Week 17 in Manufacturing News

Looking to American Manufacturing Entrepreneurs to Save Lives and Jobs; UK and eurozone suffer record slumps amid Covid-19 lockdowns – business live; EU should ‘not aim for self-sufficiency’ after coronavirus, trade chief says; What Will Manufacturing’s New Normal Be After COVID-19?

Looking to American Manufacturing Entrepreneurs to Save Lives and Jobs

The Manufacturing Coalition says they can create a domestic supply chain to secure products essential to U.S. security, including those to combat COVID. The Manufacturing Coalition, a group of American business leaders drawn from the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO).

Source: IndustryWeek.

UK and eurozone suffer record slumps amid Covid-19 lockdowns – business live

Companies across Britain and the euro area report tumbling orders and activity, as the world slides into a deep recession

• UK economy shrinking fast
• UK flash PMI falls to just 12.9 (record low)
• Eurozone PMI slumps to new low
• UK to issue £225bn of new debt by July

Live updates: The Guardian.

EU should ‘not aim for self-sufficiency’ after coronavirus, trade chief says

Phil Hogan says the recent surge in EU medical manufacturing is a crisis-response solution — not a permanent one.

He says the EU has to be more outward-looking and do more trade agreements around the world.

Source: Financial Times

What Will Manufacturing’s New Normal Be After COVID-19?

History teaches us that short-term measures taken in response to global crises lead to changes that last for decades.

Manufacturers are scrambling to resume production, revive supply chains, and get back to some semblance of normality resembling that of the pre-virus world.

Some points about long term effects:

• Revival of (Automated) Domestic Manufacturing
• Decoupling of Supply Chains
• Data Infrastructure as a Strategic Asset
• Remote Work, Collaboration and the ‘Virtual Shift’

Source: IndustryWeek.