During the '80's, the industry in Greece is characterised by intense crisis and restructuring. The post-war system of capital accumulation and industrial growth, which was based on low cost and skill workforce, does not allow any increase of industrial competitivity and production. The needs for modernisation, high quality and productivity constitute both challenges for genuine solutions and criticism of the stereotypes concerning the development incentives and industrial policies. This article claims that the actual terms of re-industrialisation and the geography of industrial enterprises in Greece restate the modernisation problem as a problem of local flexibility: a question of the social compromises and regulations which can upgrade certain local productive systems.