Week 2 in Manufacturing News

U.S. Takes Strategic Step to Onshore Electronics Manufacturing; UK Manufacturing Update: Brexit Fears and Opportunities in 2021; Diversity, Inclusion Efforts Can Make a Difference in Attracting, Retaining Talent in Manufacturing; What is the Real Value of Autonomous Manufacturing Robots?

U.S. Takes Strategic Step to Onshore Electronics Manufacturing

Late last week, the U.S. Congress passed the annual policy law that guides the U.S. Defense Department. Tucked away inside the National Defense Authorization Act of 2021 (NDAA) are provisions that supporters hope will lead to a resurgence in chip manufacturing in the United States. The provisions include authorization for what could be billions of dollars of financial incentives for construction or modernization of facilities “relating to the fabrication, assembly, testing, advanced packaging, or advanced research and development of semiconductors.”

Source: IEEE Spectrum

UK Manufacturing Update: Brexit Fears and Opportunities in 2021

Brexit fears are clouding the outlook of the UK manufacturing industry as it enters a new year, according to a major survey by Make UK and PwC.

The UK’s new trading relationship with the EU as well as the attractiveness of the UK for investment and talent play a part in the reported fears.

Despite this, more companies believe the opportunities outweigh the risks for their businesses as many plan significant investments in boosting productivity and agility.

Source: Production Engineering Solutions

Diversity, Inclusion Efforts Can Make a Difference in Attracting, Retaining Talent in Manufacturing

With a large portion of the manufacturing workforce reaching age 55 and older, and with the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic brought in 2020, the industry has been confronted with a shortage of interested and skilled applicants. The new year provides a great opportunity for companies to evaluate or adopt diversity and inclusion (D&I) initiatives. There has been a push in recent years for companies to adopt D&I programs and manufacturers are in a unique position to utilize these programs.

Source: The National Law Review

What is the Real Value of Autonomous Manufacturing Robots?

While aerospace technology and equipment has been a global technology leader for decades, manufacturing processes inside the aerospace industry have sometimes lagged behind. This is generally because aerospace manufacturing and MRO firms generally function in a “high-mix, low-volume” format. They produce a relatively small amount of goods compared to mass manufacturers, but those goods offer tremendous value and often require frequent changeover in order to get the job done.  

Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles have attracted plenty of interest front the aerospace industry, and the long tradition of autopilot systems has led the way for machine control of everyday essential services. 

Source: Intelligent Aerospace