A Special Report
ally, international sales remain strong despite uncertainty about world markets, contributing 38% of total revenues. More proof of the optimism: 58% plan on hiring, albeit at a moderate, cautious rate. It’s easy to see reasons for general optimism, even if it remains cautious: • Employment. After hitting a high of 10% in 2009, the US unemployment rate stubbornly edged down to 7.8% during the last months of 2012. Manufactur- ing has led much of the jobs recovery. In fact, the US picked up 180,000 manufacturing jobs in 2012, including 25,000 in the last month of the year, accord- ing to preliminary seasonally adjusted figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
• Housing. The housing sector is working through excess inventory and is beginning to show positive signs. Pric- es have gained traction. Housing starts gained more than 25% in December 2012 over the same period a year earlier and are approaching one million units for the first time since 2008, according to the US Census. Inter- est rates remain low.
• Autos. Car buying is also nearing pre-recession levels in the US, with some analysts predict- ing light vehicle sales between 15 and 16 mil- lion in 2013. Given the lower cost structures of GM, Ford and Chrys- ler after their massive restructurings, the sales are delivering higher profits that should result
extraction equipment in oil and gas, but also because it’s driving down energy costs. Renewable energy in- dustries were also given a boost with the US extension of the Production Tax Credit.
• Aerospace and Defense. One of the healthiest industries worldwide, the aerospace sector survived the economic crisis largely unscathed. Healthy growth is expected to continue, and there is much innovation in the way of composites, batteries and supply chain logistics. The outlook for the defense industry, where government cuts loom large, is plateauing.
• Medical. The medical industry, which spans many different types of devices and equipment, is undergo- ing massive change and facing new regulatory, tax and payment hurdles. While the industry is expected to grow modestly in the coming year, the stresses are expected to result in consolidation and strain the small- est startups.
Today, we may be on the verge of a major change in the way that automobiles are made.
in more R&D and other North American investments. Foreign automakers also continue to move manufac- turing operations to North America as all automakers increasingly near-shore operations closer to the point of sale. There’s even discussion that North America may now be capacity-constrained.
• Energy. A boom in the energy sector is driving manu- facturing gains not just from the production of new
• Software. Manufacturing software is becoming ever more critical throughout the enterprise. The use of sophisticated software now spans virtual design, testing, multifunction manufacturing, measuring, resource plan- ning and more. Increased processing speeds, advanced sensor technology, secure clouds and other new tech- nologies are democratizing this software, too, making it more affordable and accessible. Increasingly, it’s also
April 2013 |
ManufacturingEngineeringMedia.com 3
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150