American manufacturing honored -- but is anyone paying attention?
June 13, 2007

1. Isn’t this American manufacturing? Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosen picked up the Manufacturing Leadership Award from the Society of Automotive Engineers recently for the success Nissan has enjoyed in productivity on its plant floors. Nissan has one of the lowest man-hours per car ratios in the automotive industry at its Smyra, TN plant. Those are American workers building American-made cars. Anyone who wants to continue to suggest that American manufacturing has to take a back seat in the world needs to understand this basic principle – it’s the process, not the product. The process is well known in the market. Anyone can use the process.

2. Low-cost manufacturing… where? Our friends in Poland and Eastern Europe, where Plant Engineering Poland is a huge success, are gathering up business from Western Europe. "The emergence of eastern Europe as a new electronics manufacturing hotspot has helped sustain the growth in the European reflow soldering equipment market," said Frost & Sullivan research analyst Sujatha Chellathurai. "Countries such as Hungary, Romania, Poland, Estonia and the Czech Republic are providing lower-cost alternatives to the former manufacturing hubs in western Europe."

3. That pesky inflation… We’re not the only ones worried about an overheated economy. India's industrial production jumped 13.6% in April, thanks to growth in manufacturing. On the other hand, the Indian government is worried that growth will drive inflation, and is prepared to step in with some good old fashioned Greenspan economics."Intention is to constrain demand in those sectors where there are signs of what you call overheating and example of that could be real estate and housing. I think in these sectors there is reduction in demand," Finance Minister P Chidambaram said.

4. How green is my plant floor? Get ready. Sustainability is going to be the big buzz word in manufacturing, since by now I’m sure you’re tired of productivity. Canon Communications is creating four Green Manufacturing expos at trade shows in Anaheim, Chicago, New York and Charlotte. "Green manufacturing is a growing reality and we need to provide U.S. manufacturers with all the necessary information and tools to take advantage of the latest products and technology to improve their processes," said Canon's V.P. of Events, Kevin O'Keefe. "The economic benefit of going green is very tangible in terms of reducing energy costs, improving recycling and treatment methods, getting ahead of the regulatory curve, and building customer good will."

5. Not a cheesy approach at all: The Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership has doubled its staff in southeast Wisconsin and appointed three Milwaukee-area board members under a local expansion of the technical assistance organization. The Manufacturing Extension Partnership also joined with Milwaukee 7 to promote next-generation manufacturing, and voiced strong support for M7's recently-announced plan to target small and mid-size manufactures as part of its economic development strategy. MEPs are strong programs (there are plenty of stories about MEP at PlantEngineering.com). They are grass-roots, locally-grown initiatives, and they work. The revolution has started, and it’s not coming from Washington.

Posted by Wolseley on June 13, 2007 | Comments (2)