Published in Fabricating & Metalworking
By Jeremy Edson
I am no economist or clairvoyant, but I’ve been around manufacturing my entire life and immersed in the industry in one way or another for 21 years, from making chips to customer service to product management. From my vantage point in the metal stamping industry, manufacturing is alive and strong in the United States. Late last year, the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI; Institute for Supply Management, Tempe, AZ) reported over a year of consecutive growth in manufacturing. Coming off of a 13-year manufacturing activity high of 60.8 percent in September, the fall season continued to be strong as the average manufacturing workweek crept up to 41 hours with 3.5 hours of overtime.1 With unemployment at 4.1 percent, the shortage of skilled labor looms as a barrier to rapid growth, but sustained growth is achievable and that’s better for the long haul. U.S. manufacturing is nearing capacity as utilization runs at 75.5 percent and 46.8 percent of facilities report greater than 80 percent capacity.
December 11, 2017