Week 29 in Manufacturing News

In June, industrial production in the US was flat; The report shows the scale of the beauty sector and claims it makes a bigger contribution to the UK’s gross domestic product (GDP) than even motor manufacturing.

U.S. manufacturing ‘is in recession,’ Fed’s data show

The U.S. factory sector declined in the three months ended in June, the second straight quarterly decline, the Federal Reserve said Tuesday.

For the second quarter, production was down 1.2% after a 1.9% decline in the first three months of the year. Manufacturing fell at a 2.2% rate in the second quarter after a 1.9% drop in the first three months of the year.

For June, industrial production was flat, slightly below the 0.1% gain expected by Wall Street economists.

Source: MarketWatch.

Impact of the beauty industry on the UK economy ‘outstrips motor manufacturing’

The Value of Beauty, commissioned from Oxford Economics by the newly-formed British Beauty Council, argues that until now the contribution of the beauty industry has been underrated and wrongly regarded as peripheral to the economy.

The report, the first of its kind to examine in detail the scale of the beauty sector, claims it makes a bigger contribution to the UK’s gross domestic product (GDP) than even motor manufacturing or publishing. While motor manufacturing in the UK makes a direct contribution of £13.5 billion to the economy, the direct contribution of beauty retailers, manufacturers and advertisers were £14.2 billion last year.

Source: Telegraph.

Industrial, Infrastructure and Manufacturing Business Council: 16 July 2019

PM Theresa May hosted her Industrial, Infrastructure and Manufacturing Business Council at Downing Street. The council, co-chaired by Sir Roger Carr, Chairman, BAE Systems and Sir Ian Davis, Chairman, Rolls Royce, discussed important issues affecting the UK business environment including the apprenticeship levy and carbon capture and storage (CCS).

Full story at gov.uk

AI in manufacturing: adopt early to gain market share

New digital technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) offer huge potential for manufacturers. Despite the many benefits, the Manufacturing Leadership Council’s ‘Factories of the Future’survey revealed that less than one in 10 (8%) of manufacturers are currently using AI – though a further 50% expect to deploy it within two years.

Harvard Business Review sums up: “By the time a late adopter has done all the necessary preparation, earlier adopters will have taken considerable market share.”

Source: The Manufacturer.