Making stuff has always been a point of pride for the United States. Over the last few decades, you may have noticed, we just don't make stuff like we used to. Around the same time Gordon Gekko uttered the now decade-defining "greed is good", we became an economy focused on services. And it appeared for a long time that there was no turning back. Or is there?
If you haven't been paying attention lately, you may not have noticed the rally that's currently taking place in the manufacturing sector. Well, maybe "rally" is too strong of a word but in this new normal of anemic economic growth, it just may qualify as such.
The Institute for Supply Management, the group that's been measuring the manufacturing sector for nearly 100 years, reports the sector expanded in October as the PMI registered 51.7 percent, an increase of 0.2 percentage points when compared to last month's reading of 51.5 percent.
A PMI in excess of 42.6 percent, over a period of time, generally indicates an expansion of the overall economy, and October's number indicates growth for the 41st consecutive month. I know that's a lot to digest. Basically, we're making stuff again. We are, in a word, producers.
Meanwhile, a team of Bank of America economists reports "the recovery in manufacturing has far outpaced the recovery in services, making manufacturing a bigger and more important part of the economy now than before."
The sector has added a half a million jobs since 2010 and, according to a recent Deloitte report, some 600,000 skilled jobs still remain unfilled. With all of this in mind, we thought it was time to take a closer look at the sector and opportunities for consulting firms in this month's cover story "Manufacturing's Tipping Point." In it, Eric Krell shines a light on the opportunities that exist in a sector that is clearly in the midst of renaissance. And to what extent the consulting profession can lend a hand remains to be seen.
Joseph Kornik
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
jkornik@consultingmag.com
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