During a recent road trip, I encountered two bridges under repair. Both bridges had only one lane open, necessitating a way to alternate the flow of traffic. At the first bridge, that task was handled by two flagmen, one on each end. At the second, traffic was controlled by a pair of portable, automatic gates.
MUNCIE, IN--Manufacturing jobs might be disappearing because of automation, but manufacturing productivity is actually up in this state and the nation, according to a new study from Ball State University.
TEMPE, AZ—U.S. manufacturing and services executives expect to see increased revenue, hiring and capital spending in 2017, reflecting confidence in the economy, according to a survey released May 22 by the Institute for Supply Management.
Kildeer, IL—For the first time in decades, more manufacturing jobs are returning to the United States than are going offshore, according to the Reshoring Initiative. New U.S. manufacturing jobs attributed to reshoring and foreign direct investment totaled 77,000 in 2016. That’s a 10 percent increase over 2015 and it exceeded the rate of offshoring by about 27,000 jobs.
WASHINGTON—Trade pressure and faltering U.S. competitiveness, not automation, were the main reasons the U.S. lost 5.7 million manufacturing jobs between 2000 and 2010, according to a new report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.
DONGGUAN, CHINA—The Changying Precision Technology Co., which focuses on producing mobile phones and automated production lines, used to employ around 650 employees. Today, it has about 60 employees as a result of replacing nearly 90 percent of its human workforce with machines.
DURHAM, NC—Manufacturing jobs at automotive suppliers have risen nearly 19 percent in the United States since 2012, according to a study released today by the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA). More than 871,000 Americans are directly employed by the automotive parts manufacturing industry. This number, which is up from 734,000 in 2012, represents 2.9 percent of total U.S. jobs and 2.4 percent of U.S. gross domestic product.
MUNCIE, IN--President Donald Trump focused a large part of his campaign on the fragile state of American manufacturing, vowing to bring those lost jobs back stateside. However, a new Ball State University study suggests that outsourcing accounts for only a small fraction of the 5 million manufacturing job cuts in the past 16 years.
TEMPE, AZ—U.S. manufacturing and services firms expect to see rising revenues and profits next year, amid a stronger economy and only modest increases in costs, according to the Institute of Supply Management. The ISM semiannual economic forecast also showed that companies expect a small increase in employment across both sectors, after a contraction in 2016.