Industry/Manufacturing Trends

November 30, 2004 Community Breakfast Comments

What trends will affect the way you do business in 5 years?

Economy	Outsourcing. Tourism. Entrepreneurship; creative, new business. Real estate investments. Just in time economy/knowledge based; reduced lead times in orders. Public funding decreases Cheap labor and smarter than ever from overseas World demand for resources, now that third world countries are maturing; raw material shortages and increased costs Overseas competition. Need to do more with less. Manufacturing time reduction. Lean manufacturing. Geographic consolidation. Steel costs. Continuous improvement. Healthcare/retirement burden. Need for people who can do resource-project management. Big three transition to Asian big three. Continued globalization of goods and services thru open trade. Skilled labor supply declining. People/quality of work performance. Competition from China. Strengthening our position with respect to the auto industry. Improving testing facilities and capacity. Increased competition from "low cost countries" resulting in outsourcing manufacturing jobs from the US (i.e. companies like SMI) to the low cost countries (i.e. China, Korea, etc.). Companies like SMI need to be innovative and implement automation to be competitive. Area is increasingly a location for "second homes". Client base changing: resort development, senior housing, second home New firms coming up. Environmental - cradle to grave; green building. The Big 3 Automakers are progressively moving out of the U.S. Cradle to Grave response for a fully recyclable auto. Foreign engineers are looking at working in the U.S. More specialization in trades. Marine 4-stroke elec. fuel injection. Power equipment/commercial equipment/golf course-grounds-turf grass.
Government	Regulation; state tax. State/Federal Government emphasis in post-secondary Growth in U.S. Government in size, regulations, and spending. Continued changes in the building code and various interpretations from different governmental agencies.
Technology	Pace of change in industry/technology. Internet sales, low price on products sold. High technology machining. Security-firewalls, internet, wireless. Improved technology and increase use of technology almost encourages decrease in number of employees; to counter this trend requires a greater market area for local employers. CAD - civil based need. Strong technical background with communication skills. Info technology-more efficient, more competitive. Community: email, broadband, collaboration/teamwork, people skills. Technology is the most extreme problem to deal with, i.e. material used, applications and use of electronics in the automotive climate. Industry needs will affect software, computers and topics covered in the classroom. Virtual work groups (different locations & time zones). More internet based software. Growth of the Grand Traverse area for architectural and civil drafting concerns; downturn of manufacturing will hurt mechanical drafting or machining. Continued demand for technicians.
Demographics	Expanding labor force due to large number of 10-18 years old population. Attraction & expansion of high skill office jobs due to office development. Growth of retirees, looking for second career. Keeping young people. Aging machinist base. Growing need to ally and partner with both domestic and international companies. Lack of trained precision machinist (CNC experience) lathe & mill. Aging workforce for this industry (CNC machining). Housing/development need based on demographics. Changing technology primarily as it pertains to CAD.
General	Greater safety and health standards for manufacturing industry. Communication and cooperation.
Education	Our education system needs to continue to improve to drive U.S. innovation. Skilled workers (optics). Counselors at H.S. have "lost touch" with trades as a direction; even Auto Tech needs math, English. Education never-ending. Technician certification - OPE/OPESSA.

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