Category : Newsletter Articles

“We congratulate President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on being declared the winners of the presidential election, House Democrats on holding their majority and Senate and House Republicans on their formidable election showing.  It should be clear from the gains made by the Republican Party in this election that the American people are not interested in extreme policies from either party; they are looking for smart, stable and solutions-oriented governance. Indeed, it is clear that the Republican gains indicate that our agenda to promote a successful and competitive manufacturing sector is broadly supported. We look forward to working with anyone and everyone who shares the same objectives of our policy and advocating constructively with those who may not.

Manufacturing in the United States unites our country, and Americans from all walks of life want to see us succeed. In the wake of this election, with many in our deeply divided country feeling anger and disappointment and some feeling relief, this association uniquely has a platform and an opportunity to lead toward shared objectives like no other.”

The J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI expanded at the fastest pace since May 2018, up from 52.4 in September to 53.0 in October, buoyed by strength in demand and production and rising for the fourth straight month. In October, eight of the top 10 markets for U.S.-manufactured goods had expanding manufacturing sectors, up from seven in September and just one (China) in May.

Economic activity in the manufacturing industry has stayed steady in the pandemic thus far, with employment levels hovering at about 39,000 workers in 2020. Employment in manufacturing increased 3.4 percent in the third quarter, in contrast to decreases of 4.2 percent in the second quarter and 0.3 percent in the first quarter.

• The Institute for Supply Management® reported that the manufacturing sector expanded in October at the fastest pace since September 2018, with the sector continuing to rebound from COVID-19-related weaknesses in the spring. The data were buoyed by robust growth in new orders, which rose at rates not seen since January 2004. With that said, there are also hints at lingering supply chain disruptions in the ISM despite solid progress since April in these data.
• New orders for manufactured goods rose 1.1% in September, increasing for the fifth straight month. Despite recent progress, new factory orders have fallen 3.9% year-over-year, due largely to severe COVID-19 disruptions in March and April. More encouragingly, core capital goods spending—a proxy for capital spending in the U.S. economy—rose 1.0% in September, with 4.5% growth over the past 12 months.
• Manufacturing added 38,000 workers in October, rising for the sixth straight month. Despite recent gains, the labor market for the sector remains well below its pre-COVID-19 pace, with manufacturing employment down by 621,000 in October relative to the level in February. The current outlook is for 12,300,000 employees in the manufacturing sector at year’s end, with continued growth next year, up from 12,231,000 in October.

The U.S. economy grew at an unrivaled pace in the third quarter as the government poured out more than $3 trillion worth of pandemic relief which fueled consumer spending, but the deep scars from the COVID-19 recession could take a year or more to heal. Gross domestic product rebounded at a 33.1% annualized rate last quarter, the Commerce Department said in its advance estimate on Thursday. That was the fastest pace since the government started keeping records in 1947 and followed a historic shrinkage rate of 31.4% in the second quarter.

Hexagon AB, a global leader in sensor, software and autonomous solutions, today announced the signing of an agreement to acquire D.P. Technology Corp. (“D.P. Technology), a leading developer and supplier of computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) technology. The ESPRIT CAM System, its flagship solution, is the smart manufacturing solution for any machining application. Supporting any class of CNC machine via a common interface and workflow, it provides high-performance CNC machine programming, optimisation, and simulation for a broad range of precision manufacturing applications.

Well known for its machine-optimised, edit-free G-code (toolpath), ESPRIT leverages a digital twin simulation platform to model the finished part, tools, and CNC machine. AI-based algorithms eliminate manual data input and provide machine operators with greater assurance of what will happen on the shop floor. The result – simplified programming, increased tool life and utilisation, reduced cycle times and improved productivity.

“D.P. Technology is an innovator with a strong focus on building smarter, data-driven manufacturing solutions. When combined with our production software portfolio, it cements our market-leading position in CAM, particularly around CNC manufacturing processes, and accelerates the development of our Smart Manufacturing portfolio,” says Hexagon President and CEO Ola Rollén. “Additionally, the D.P. Technology team has built excellent working relationships with leading machine tool providers and other manufacturing technology experts, which will prove invaluable in our open and interoperable manufacturing ecosystem approach.”

Founded in 1982 and headquartered in Camarillo, California, D.P. Technology employs around 260 people in 27 locations worldwide. The company is also represented by a network of 130 resellers across 44 countries, giving ESPRIT a global footprint and install base. D.P. Technology will operate as part of Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division.

Production occupations are the fastest-growing occupations in 11 states: Alabama, Arizona, Idaho, Kentucky, Maine, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Wisconsin. The largest recent four-year job growth in this occupation category occurred in the state of Rhode Island, where structural metal fabricators and fitters increased from 230 in 2015 to 1,780 in 2019, almost 674%. Metal and plastic multiple machine tool setters, operators and tenders ranked as the fastest-growing job in two of these states – Arizona and Tennessee. This job involves setting up, operating or tending more than one type of cutting or forming machine or robot. In the four-year period from 2015 to 2019, the number of employees in this job increased by more than 276% in Arizona and by almost 374% in Tennessee. In Maine, metal and plastic milling and planing machine setters, operators and tenders had a four-year growth of 650%.

Michigan created the most net new manufacturing jobs in September, adding 5,200 workers. Other states with notable employment growth for the month included Wisconsin (up 4,800), Maine (up 4,700), Florida (up 3,700), South Carolina (up 3,600), Georgia (up 3,300) and Ohio (up 3,100). Despite gains over the past five months, manufacturing employment figures continue to experience sizable declines due to COVID-19.

The IHS Markit Flash U.S. Manufacturing PMI edged slightly higher in October, notching the best reading since January 2019, buoyed by strength in new orders. Manufacturers remained upbeat about continued solid growth in production over the coming six months.

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau demonstrates the many contributions of the manufacturing sector. Manufacturing is the fifth largest employer, with 11.9 million workers in the United States in 2018 and an average annual employee payroll of $60,260. The value of shipments rose to $6 trillion in 2018. Nearly six in ten U.S. exporting dollars come from manufacturers. Manufacturing Metrics.

Production occupations are growing in even more states, despite below-average wages. According to the BLS, the median annual wage for production occupations – which can include anything from bakers, butchers and food processing workers to fabricators, welders, woodworkers and metal and plastic machine workers – was $36,000 in May 2019. While this figure was lower than the median annual wage for all occupations ($39,810), production occupations comprise the fastest-growing jobs in 11 states – four more states than in our 2019 version of the study.

The fastest-growing job in one state is the fastest-disappearing in another. According to 2015 and 2019 data from the BLS, production worker helper is the fastest-growing job in Idaho, but it is the fastest-disappearing job in Nevada over the same time period. The number of employees in this job saw a four-year increase of roughly 131% in Idaho and a four-year decrease of roughly 58% in Nevada.

Manufacturing production declined 0.3% in September. This suggests that production slowed after progress over the past four months following the 20.1% decline in manufacturing production experienced between February and April due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite progress in recent months, output remained 6.4% below the pre-pandemic pace in February.

Manufacturing data have been mostly solid. New orders for durable goods rose 1.9% in September, with the sector continuing to bounce back from steep declines in the spring. Core capital goods spending rose 1.0% in September to the highest level in six years. New durable goods orders remained down 1.9% year-over-year, but with transportation equipment excluded, orders have risen 1.7% over the past 12 months.