Week 42 in Manufacturing News

The American Dream: Bringing Factories Back to the U.S.; Industrial Manufacturing In A Time Of Disruption; ‘Smart’ Products to Connect and Increase Speed of Manufacturing Processes; Future-Proofing The Australian Manufacturing Industry Through Digital Transformation.

The American Dream: Bringing Factories Back to the U.S.

For years, investors cheered as U.S. companies shifted manufacturing overseas to reduce costs and boost profit margins. That could soon start to change, with decades of offshoring replaced by reshoring.

The shortages of personal protective equipment and other essential items during the early stages of the pandemic were a powerful reminder that corporate managers’ obsession with efficiency and cost-cutting at the expense of diversification and resiliency had made the American economy vulnerable. 

Source: Barron’s

Industrial Manufacturing In A Time Of Disruption

Industrial manufacturers are under pressure to interpret and act upon a variety of forces affecting their business, from cyberthreats to changes in the market. These disruptions often occur simultaneously—making their complex interactions difficult to decipher and report—and are typically exacerbated by the technological state of firms.

Source: Forbes

‘Smart’ Products to Connect and Increase Speed of Manufacturing Processes

One of the UK’s specialists in tooling, intelligent fixturing and components is launching a new range of ‘digital’ solutions that will connect manufacturing processes and enable easier, faster automation.

Metlase, a joint venture between Unipart and Roll-Royce, commissioned a dedicated team to develop ‘smart’ products, including the Digital Gauge (conducting a digital dimensional inspection process), Smart Bench (ensures no-fault forward in the assembly process as well as connecting up-front supply chains) and Smart Cell.

Source: ETMM-Online

Future-Proofing The Australian Manufacturing Industry Through Digital Transformation

Global manufacturing has been shaken by the pandemic. It’s not just the social distancing restrictions that have been placed on workplaces, which have forced them to operate in non-standard ways, the border closures and surge in demand for speciality goods (think toilet paper, hand sanitiser and PPE) laid bare just how vulnerable global supply chains can be.

Given these issues, local manufacturers were both relieved and excited to hear that the new Federal budget sets aside $1.5 billion over four years for their industry. 

Source: Manufacturers’ Monthly