Some 12,838,000 million Americans held manufacturing jobs in April 2019. That's 12 percent more than in April 2010, it's the highest total since December 2008.
In my March editorial, I discussed the impact of steel and aluminum tariffs on assemblers of steel and aluminum products. However, another constituency has also been affected by tariffs: U.S. consumers.
Data analytics, augmented reality, generative design, artificial intelligence, cobots, additive manufacturing and other technologies are already helping manufacturers increase efficiency, reduce downtime, lower prices, differentiate themselves in the marketplace, and improve service, delivery and quality.
Remember Super Bowl XLIV between the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts? With the Saints trailing 10-6 at halftime, Saints coach Sean Payton made one of the gutsiest gambles in NFL history, calling for an onside kick to start the second half.
Remember the nursery rhyme about the old lady who swallows a fly? She swallows a spider to catch the fly, a bird to catch the spider, a cat to catch the bird, and so on, until she finally swallows a horse and dies.
In November, General Motors stunned the nation by announcing that it will cut 15 percent of its salaried workforce and idle assembly plants in Michigan, Ohio, Maryland and Canada.
Manufacturing in America is more robust than you might think. Many metro areas across the country have growing manufacturing sectors that employ workers in good jobs and enable them to save for the future.
Rethink Robotics, the pioneering manufacturer of the Baxter and Sawyer collaborative robots, closed for business Oct. 3, just 10 years after it started.
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