????2011年3月中旬,，在工程設(shè)備行業(yè)這個(gè)價(jià)值數(shù)百億美元的產(chǎn)業(yè)中，但凡有點(diǎn)名氣的公司都來到了拉斯維加斯參加工程機(jī)械博覽會(huì)（Conexpo/Con Agg）——這是一個(gè)大型行業(yè)博覽會(huì),，為期五天,，每三年舉辦一屆。各種挖掘機(jī),、起重機(jī)和其他工程設(shè)備列于展道兩側(cè),，確實(shí)值得一看。在2,000多家參展商中,，有一個(gè)展位尤為顯眼：這里有一幅長(zhǎng)100英尺的巨型海報(bào)從天棚垂下,，海報(bào)上是一個(gè)五十多歲，身材魁梧的男人,。他佩戴著一副有色眼鏡,，一頂紅色安全帽，昂首站在一臺(tái)大型起重機(jī)前面,，目光中充滿斗志,。海報(bào)上的文字是：“質(zhì)量改變世界”。海報(bào)上的人正是約翰?蘭寧,。對(duì)于普通人而言,，這個(gè)名字可能并不熟悉,，但在工程設(shè)備圈子里，蘭寧卻是偶像級(jí)人物——他是美國(guó)屈指可數(shù)的頂尖履帶式起重機(jī)工程師,。要談到設(shè)計(jì)世界上最強(qiáng)大的起重機(jī)——能把頂蓋吊到核電站廠房頂部的那一類——蘭寧肯定是最優(yōu)秀的人選之一,。

????之所以稱之為履帶式起重機(jī)，是因?yàn)檫@些起重機(jī)有一系列履帶作為支撐,，提供了穩(wěn)定性,，能夠越過崎嶇不平的地形。不過,，要把這些重型機(jī)械從一個(gè)工作場(chǎng)地移動(dòng)到下一個(gè)工作場(chǎng)地卻是一個(gè)復(fù)雜的難題,。蘭寧降低了這項(xiàng)工作的難度。他設(shè)計(jì)出了一些最早的機(jī)型,，操作人員可以方便地把它們拆卸為可移動(dòng)的部件,，裝配也很簡(jiǎn)單。24年來,，他一直在馬尼托瓦克公司（Manitowoc Company,，MTW）從事這項(xiàng)工作，并幫助它成為行業(yè)中的佼佼者,。這家公司是財(cái)富1000強(qiáng)成員（2013年排名：591）,，總部位于威斯康辛州。

????但工程機(jī)械展上,，蘭寧的海報(bào)并不在馬尼托瓦克的展位上,。這張海報(bào)屬于蘭寧的新雇主——三一重工（Sany Heavy Industry），因?yàn)檫@家中國(guó)大型工程設(shè)備公司在一年前把他挖了過來,。雖然海報(bào)上的蘭寧露齒而笑,，但馬尼托瓦克的表情卻沒有這么輕松。就在拉斯維加斯展會(huì)開幕一周之前,，這家公司提起了針對(duì)蘭寧的訴訟,，指控他幫助三一招聘他在馬尼托瓦克的前同事。馬尼托瓦克的律師們?cè)谡箷?huì)上向蘭寧遞交了法律文書,。

????雇用蘭寧——而且在戶外廣告牌大小的海報(bào)上大張旗鼓地宣傳——只是這家中國(guó)公司為大舉進(jìn)軍美國(guó)市場(chǎng)而使出的一系列組合拳中最新的一招,。三一在國(guó)內(nèi)早已主宰了市場(chǎng)，迅速成為了國(guó)內(nèi)最大的工程設(shè)備制造商,。而目前,，隨著中國(guó)爆炸性增長(zhǎng)的施工活動(dòng)放慢了腳步，三一開始尋找新的銷售目的地,，而且已經(jīng)大踏步進(jìn)入了美國(guó)市場(chǎng),。實(shí)際上，它的步伐非常激進(jìn),，不信可以問問馬尼托瓦克——或者問問巴拉克?奧巴馬總統(tǒng)——三一的高管正在起訴這位總統(tǒng)——沒錯(cuò),，是在起訴——理由是他阻止了三一的關(guān)聯(lián)公司在俄勒岡州北部啟動(dòng)一個(gè)風(fēng)電場(chǎng)項(xiàng)目,。

????In the middle of March 2011, anyone who was anyone in the multibillion-dollar construction equipment industry gathered in Las Vegas for Conexpo/Con Agg, the industry's massive five-day trade show. Held every three years, the event is a sight to behold, with excavators, cranes, and other construction equipment lining the aisles. But amid the more than 2,000 exhibitors, one booth in particular stood out: the one with a giant, 100-foot blowup poster hanging from the ceiling featuring a burly-looking man in his mid-fifties. Wearing tinted eyeglasses and a red hard hat, he is standing, looking defiant, in front of a massive crane. The caption read QUALITY CHANGES THE WORLD. The poster boy was John Lanning, who may not be a familiar name to the average person, but in the construction world he is an icon -- one of the few top American crawler crane engineers. When it comes to designing the world's most powerful cranes -- the kind that can hoist a dome roof atop a nuclear power plant -- Lanning is one of the best.

????Crawler cranes are so named because they're supported by a set of tracks -- crawlers -- that provide stability and can maneuver through uneven or tough terrain. Moving the heavy machines themselves from one job site to the next, however, is complex. Lanning made it easier, helping to pioneer some of the earliest models that crews can assemble just as easily as they can break them down into movable parts. For 24 years he did this for Manitowoc Company (MTW), the Wisconsin-based Fortune 1000 company (2013 ranking: 591) that he helped make a leader in the category.

????But the poster of Lanning at Conexpo wasn't Manitowoc's. It belonged to his new employer, Sany Heavy Industry, the massive Chinese construction-equipment firm that had poached him a year earlier. And while Lanning might have had a doughy-faced grin in the blown-up poster, Manitowoc wasn't smiling. Less than a week before the Vegas show kicked off, the company filed a lawsuit against Lanning, accusing him of helping Sany recruit former colleagues at Manitowoc. Lawyers for Manitowoc served him papers at the show.

????Hiring Lanning -- and flaunting it with a billboard-size poster -- was just the latest salvo in one of the more aggressive pushes into the U.S. by a Chinese company. Sany has long dominated markets at home, where it has rocketed to becoming the biggest construction equipment manufacturer. Now as China's construction boom slows, it is looking for sales elsewhere, and it has moved aggressively into the U.S. market. Too aggressively, if you ask Manitowoc -- or President Barack Obama, which Sany executives are suing -- yes, that's right, suing -- for stopping an affiliate from starting a wind-farm project in northern Oregon.