Economy

If a region is attracting new manufacturing companies, what's the fastest way to help them launch their businesses? The answer from Danville, Virginia, is the 51,250-sq.-ft. Center for Manufacturing Advancement.

In Chicagoland, most owners of manufacturing companies are not only white but at the age of retirement and lacking succession plans. The owners' kids don't want to take over, or they don't have the skills to. The likeliest fate for these businesses is to be bought by private equity firms that fire the employees, sell off some assets and move on, meaning a huge loss of jobs and revenue in the region.

In 2019, we expect a continued strong, robust manufacturing sector. Even if there is some slowdown, the challenge for many companies this year remains, “How do we generate more with less?” as they face labor and talent shortages and increasing prices for labor, energy and cost of materials.

The United States had as many people working in the manufacturing sector in December as 69 years earlier. The 32,000 positions added in that month took the number of jobs in manufacturing to 12.84 million. In November 1949, there were 12.88 million manufacturing workers at the end of a sharp recession. But the economy in 1949 was unlike that of the U.S. in 2019. Then, some 30 percent of American civilian workers outside the farm sector were in manufacturing. Now, that percentage stands at just 8.5, about as low as ever.

From January to November 2018, the Institute for Supply Management reported that Buffalo, New York's Purchasing Managers' Index was consistently higher than the national PMI, averaging 72.4, which was more than 10 points above the national average. With a long history as a manufacturing hub and recent growth, it's not surprising that there are many great manufacturing jobs available in the community. Moreover, the types of jobs advertised are changing. Instead of traditional manufacturing positions, employers are hiring for roles like machinist and programmer, which usually offer higher wages and better advancement opportunities.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology's Manufacturing Extension Partnership has a unique position in the federal government that allows the MEP to collect and analyze feedback directly from clients served by the MEP's national network. This provides the MEP program with a wealth of information that guides the MEP's approaches to serving the U.S. manufacturing industry both now and in the future. At the start of a new year, it is important to take a step back and look at what clients are saying. Being responsive to the needs of manufacturers and helping mitigate their challenges are two of the program's goals. Integrating client feedback to help clients prepare for future challenges is important.

The operations manager at the largest nail manufacturer in the United States, Mid Continent Steel and Wire Inc., says his company has fought hard to survive in the face of unfair foreign competition over the past 12 years. The business planned for further growth and was on a great path until the Trump administration levied steel and aluminum tariffs, which took effect in June.

In the United States, the universal complaint about recruitment for manufacturing jobs is that there aren’t enough qualified candidates for all the positions that people are working feverishly to fill. So why are recruiters hobbling their own efforts by purposely limiting the candidate pools they’ll even consider?