The supply chain may be getting better, but the challenges aren’t going away.

Just five months after Hyundai announced the $5.5 billion manufacturing plant in Bryan County west of Savannah, vast areas of the site have already been cleared of trees. Euisun Chung, executive chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, said the plant will be the envy of the industry.

Elon Musk’s vision for the next-generation starship spacecraft is of rapid reusability. His plans are to launch it then bring back the rocket booster. Refurbish the booster and quickly launch another starship. To achieve that vision, it involves a pretty wild piece of engineering: a launch and catch tower.

On Sunday January 9th, Musk tweeted a video of the tower with the succinct message, “Starship launch & Catch tower.” The video is 31 seconds long and gives the viewer a visual tour of the structure. It sports an arm that’s made to snag a returning falcon heavy booster after it is done its job escorting a starship off this rock.

They are developing the tower at SpaceX’s Starbase Facility in Texas. At the same time SpaceX is working to get a Starship prototype into orbit for the first time. SpaceX is building Starship as a multipurpose vehicle that could carry humans to the moon and Mars and also work as transportation between locations on earth. Musk, who is well known for dreaming big, is hoping to make orbit with the shiny spacecraft early this year and conduct up to a dozen test flights during 2022.

SpaceX is still waiting to see if the Federal Aviation Administration will issue a launch license for an orbital Starship to take off from Texas. There is a lot that has to happen with that test flight and other developments before we will be able to see the tower try to catch a rocket booster.

Musk has referred to the robotic catcher as “Mechazilla.” Chris Bergin of NASAspaceflight.com has been tracking testing of the tower and sharing videos of its exercises. Starship prototype launches have seen both successes and explosions so it will be tense moments when it finally sees action. As Musk tweeted last year, “Success is not guaranteed, but excitement is!”

As COVID-19 restrictions ease and manufacturing activity rebounds, significant challenges remain, including supply chain issues, labor shortages, and inflation. To stay ahead of industry trends and keep up with the competition, technology innovation has taken a front seat for manufacturing companies. Here are seven key manufacturing trends to watch for.

With the pandemic becoming more under control and vaccines are available, staffing is still an issue for all businesses. Vistage surveys have found that 73% of manufacturing businesses report challenges in operating at full capacity due to staffing troubles and 63% intend to increase the size of their workforce in the next 12 months.

We’re all pretty conditioned to think of machines or autos when it comes to manufacturing in the USA. Surprise! Textile manufacturing is still alive and well, right here in the States.

Founded in 1989,  FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology,) promotes STEM education and engagement. Competitive teams can form by grade in groups from K-12. Four FIRST program categories are offered based on grade level:

LIFT, Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow located in Detroit, MI, proudly announces they have North America’s “first linear friction welder capable of full-sized part development.” LIFT is operated by American Lightweight Materials Manufacturing Innovation Institute (ALMMII), a founding member of Manufacturing USA. Manufacturing USA is a federal public/private initiative designed to facilitate technological and manufacturing innovation.

“Linear Friction Welding is a solid-state process in which one part moves in a linear motion at high speed and is pressed against another part held stationary. The resulting friction heats the parts, causing them to forge together.” This quote is directly from Manufacturing Technology, Inc., the builder and installer of LIFT’s linear friction welder.

A record number of companies bringing jobs that had shipped overseas came back to the USA in 2018, according to Reshoring Initiative. This is referred to as reshoring. Additionally the report indicates that the reasons for reshoring are related to “ a higher emphasis on Made in USA image, automation and re-design of the product. FDI places more emphasis on government incentives and skilled workforce.” FDI stands for Foreign Direct Investment. Tariffs and corporate tax cuts are also cited as reasons for more recent reshoring. Concerns with intellectual property infringement and counterfeiting were also cited among companies’ reasons for returning operations to the US.

Even though employment is at record high levels, there is great concern over the lack of skills among workers and questions related to the future of having a highly trained workforce for increasingly high tech jobs. Forbes magazine offers 5 Ways To Address The Widening Skills Gap with practical steps to take that will help businesses address this problem.

A recent Forbes article takes a look at the widely discussed concept of robots taking over human jobs. Many tasks can be done more efficiently with robots. The idea is that the loss of automated jobs to robots will be replaced by human jobs tending to the robots. Much has been said about the need for highly skilled workers to maintain and repair robots.

Many are familiar with and have given a little spin to “The Cube” located on campus near the Michigan Union. Thanks to teams of engineering students, U of M has a second giant cube. This one is located on North Campus and is also a famous puzzle! “Now North Campus has an iconic cube of our own,” said Ryan Kuhn, one of the engineering student developers.

U of M Engineering students created a 1,500 pound, primarily aluminum, Rubik’s Cube. According to Michigan Engineer News Center, the giant Rubik’s Cube “is believed to be the world’s largest hand-solvable, stationary version of the famous puzzle.” Like it’s older brother, this cube is meant to be touched. By design, the large scale puzzle requires teamwork to manipulate.

On June 10th, 2019, NetFlex announced another project call. The expectation is that multiple awards will be offered, worth an anticipated total amount of more than $10.5 million dollars. This process of project calls is now on its fifth cycle. Each project call has sought to expand and implement (FHE) Flexible Hybrid Electronics. Previous project calls have received a total investment of over $73M.

A part of Manufacturing USA, NetFlex is America’s Flexible Hybrid Electronics (FHE) Manufacturing Institute. “Our Project Calls address industry-driven problems, those critical manufacturing issues that are best solved collaboratively,” said Malcolm J. Thompson, NextFlex Executive Director. Manufacturing USA is a public-private initiative that seeks to advance technology and manufacturing in the United States.

FHE, Flexible Hybrid Electronics seeks innovations in materials and processes to improve circuitry in a wide range of applications.

Recently Industry Week posted an article outlining four ways robots can really help SMMs, small to medium size manufacturers. The article points out that while SMMs make up the lion’s share of manufacturing in the USA, “they are often the least likely to take advantage of the potential ROI from a robotics investment, from reducing bottlenecks and increasing production to addressing industry labor gaps and improving job satisfaction.”

Right now in the midwest the weather has been a rainy mess, but we all know heat will join the humid party soon. Many of us have that one location that is not cool enough or we have differing opinions on temperature settings. Making your own air conditioner/cooler might provide a solution and be a great summer project to teach older kids a thing or two. Adult supervision would be absolutely required as power tools and electricity are used in this project.

To accommodate increased demand for their injection mold and medical device business, GW Plastics recently announced a fifth expansion in Royalton, VT. “On the heels of a major expansion in Ireland, we are delighted to announce this expansion in our home state of Vermont, reaffirming our commitment to growing in Vermont and the United States while serving the needs of our customers globally,” stated Brenan Riehl, President and CEO of GW Plastics.

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) recently announced that three Tier 1 Automotive suppliers will be investing and creating jobs in the state. Support from the Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF) and other incentives helped lure the companies from other states under consideration.

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Started in 1985, the goal of NBCAM is to promote mammography and raise awareness of breast cancer symptoms for early detection. Roughly 1 in 8 women in the United States will get breast cancer during their life.

Mount Sterling, KY – Demand for environmentally friendly and cost-effective solutions for surplus industrial equipment has never been higher and IMS Supply is answering this strong demand. Today, IMS Supply announced that it is expanding its asset recovery operations with a new processing and distribution facility to be located in Mount Sterling, Kentucky.

It seems like every day we hear about some new app or Silicon Valley wonder company but we sometimes forget about the importance of Manufacturing. Let's start with one key fact, Manufacturing Matters, especially in the United States. It provides high-wage jobs, new ideas, and new products. Manufacturing is also a key factor to trade deficit reduction according to the Economic Policy Institute.

According to the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute USCTI and The Association for Manufacturing Technology AMT, the cutting tool consumption was $183.61 Million this January compared to $173.05 million from January 2017.  The January sales are up 4.9% from just Decembers numbers of $175.00

Factory purchasing managers are spending much more than the December estimations, spending 10.1 % in 2018 instead of 2.7% according to the Institute for Supply Management’s semi-annual forecast.                                     

A new robot name “Sozo” is helping American Artist Barnaby Furnas produce paintings that can be sold for more than $100,000 in New York Galleries. Sozo, which means Imagination or creation in Japanese, was Created by tech start-up Artmatr.

The April Monthly index shows, that while slowing, the US manufacturing is still showing overall growth. These findings are the results of the Institute for Supply Management’s monthly Manufacturing ISM Report on Business.

On the heels of Earth Day let’s look at how Apple is trying to cut down on E-waste with Daisy its newest iPhone recycling robot. E-waste is a real concern as Americans throw out 9.4 million tons of it each year, more than any other company. Currently only 12.5% of e-waste is recycled each year according to the EPA.

South Korea, Germany, and Japan are most prepared for the new influx of automation. The least prepared countries with the most risk of losing job are Mexico, Vietnam, and Indonesia. The Us come in at 9th out of 25.

Research scientists at Nanyang Technological University of Singapore had made a robot that can build an IKEA chair from scratch in under 20 minutes. I don’t know about you but I have built some of those chairs… it took me much longer then 20 minutes.

With changes in the buying trends going from sedans to SUVs, automotive companies are changing their production lines to be able to produce different vehicles on the same assembly line. Ford has decided to move its Focus production to China facilities, 60% of Fords new vehicle sales were trucks in 2018, which is prompting the switch. Similarly, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, has shifted its production by discontinuing the Chrysler 200 and the Dodge Dart to focus on the Ram and Jeep SUVs. These changes were all made to optimize production lines to product SUVs and pick-up trucks which have seen a drastic increase in purchases over the traditional sedan. Why the change in buying trends? Many SUVs are built on the same lightweight car frames allowing to get similar mileage to sedans. With the average pump price around $2.50 per gallon this might be prompting the change in vehicle purchases to an SUVs over the smaller sedans.

Want to see a forklift Moonwalk? Videos of have been popping up showing forklifts driving in some unexpected ways and it’s really impressive. Now saying it moonwalks is a bit of a misnomer as they aren’t dancing or walking, but boy does it look like it.

MIT researchers have created a new headset that uses a person’s internal voice to control devices and ask questions without speaking but BY READING YOUR MIND! AlterEgo, as the device is called is able to transcribe words that the wearer verbalizes internally but doesn’t say out loud. 

A potential presidential candidate, Andrew Yang, is gaining some attention due to his views on automation and his ideas about UBI. UBI stands for Universal Basic Income, an idea that Every adult over 18 years old would receive a monthly stipend of $1,000. The motivation for his UBI plan is the claims that Automation will take away 1/3rd of American jobs within the next 20 years.

A Turkish design company named Dahir Insaat released their concept of an automated restaurant concept video recently. They believe that their concept will increase the number of customers served and drastically cut labor costs.

A New 3D printing concept usings AR and robots is making news. Augmented reality and 3D printing are not exactly new concepts but Cornell University is experimenting with something that is both new and unique. Other companies such as Google and HTC have dabbled in merging the two formats together, but they have nothing on Cornell’s new real time input and collaborative printing between humans and machines.

The ground-breaking SpaceX launch earlier this year that put the Tesla Roadster in orbit had a surprise hidden in its trunk. A new form of storage technology, a quartz disc 1-inch-wide that is laser-etched that can hold 360 Terabytes of Data called Arch. This specific disc is inscribed with Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" trilogy that is about the preservation of human knowledge. This disc is a symbolic parallel of the gold disc’s on the Voyager Space Craft, preserving and sending out examples of knowledge for future humans or aliens.

Baldor Electric Company has changed its name to ABB as of March 1st, 2018. This rebranding is to bring everything under the ABB-owned brands under ABB’s master brand. Balder has already been a member of the ABB group for over 7 years.

The impact women have had in history is being honored this month, and we’re looking at how women have helped revolutionize the manufacturing industry.

According to the 2017 World Robot Statistics it was revealed that we have seen an increase in the average of robots units used per employee from 2015, going from 66 robotic units per 10,000 employees to 74 units last year. Europe leads with the average robot density with 99 units, the Americas are second with 84 units and lastly Asia with 63 units. Asia, has shown the highest growth rate of that robot density though, with an annual growth rate of 9% between 2010 and 2016, slightly higher than America’s 7% and Europe’s 5%

Recently Boston Dynamics, a leading company in robotics that has before wowed us with their videos of their new innovational robotic designs has done it again. Their latest video showcases their robot named SpotMini, what makes this new robot of theirs so unique you ask? It can open doors.

Conducting inspections on equipment is a critical duty for anyone in the manufacturing industry. Some inspections are rather difficult and fairly dangerous. A new option that combines artificial intelligence and drones might help to make these jobs a bit safer without having to cut back on the inspections.

New orders for manufactured goods in December increased $8.5 billion dollars or 1.7 percent to $498.2 billion, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. American Factory orders have seen growth six of the last seven months, including a 1.7 percent increase in November 2017. Shipments of manufactured durable goods were also up 1.2 billion dollars or 0.5 percent.

Following Techniks Industries successful acquisition of the tooling division of Parlec, Inc., IMS Supply is proud to announce the availability of both Parlec and Techniks tooling products. IMS Supply had been a distributor for Parlec's high performance tool holding, modular production boring, tapping, tool measuring and inspection products. The addition of Techniks tooling solutions to the IMS Supply catalog will allow IMS to provide a wide range of value-added aftermarket machine tool accessories to its customers world-wide.

The Swivellink product was originally designed to provide an ergonomic and robust way to put operator start buttons onto custom built industrial machinery. The goal was to protect the expensive button and route the quick disconnect cable internally, because a simple wire break or damaged button can cause hours of costly production down time.

Approximately 89 percent of manufacturing companies now discuss factors such as energy management and sustainable practices at the board level. This alone shows these companies are becoming more and more aware of the all-too-common negative effects their processes may have on the environment.

People who think of manufacturing these days might still think about the workers of days gone by and the intense manual labor they did. Today, manufacturing is more high tech and less likely to involve anything but manual labor for an entire shift.

The goods that Americans count on each day are made through the manufacturing process. It is easy to overlook this fact, but President Trump's recent proclamation that October 6, 2017 was National Manufacturing Day puts this important part of the supply chain back into the spotlight.

The success of manufacturers depends on many factors, including the economic climate and consumer demand. To be successful, manufacturers must keep abreast of the latest trends in technology. Some of the latest developments include digital materials, developing the "next generation" workforce and employing robots.

American manufacturing technology orders are in a sweet spot right now, growing 23 percent year-over-year in July. The jump in order volume isn't the only reason for the sweet spot, as Asian and European markets aren't faring as well as the United States.

President Donald Trump recently announced that he wants to level the playing field for the manufacturing industry. He presented a speech to the National Association of Manufacturers, noting that he plans to take historic actions to create fair and reciprocal trade for companies in America. While this is certainly good news for people in the industry, it is also a call to action for all manufacturers.