Jump on the manufacturing bandwagon — or else!

/in /by

We’re all righteous in our indignation.

Last April, after years of encouraging former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper to lean on his industry experience to take up the cause for manufacturing, I gave up. At the time, Hickenlooper’s presidential campaign, devoid of even a mention of his manufacturing experience, had crashed.

I lamented the missed opportunity: “John Hickenlooper was a craft-brewing pioneer. He helped reimagine craft manufacturing in Colorado and make it fashionable again, demonstrating its power to reshape urban economies, create opportunities for passionate entrepreneurs and reshape entire industry sectors. . . . I envisioned talk of the virtues of shortening supply chains to bring jobs home, of providing pathways for families and kids into the trade, and of a new economy where U.S.-engineered and -designed products are increasingly made here.”

But I was wrong about Hickenlooper’s affinity or connection with manufacturing. If not wrong, judgmental. Advocacy for manufacturing is a cause I share with some, but not everyone.

Today, candidate Hickenlooper harkens back to his “restaurant experience,” not his beer-making chops, when talking of his business acumen. He identifies with his service background more than any manufacturing pedigree.

And that’s OK. I look back on my rather harsh pronouncements and cringe a bit.

Would a Hickenlooper campaign focused on manufacturing be relevant and powerful now? Yes. COVID-19 has thrust these very issues to the forefront of the national conversation. A different choice in 2019 might have positioned him perfectly for a Senate run.

It is heartening, I admit, to witness the wave of legislative efforts and business initiatives to reshore manufacturing, or promote more domestic production, in light of COVID-related disruptions. Tariffs, or IP theft, or other challenges that companies encounter managing global supply chains might have been the trigger, but weren’t. Whatever it takes.

For those inclined to jump the bandwagon, I’d encourage a wide view. Sure, rebuilding America’s manufacturing supply chain is about competing with China. But more, it’s about investing in American towns and cities and workers; about recapturing the unseen virtues of family-owned companies that span generations; about supercharging American ingenuity and sustaining a legacy of invention and innovation that only manufacturing fuels; about Ford and John Deere and Hewlett-Packard and Coca-Cola and the hundreds of American-made brands that brought us this far.

It’s these positive attributes that must shape our perspective on U.S. manufacturing, just as incentives, not tariffs, should guide efforts to convince American companies to reshore production, or cite it here in the first place.

We won’t be endorsing a particular candidate for the Senate, or for president for that matter, but we’ll certainly point out when elected officials distinguish themselves as manufacturing advocates, or not. It’s not too much to ask of any elected official to articulate their strategy to sustain manufacturing, both nationally and in our local communities.

For my part, more support and less snark seems an appropriate tactic, given the times. A different outcome would be a just reward.

Bart Taylor is publisher of CompanyWeek. Reach him at btaylor@companyweek.com

Five steps to help U.S. OEMs and brands hire more domestic suppliers

/in /by

In 2013, we were a contrarian voice forecasting that headwinds battering U.S. manufacturing were subsiding and that an extended period of expansion was imminent.

But even we couldn’t have anticipated that, by June 2020, America would be united in its support for a full-on manufacturing comeback. Turns out COVID-19 is only the latest episode in a string of events that’s persuaded U.S. companies and business leaders that more domestic manufacturing serves our interests.

There’s also consensus on what needs to be done. We know we need more qualified workers. We agree that manufacturing’s digital transformation including automation and robotics must accelerate. And we support elected officials favoring industry with policy measures like the Beat China Act and others that provide incentives for companies to make more products here.

But these broad initiatives take time, and next week, or next month, when a production order needs to be filled, for many companies it will be back to business as usual. More needs to be done to compel OEMs and brands to change their behavior and consider new sourcing options.

U.S. manufacturing will roar back only when companies begin buying more services and products from domestic suppliers. Here are five things that would help:

1. Rally around manufacturing industries with clusters of suppliers and providers

Brands like Vestas and Tesla attract a constellation of suppliers — clusters of fabricators and service companies tuned to their needs. The supply chain for a small food brand (or battery maker or aviation OEM) is also unique.

Leadership in developing new industry-tuned clusters of suppliers, from funding through fabrication to shipping, should pay off in renewed interest and support from U.S. brands.

2. Build on local and regional success to expand nationally

If a growing marketplace of ideas, of products and services, is the national goal, success will first come from local and regional groups making new connections. More local collaboration, more transparency within industry supply chains, and more buying and selling across trade silos is the sure path to a more capable national network — and more options for OEMs.

3. Digital tools to power communication throughout the supply chain

A relationship between manufacturer and supplier pivots on any one of a dozen key variables. Again, companies tend to fall back on what’s known. Mapping the capabilities of domestic suppliers is hard enough; sorting through others that also influence compatibility — like company history and culture — and communicating with new partners, even more so.

The next generation of digital tools that transforms the process of helping U.S. companies find the perfect domestic supplier network will be the first.

4. Manufacturing fluency: We need business and political leaders encouraging local brands to invest in people and communities here

Many elected officials don’t know, or don’t care, where local OEMs or brands manufacture. This must change. U.S. companies transformed China into an economic powerhouse. Today the decision of where a company will source a supplier is a choice between supporting communities offshore and communities here. Gauge our manufacturing fluency in this election cycle. If your candidate comes up short, make a different choice.

5. Tell the truth

Without a coherent national manufacturing policy, local and regional efforts can succeed but national efforts will fall short.

In 2013, many business and policy leaders pushed back on the notion that manufacturing was in America’s strategic interest. Be part of the solution — or bow out of the process.

Bart Taylor is publisher of CompanyWeek. Reach him at btaylor@companyweek.com.