from the editor's desk : manufacturing

Something to look forward to? China likely surpasses U.S. in manufacturing next year

Lee_Teschler — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 17:09:00 GMT

Well, it was bound to happen sometime the way things are going. Now it looks as though it will happen next year, according to this story from MarketWatch.com. Here is a link to the full story:

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/china-top-us-manufacturing-2009/story.aspx?guid={46448549-CE99-4D28-8325-9CB13812C55C}

China set to surpass U.S. as top manufacturer

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- China is forecast to surpass the United States as the world's leading manufacturer in nominal dollar terms next year, earlier than expected, as the U.S. economy slows down and China's continues to grow at unprecedented rates, according to consulting firm Global Insight.

The nominal value of U.S. manufacturing weakened somewhat sharply in 2007, and despite the outlook for modest recovery in the coming years, China will likely gain the largest share in global manufacturing as early as 2009, Global Insight said in a report released Tuesday.

"The basic reason [for China closing the gap] is that growth in the U.S. economy has essentially been zero over the last year and will continue to struggle over the next year," said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at Global Insight.

"We know that China is a big manufacturing giant now," Behravesh said in an interview with MarketWatch. "What this study suggests is that it will continue to play an increasingly larger role" in the world economy.

Measured in real value-added terms, China's share in global manufacturing is forecast to overtake that of the U.S. by 2016-2017, boosted by rapid gains in market share of textiles, basic metals, computer equipment and mineral product manufacturing, according to Global Insight.

However, the U.S. will continue to lead in certain high-value industries, such as aerospace, pharmaceuticals and specialized equipment.

The manufacturing sector accounts for only 12.5% of gross domestic product in the U.S., while it makes up 36% of the Chinese economy. Manufacturing as a share of the U.S. economy has been declining for decades, with the service sector enjoying a much more dominant role.

Another 200,000 manufacturing jobs down the drain

Lee_Teschler — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 19:49:00 GMT

This hit my inbox this afternoon from the Alliance for American Manufacturing after the Commerce Dept. jobs report of this morning:

According to the latest figures from the Commerce Department, the United States lost another 31,000 manufacturing jobs in December in addition to the 13,000 lost in November. For the year 2007, the United States lost 212,000 manufacturing jobs. Seasonally adjusted U.S. manufacturing employment now stands at 13.919 million. 2007 also marks the first year that U.S. manufacturing employment has fallen below 14 million since 1950.

“The real shame in the continuing decline of U.S. manufacturing employment is that these are good-paying jobs that can’t really be replaced,” said Scott Paul, director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, a partnership of leading U.S. manufacturers and their unions. “Manufacturing jobs contribute much more to the economy than service sector jobs. Congress and the Administration must take clear action to strengthen American manufacturing and enforce existing U.S. trade laws. Otherwise, more U.S. factories struggling to compete against illegal, subsidized competition from overseas will close and more American workers will lose their jobs.”

no clear definition of sustainability

Lee_Teschler — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 17:59:00 GMT

You are not alone if you are having trouble coming up with a clear idea of what sustainability is when it comes to manufactured or produced goods. At the Pack Expo show yesterday, keynote speaker John Luke, CEO of packaging materials supplier Meadwestvaco, cited a study by the Hartman Group that found most consumers couldn't come up with a clear definition of what sustainability was. This despite the fact that the same study found 93% of consumers made some sort of purchasing decision based on what are considered to be sustainability issues.

After Luke's talk, I happened to bump into a veteran of the packaging industry who had this to say about sustainability:

"It could end up going the way of "low fat." For two years all you heard about in the food and packaging industries was the low-fat movement. Now, you don't hear a thing about low fat. Sustainability could easily meet the same fate."