Using a cluster model developed at the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation, Cliff Waldman, MAPI Foundation economic studies director, says 3D printing has caused an increase in regional manufacturing competitiveness.
A study by the Reshoring Initiative shows that 60,000 manufacturing jobs were brought into the U.S. by a combination of reshoring and foreign direct investment in 2014, a record level and 400 percent increase since 2003.
One can be hopeful about the future of manufacturing in the U.S. for a fundamental reason. It is the economy best positioned to seize on deeper changes that can lead to a real, sustainable manufacturing renaissance, one based on software technology and its profound effect on the entire manufacturing value chain.
A new econometric forecast model shows there is ample potential for U.S. manufacturing to resurge and, by 2025 add a significant number of good-paying manufacturing jobs, add to GDP growth, and help create the first surplus in the nation's goods and services balance of trade since 1975.
Once one accepts the importance of manufacturing, the next question is how is it doing? Is U.S. manufacturing healthy and not in need of a national manufacturing policy or is it in trouble and in need of smarter policies?
Nearly three out of four leaders within the manufacturing industry have either expanded their product or service offerings in the past year, or plan to expand them in the coming year, according to a survey conducted by Travelers Companies.
