FOCUS : AUTOMATION SOLUTIONS


04


Reshoring: Human Factors & Automation Solutions


There are serious “human” hurdles that must be addressed going beyond creating and delivering an “optimal” technology solution. Included here are efforts to reclaim manufacturing in North America that has, for decades, been outsourced to lower-cost countries.


The Reshoring Initiative® , begun in


2010, is gaining notice and support. No fewer than 34 manufacturing companies and trade associations have become sponsors of the Initiative. Further,


it’s achieving


quantifiable results: it’s estimated that approximately 50,000 jobs have come back to the U.S. in the last three years. That's about 10% of the growth in manufacturing jobs during that period. Some people say this is just a trickle, but others say it's more than just a trickle (but less than a flood).


Among the trickle, Ford has expanded operations in Michigan, GE is regenerating Appliance Park, Kentucky, BMW, Nissan and Union Pacific have recently built factories or expanded production in the U.S., Otis Elevator Company has returned to South Carolina, Buck Knives came back to Idaho, Karen Kane relocated


to Southern California, Coleman has moved back to Kansas and Apple says they will start manufacturing a line of its Mac computers in the U.S. later this year.


Labor Shortage But if reshoring’s trickle should become a river, then a flood, will we have the workforce required to address the manufacturing needs?


A ThomasNet.com study found that 59% of small and medium- size manufacturers are planning to hire skilled trade workers — that is, if they can find them. As a recent article in Fortune magazine noted, "Companies that make tangible products are struggling to find candidates for about 237,000 job openings. To put that figure in perspective, it's 89,000 more than the entire U.S. economy created last September."


That is partly due to a lack of available welders, machinists, and other skilled laborers, leading some companies to begin apprentice type programs, as are commonly found in Europe, to create their own labor stream. This approach has been largely, but not entirely, led by German companies emulating programs in their domestic markets here in the US.


While training and apprentice type programs can certainly help some — they may not do much to address the powerful demographic changes going on. Nearly 80% of the current manufacturing workforce is between the ages of 45 and 65, says a new study from ThomasNet.com. One- third are between 55 and 64 years old and obviously not too far from retirement. Yet more than 75% of the manufacturers in the study said that fewer than 25% of their employees are under age 30, and most don't see that changing anytime soon.


Doosan Supplies Answers As a sponsor of the Reshoring Initiative®


, Doosan Infracore America


(DIA) understands the many challenges manufacturers face when bringing work back to our shores. In response to the demands of reshoring initiatives, DIA has beefed up its in-house skills to provide both simple and complex turnkey solutions tailored to small job shops, all the way up to full scale production.


“At DIA we take a hands-on approach to automation, as opposed to forcing our customers to work with a third- party integrator” explains Ted Rozier, Automation Manager at Doosan Infracore America. “This allows us to remain closer to our customer, and


Lynx 300 with Doosan DooCell


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