Week 33 in Manufacturing News

U.S. manufacturing production accelerates in July; Nearly All Small UK Manufacturers Face Costs Headache; UK Unemployment Falls Amid Record Rise in Job Vacancies; Made Smarter Helps SME Manufacturers Prepare for Digital Future Challenges With Leadership Programme.

U.S. Manufacturing Production Accelerates in July

Production at U.S. factories surged in July, boosted by an acceleration in motor vehicle output as automakers either pared or canceled annual retooling shutdowns to work around a global semiconductor shortage.

Manufacturing output jumped 1.4% last month after falling 0.3% in June, the Federal Reserve said on Tuesday.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast manufacturing production rising 0.6%. Last month, production at auto plants soared 11.2%.

Source: CNBC.

Nearly All Small UK Manufacturers Face Costs Headache

Nearly all small British manufacturers are struggling with rising costs, according to a survey on Thursday that showed widespread worries over recruitment and logistics caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit.

Global shipping problems, tight supplies of semiconductors and shortages of some goods such as motor vehicles have contributed to rising inflation in many countries.

Thursday’s survey suggested the problems were hurting margins among small manufacturers. The proportion expecting profits to rise in the next six month fell to 46% from 52% at the start of this year.

Source: Reuters.

UK Unemployment Falls Amid Record Rise in Job Vacancies

June and July figures show rocketing demand for workers as country emerged from Covid lockdown.

According to official figures, the unemployment rate dropped to 4.7% in the three months to June, down 0.2 percentage points on the previous quarter. Data for July showed the number of job vacancies passed 1m for the first time on record, the Office for National Statistics said.

Source: The Guardian.

Made Smarter Helps SME Manufacturers Prepare for Digital Future Challenges With Leadership Programme

Made Smarter’s innovative Leadership Programme has helped create 60 digital leaders, all of who have the vision and skills needed to pursue smarter manufacturing.

The programme encourages current and future leaders to develop a new way of looking at their businesses and create a clear strategy to enable the adoption of digital technology

The Made Smarter Leadership Programme, is delivered through the Lancaster University Management School (LUMS), the University of Liverpool (UoL) and Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU).

Source: The Manufacturer.