As a manufacturing sector expert, you already know about the intrinsic links between the production industry and other sectors. When a related industry stumbles, manufacturing companies feel the effect almost immediately. Conversely, when the economy prospers, production increases and businesses flourish. Manufacturing trends depend entirely on consumers—whether they're individuals or other businesses.
With that in mind, the 2007 housing crisis and the subsequent global recession were bad news for manufacturers of every type all over the world. By September 2008, many US production companies were suffering enormously; by the end of 2011, the effects of the Great Recession were tangible on every continent.
The recession was yet another blow for the US manufacturing industry, which had been in decline for years. Soon after the turn of the twenty-first century, many companies began to outsource production to overseas vendors—some relocated their entire operations. Soaring profit margins and cheap labor made international movement financially compelling. Unfortunately, it left the onshore American manufacturers out of the loop.
Thankfully, there is a light at the end of every tunnel. For the production industry, salvation came shrouded in the mist of consumer demand as the US populace began voting with its dollars. Tired of "Made in China" labels, customers started to boycott imported goods in favor of American-made products. Eventually, the scales tipped in favor of the American manufacturing industry and another manufacturing trend—the reshoring process—began.
The reshoring movement has been a particularly profound manufacturing trend: after all, the process presents compelling evidence of consumers' game-changing power. It also shows just how quickly things can change for the better. Recently, for example, economic equilibrium crept into companies on the East Coast. The area's newfound prosperity came as a surprise to industry pundits, many of whom formerly predicted a much longer journey to stability.
In October 2013, the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond's monthly manufacturing report placed the regional production industry at a plus one overall. According to the study, industry employment rose, wages increased, and the number of backlogged orders diminished. In addition to this, manufacturers felt generally positive about business going forward into 2014. Survey participants also suspected that they would be able to sell product for increasing amounts of money over the same time period.
Notably, President Obama's plans to modernize the American infrastructure include port investment proposals. East Coast ports have always been important; given the recent global manufacturing trends, however, exports may become more common than imports in the future. Perhaps surprisingly, the demand for American-made goods no longer begins and ends in America. Globally, "Made in America" is seen as a positive product attribute—and plenty of industry specialists want that manufacturing trend to continue.
The Great Recession spread across the globe like a metachronal wave, toppling economic stability wherever it went. Because of its interconnected nature, the production industry felt its effects almost immediately. Now, however, economic recovery is well underway and manufacturing trends are much more positive than they were five years ago. The reshoring movement, for example, has brought renewed prosperity to many American manufacturers. As the economy improves, manufacturing trends will no doubt follow suit—perhaps pushing the US production industry back into the global limelight.
(Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)
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