Thursday, 2 June 2016

How technology is changing manufacturing (Darrell M. West, Brookings)

Workers use remote controls to check 32-inch television sets before they are repackaged at Element Electronics in Winnsboro, South Carolina May 29, 2014. When Walmart pledged last year to buy an extra $250 billion in U.S.-made goods over the next decade, it appeared to be just what was needed to help move America's putative manufacturing renaissance from rhetoric to reality. The company says consumers can now buy everything from U.S.-made flat-screen TVs, light bulbs and towels and curtains in its stores and on its website. The flat-screen TVs, made in Winnsboro, South Carolina by Element Electronics, may be the campaigns biggest surprise to date. Today, Elements 315,000-square-foot plant in South Carolina has six assembly lines making 32- and 40-inch TVs that are now available in all of Walmart's more than 4,000 U.S. Stores. The switch has led to significant savings in ocean freight charges and customs duties on finished goods - though like so many companies involved in the initiative Element has had difficulty finding domestic suppliers.

U.S. manufacturing has seen tough times over the past few decades. Employment in that sector has dropped from around 14 percent of the U.S. workforce in 1996 to almost 8 percent now. Many jobs have shifted overseas as employers seek low-cost labor and nations with fewer safety and environmental regulations

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/techtank/posts/2016/06/02-technology-changing-manufacturing-west
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