Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Bringing Domestic Manufacturing back; multiple dependencies

Reviving Domestic Manufacturing depends on  several factors
1) increased factory automation
2) cheap energy prices relative to competitor nations
3) supply chains and logistics advantages of keeping manufacturing close to the market

See John Mauldin's article (from GaveKal) which discusses factory automation, and what that could mean for the future of manufacturing in the US.  Domestic energy production is also supposed to be a big factor, because those automated manufacturing lines will be most competitive where the energy is cheapest.  Supply chains and logistics considerations will put the US in a competitive place once automation is in place, assuming energy prices can stay low.

Weeks when decades happen

For a gloomy view of the current manufacturing situation, with four ideas to turn it around, see
http://www.itif.org/publications/worse-great-depression-what-experts-are-missing-about-american-manufacturing-decline
from the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation 

No comments: