Week 32 in Manufacturing News

U.S. manufacturing activity near 1-1/2-year high, factory job losses persist; Staring At A Crisis, U.S. Manufacturers Must Embrace Technology – And Risk; UK, Eurozone Factories Bounce Back; ‘Antifragility’ Meets Manufacturing: Turning Crisis Into Opportunit.

U.S. Manufacturing Activity Near 1-1/2-Year High, Factory Job Losses Persist

U.S. manufacturing activity accelerated to its highest level in nearly 1-1/2 years in July as orders increased.

The survey from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) on Monday shows hiring at factories remaining subdued for a year now. About 72% of industries reported growth last month.

Source: Reuters.

Staring At A Crisis, U.S. Manufacturers Must Embrace Technology – And Risk

If manufacturers want to survive and to thrive when the economy picks up again, they must start investing in technology. That will be difficult not only because it will require new spending when revenue is depressed but also because for many of them, the learning curve will be steep. And many small manufacturers will have to overcome their natural risk aversion.

Source: Forbes.

UK, Eurozone Factories Bounce Back

Stock markets around the world are pushing higher, with the UK’s FTSE 100 index up 1.86%, Germany’s Dax 2.4% ahead and France’s CAC rising 1.78%. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones rose 0.46%, the S&P 500 advanced 0.5% and the Nasdaq gained 1.2% to 10,876.

Final PMI survey readings showed factories in the US, UK and eurozone bouncing back last month. In the UK, manufacturing output grew at the fastest rate since 2017 last month while in the eurozone, production was the highest since April 2018.

Source: The Guardian.

‘Antifragility’ Meets Manufacturing: Turning Crisis Into Opportunity

Modern manufacturers need to make investments in understanding their customer demand as well as their visibility into inventory, supply chain availability, and performance.

All manufacturers should be able to answer basic questions about their supply chains: How long will it take to respond to a surge or drop in customer demand? How many components are set aside for you on a daily or hourly basis? If you need a second source, how much capacity will they have?

Source: Forbes.