Could These Four Trends Bring Back Manufacturing and Innovation?

Joe Weinlick
Posted by in Manufacturing


Manufacturing trends that bring more factories to the United States directly boost the economy by decreasing unemployment and indirectly improve the economy by increasing innovation. When factories are nearby, research and development teams have immediate access to the results of their efforts. This feedback leads to better innovations that help American companies remain competitive. Here are four manufacturing trends that are making it easier for U.S. businesses to keep their factories on U.S. soil.

1. Additive Manufacturing

With additive manufacturing techniques, including 3D printing, factories use sophisticated software and technology to construct each piece precisely to meet their needs, layer by layer. This allows for small runs of parts that are easily changed as the market changes and helps propel better innovations by making it easy for innovators to produce and test their ideas. There is less need for companies to invest in expensive equipment that only does one job. This manufacturing trend also helps keep production facilities smaller so they are easier to locate near markets and suppliers for reduced transportation costs and faster marketing.

2. Inexpensive Energy

An increased availability of domestic shale gas has substantially lowered the cost of energy for many U.S. factories. At the same time, newer production techniques require less energy overall, which further lowers costs. This manufacturing trend is a particular boon to production facilities that require a lot of energy, including chemical companies, paper manufacturing facilities and the steel industry.

3. Faster Production

Modern technology makes it easy to produce products quicker than ever before. Predictive maintenance techniques help keep machinery up and running for less downtime. Computers take control of the maintenance process, continually gathering data about the machines and ordering preventative maintenance at the best times to avoid breakdowns. The manufacturing trend toward continuous production keeps products, such as pharmaceuticals and chemicals, moving throughout the production process for a smooth output that's easy to stop or change at any point. This is in contrast to traditional batch-production methods in which a larger amount of product is produced and the company faces a loss if a change needs to be made or something goes wrong.

4. Advanced Robotics

Companies that use advanced robotics to manufacture products save money on labor, helping them remain competitive with companies producing products in countries with lower labor costs. With the cost of robotics dropping, this manufacturing trend is likely to become the norm in more diverse facilities, further reducing costs. Also, workers in some countries traditionally associated with offshoring are starting to look for higher wages and a better standard of living, making it easier for companies to keep their factories at home.

Although these manufacturing trends are likely to increase the number of factories in the United States, they may not lead to a large increase in employment. Robotics and additive manufacturing sometimes replace human workers in the production process. Future factory employees need to have more training in technology to stay up to date.


Photo courtesy of toonsteb at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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