Why Are the Chinese Moving So Fast... While We Are Still in Meetings?
maggio 27, 2026
Industrial competitiveness is often explained with an answer that is as immediate as it is reassuring. "Chinese companies cost less." It is a phrase we hear all the time. A simple, comfortable and apparently logical explanation. But are we really sure that competitive advantage comes down only to labor costs?
Because if that were truly the case, the solution would be relatively simple. We could just move production to countries with lower labor costs or invest heavily in automation. Problem solved.
And yet, reality does not seem to work that way. In fact, when observing what is happening across different industrial sectors, another factor emerges. A factor that is far more difficult to accept. A factor that rarely appears in official discussions. Speed.
The Competitive Advantage Nobody Likes to Discuss
When we talk about speed, we are not simply talking about producing faster.
We are talking about the speed at which an organization makes decisions. The speed at which it develops a product. The speed at which it tests a solution. The speed at which it recognizes a mistake and corrects it. And above all, the speed at which it returns to the market with an improved version. In many cases, the difference is not technological. It is organizational.
It is the time that passes between an idea and its execution.
When Time Becomes a Competitive Advantage
In the automotive industry, for example, some Chinese manufacturers are compressing development cycles that traditionally require three or four years in Europe. We are not talking about small improvements. We are talking about a completely different approach to time.
While one organization is busy discussing approvals, validations, reviews and internal procedures, another has already developed the next product, launched it on the market and started collecting real customer feedback. The consequence is obvious. The advantage does not come only from how well a company works. It comes from how quickly it can transform a decision into a result.
The Problem Is Not Development. It Is Decision-Making.
From my own industrial perspective, I have seen many European companies spend months, sometimes years, not developing particularly complex technologies, but deciding whether to develop them.
Projects are discussed, analyzed, validated, reviewed, reanalyzed and discussed again. All with great professionalism and attention to detail. Meanwhile, however, the market keeps moving. Customer needs change. Competitors evolve. Opportunities transform, and what initially represented a competitive advantage can lose value before it even reaches the market. The result is paradoxical. Technically impeccable projects. Commercially irrelevant.
Are We Protecting Quality or Slowing Down the System?
This is probably the most uncomfortable question. Because nobody is questioning the value of quality. Technical robustness matters. Reliability matters. Safety matters.
These are the elements that helped build the reputation of European industry around the world. However, there comes a point where reducing risk starts generating a different kind of risk. A risk that is often less visible but potentially far more dangerous. The risk of becoming irrelevant. Because while some organizations continue chasing zero risk, others accept a controlled level of risk, enter the market, gather real-world feedback, improve their products and accelerate their development even further.
When "Good Enough" Beats "Perfect"
For years, competitive advantage was associated with the ability to build the best possible product.
Today, in many markets, a different logic seems to be emerging. The winner is not necessarily the company that delivers the perfect solution. Increasingly, the winner is the one that arrives first, learns faster and improves continuously. This does not mean giving up on quality. It means finding a different balance between perfection and speed. Because if the market perceives a combination of sufficient quality, continuous innovation and much faster response times, the rules of the game change. And they change quickly.
The Real Question for European Industry
Perhaps the most interesting question for anyone working in industry today is this: In 2026, will the winner be the company that arrives with the perfect product, or the one that arrives first, listens to the market and improves faster?
It is a question that deserves an honest reflection. Because if it takes six meetings, two committees and three levels of approval just to answer that question, perhaps we have already identified part of the problem. Industrial competitiveness no longer depends only on costs, technologies or production capabilities. More and more often, it depends on the speed with which an organization can transform decisions into concrete actions. The real challenge is not choosing between quality and speed. The real challenge is maintaining both. And today, time may be the resource we are underestimating the most.
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