-volume production runs.

Currently, many U.S. companies that order products by the millions and tens of millions from Chinese manufacturers must make a large wager that their designs will translate perfectly into production molds and hence final products. Changes that crop up after production has begun create long and costly retooling delays. Moreover, innovation is discouraged by the ordeal of making even miniscule changes.

"Like so many American companies that have embraced rapid-prototyping and rapid-manufacturing as a means to simplify prototyping and short-run production, the Chinese are showing a great interest in this concept," says David A. McInnis, founder and CEO of US Reliant, a Utah-based company that plans to offer fractional ownership opportunities along the entire spectrum of low-volume manufacturing, from design to short-run production.

In late August, McInnis and His Excellency Zhou Wenzhong, China's Ambassador to the United States, met privately in Portland, OR to explore how the US Reliant model could serve both American and Chinese interests.

Having China purchase fractional shares in U.S.-based prototyping and low-volume manufacturing assets would allow China to more efficiently provide these services to its U.S. based customers, while demonstrating China's goodwill by investing in American-based assets, McInnis noted.

In addition to Ambassador Wenzhong, key members of the Chinese diplomatic corps from Washington D.C. and the Chinese consulate in San Francisco attended the July briefing by US Reliant.

Heartened by Ambassador Wenzhong's response to his ideas, McInnis and a team of US Reliant executives are headed to China to meet directly with Chinese manufacturers.

The US Reliant's model provides companies - in the U.S. and elsewhere - the benefits of asset ownership, without incurring the expense, overcapacity, repair and maintenance hassles, or risks of obsolescence that are associated with full ownership.

McInnis makes the analogy between fractional ownership of manufacturing assets and the well-accepted fractional ownership of private planes. "For one company to own a private plane is often wasteful. And to fly commercially is increasingly slow and tortuous," McInnis explains. "Fractional ownership entails the efficient 24/7 use of a hard asset - always available when you need it; still productive even when you don't."

US Reliant's first foray into fractional ownership is Tangible Express, based in Springville, Utah. Formed in 2006, Tangible Express has demonstrated steady growth and success making shares of RP-RM equipment available to U.S. manufacturers, engineers and designers. Companies that purchase Tangible Express fractional shares are also able to access the unused capacity of other fractional owners as their needs evolve or grow.

"I think the Chinese clearly understand the benefits of owning U.S.-based RP-RM assets for their clients," says C. Alex Linde, Tangible Express' President and COO, who will be joining McInnis and other US Reliant executives in China. "During the design and prototyping stages, in particular, U.S. customers can get their prototypes and make changes overnight, rather than wait months for models to come back from the Far East."

McInnis founded US Reliant with the goal of helping to restore America's manufacturing prowess. His concept, he believes, will contribute to the repatriation of manufacturing assets; a reevaluation of how American companies make the most efficient use of those assets; investment in more environmentally friendly manufacturing equipment; improved national security; and a larger, well-paid U.S. manufacturing workforce.

More information on McInnis' plans and thoughts can be found at http://www.usreliant.com/blog/category/david-mcinnis/. To learn about the innovate solutions currently offered by Tangible Express, visit www.tangibleexpress.com.