US Manufacturing Resurgence

The data for the amount of manufacturing occurring with the US continues to improve. Craig Barner at Forbes had a good recent status check.

Last August, Farok J. Contractor (professor of management and global business with Rutgers Business School) published an article: 7 Reasons to Expect US Manufacturing Resurgence. I loved this article. Contractor laid out a map of some of the factors that are driving some improvements in the level of manufacturing being done onshore. His list is comprised of a range of items from declining real wages and higher logistics costs. It is an excellent article. Contractor ends his article with some countering factors that would tend to drive manufacturing away.

Of course, all indicators are not positive. Three factors could inhibit the US resurgence: 

• The culture devalues science or engineering education. “Nerds,” “geeks” or “wonks” are at the bottom of the social totem pole compared to sports, film and media celebrities. A culture that emphasizes quick results and instant gratification deters students from tackling math, engineering and other challenging subjects.
• Too many students pursue a general college degree. According to a survey released by the Manpower Group in May 2012, talent shortages persist in skilled trades, engineers and IT staff, with “nearly half of U.S. employers struggling to fill mission-critical positions.” In OECD countries an average 23 percent of college degrees are in engineering, science or mathematics. But in the US such degrees comprise only 15 percent – and of these, foreign students earn a quarter of the degrees at the undergraduate level and some two-thirds at the doctoral level.
• US companies lack an apprenticeship system. In other OECD nations like Germany, alternative paths in education lead to diplomas or certificates in technical areas, with employees trained by the company in a particular technology and then retained in well-paying careers. Some US companies are trying this approach, highlighted by G. Bussey in an April Wall Street Journal article. For example, General Electric is sending new employees for crash courses in hands-on manufacturing or sponsoring two-week summer camps at universities on lean manufacturing for high-school students.

To all the manufacturing and quality professionals, you have a growth opportunity we did not expect to see back in ...say 2009. Now is the time to take your courses, get your certifications.