Entries by Bart Taylor

Bold steps needed to advance a national manufacturing blueprint

Somewhere, on a Forbes magazine list of most-hated professions, manufacturer must appear just above lawyer and journalist. It’s one explanation for the manufacturing-related musings of columnist Tim Worstall who, in a snarky column last month entitled Manufacturing Isn’t Important But Factory Goods Orders Are Rising — That’s Nice, proclaimed of manufacturing: “It just doesn’t have […]

Rust Belt bias flunks the 2017 Manufacturing and Logistics National Report Card

Last year, the 2016 Manufacturing and Logistics National Report Card from Ball State University in Indiana raised eyebrows in Colorado’s manufacturing community when we reported the state was given a D. The bad grade provoked well-intentioned efforts to assess the state’s manufacturing shortcomings. This year, our footprint has expanded west to include California and makes […]

Why we write about manufacturers—and what we’ve learned since 2013

As we expand into California this week after telling the story of 700 or so manufacturing companies in Colorado, Utah, and across the region, it’s a great opportunity for us to revisit why we launched CompanyWeek, and assess what we got right and wrong. Reason #1: There’s a renewed passion for making things, and companies […]

Apparel and outdoor industry brands want production closer to home. Is Colorado a destination?

Two regional developments promise to infuse much-needed expertise into the manufacturing supply chain. Last week, we reported on the Mountain West Advanced Manufacturing Network. This week: We look at Colorado State University’s National Science Foundation grant to study supply-chain dynamics in emerging clusters of small manufacturers. The growing number of apparel brands looking to manufacture […]

Why Utah and Colorado are collaborating to accelerate defense-industry diversification

Two regional developments promise to infuse much-needed expertise into the manufacturing supply chain. This week we report on the Mountain West Advanced Manufacturing Network. Next week, we’ll review Colorado State University’s National Science Foundation grant to study supply-chain dynamics in emerging clusters of small manufacturers. For the first time, higher education and industry from Utah […]

2017 Colorado Manufacturing Awards winners showcase innovation, teamwork

The 2017 Colorado Manufacturing Awards celebrated innovation in manufacturing at The ART, a hotel, on April 13. Out of 30 deserving finalists across 10 categories, awards went to 10 winners for work in advancing the industry. Emcee and CompanyWeek Publisher Bart Taylor called Colorado “a model for national manufacturing.” Noted Taylor to the event’s 240 […]

Made in China 2025: Menace or model for U.S. industry?

American voices have been quick to denounce China’s ambitious Made in China 2025 manifesto, but would manufacturers here benefit from a national manufacturing strategy? Made in China 2025 is a sweeping plan designed to transform the nation’s sector from the global epicenter of low-tech manufacturing to a self-sufficient, high-tech behemoth, where Chinese computer chips, aircraft, […]