Wall Street Journal (April 13)
“The great car-chip shortage is bad for the auto industry, but only temporarily. The real losers are consumers who need wheels to get back to work.” Investors remain unfazed. “Investors can afford to remain relaxed about the chip shortage… there is an offset for manufacturers: Those cars they do ship this year could carry unusually high margins.”
Tags: Auto industry, Cars, Chip shortage, Consumers, Investors, Losers, Manufacturers, Relaxed, Work
The Economist (January 23)
“Today about a trillion chips are made a year, or 128 for every person on the planet.” With uses burgeoning in applications from EVs to AI, “demand will soar further,” especially as IoT connects machines and other things. In contrast, the industry is experiencing profound consolidation. As chip generations become more challenging and costly, “the number of manufacturers at the industry’s cutting-edge has fallen from over 25 in 2000 to three.” The “grueling 60-year struggle for supremacy is nearing its end.”
Tags: AI, Applications, Burgeoning, Challenging, Chips, Consolidation, Costly, Cutting edge, Demand, EVs, Generations, Grueling, IoT, Manufacturers, Struggle, Supremacy
Chicago Tribune (December 17)
“Chicago-based Boeing said Monday that it will suspend production of the Max starting sometime in January.” The 737 Max is the largest U.S. export product. “Shares of major manufacturers that supply Chicago-based Boeing with critical elements of the 737 Max fell Tuesday” and the “ramifications are likely to ripple beyond the factory floor and across both the aviation and manufacturing sectors. The decision could affect the country’s trade balance.”
Tags: Aviation, Boeing, Chicago, Export, Manufacturers, Manufacturing, Production 737 Max, Ripple, Shares, Suspend, Trade balance, U.S.
Chicago Tribune (October 4)
“The jobs figures carry more weight than usual because worries about the health of the U.S. economy are mounting. Manufacturers have essentially fallen into recession as U.S. businesses have cut spending on industrial machinery, computers and other factory goods. And overseas demand for U.S. exports has fallen sharply as President Donald Trump’s trade conflicts with China and Europe have triggered retaliatory tariffs.”
Tags: Businesses, China, Computers, Conflicts, Economy, Europe, Exports, Factory goods, Industrial machinery, Jobs, Manufacturers, Overseas demand, Recession, Retaliatory tariffs, Spending, Trump, U.S.
The Guardian (October 1)
“British manufacturers are pulling back sharply on investment plans due to mounting uncertainty over Brexit and growing fears of a global trade war,” with only a third of firms planning to “to increase their investment in plant and machinery – a record low.”
Tags: Brexit, Fears, Global trade war, Investment plans, Machinery, Manufacturers, Plant, Pulling back, UK, Uncertainty
Inc (September Issue)
SwanLeap has become “the fastest-growing private company in America.” Based in Madison, Wisconsin, the company “uses an artificial intelligence platform and custom software to help huge manufacturers, retailers, and other clients save money on shipping, and better manage their supply chains.” In 2013, SwanLeap’s first year revenues totaled $110,000. In 2017, the firm took in “just shy of $100 million, good for a nosebleed-inducing three-year growth rate of 75,660.8 percent.” In 2018, it’s aiming for $500 million.
Tags: AI, Fastest-growing, Growth rate, Manufacturers, Retailers, SCM, Shipping, SwanLeap, U.S., Wisconsin
Wall Street Journal (July 18)
To “counter U.S. protectionism, the EU and China are drawing closer together.” While the EU remains at odds with China on certain trade issues, Trump’s tariffs have helped to paint China in a better light globally. “China has increasingly used the mounting trade spats to portray itself as a protector of the rules-based international order, while chastising the U.S. for disrupting global commerce…. China’s engagement with the EU is driven by its desire to keep open world markets that its manufacturers need to thrive.”
Tags: China, Commerce, EU, Manufacturers, Markets, Protectionism, Protector, Tariffs, Trade, Trump, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (March 18)
“The batteries that power our modern world—from phones to drones to electric cars—will soon experience something not heard of in years: Their capacity to store electricity will jump by double-digit percentages, according to researchers, developers and manufacturers.”
Tags: Batteries, Capacity, Drones, Electricity, EVs, Manufacturers, Phones, Power
Financial Times (November 23)
“Mitsubishi Materials has admitted its subsidiaries falsified data about products used in crucial parts of aircraft and cars, dragging another of Japan’s largest manufacturers into the data falsification scandal at Kobe Steel…. The disclosure will raise the pressure on Japan’s manufacturing sector, which has been struck in the past two months by certification scandals at carmakers Nissan and Subaru, as well as Kobe Steel, Japan’s third-largest steelmaker.”
Tags: Aircraft, Cars, Certification, Disclosure, Falsified, Japan, Kobe Steel, Manufacturers, Mitsubishi Materials, Nissan, Pressure, Product data, Scandals, Steelmaker, Subaru
Bloomberg (October 10)
“Kobe Steel Ltd. unleashed an industrial scandal that reverberated across Asia’s second-largest economy after saying it falsified data related to strength and durability of some aluminum and copper products used in aircraft, cars and maybe even a space rocket.” Following on the heels of the Takata scandal and Nissan Motor’s unauthorized vehicle inspections, “Kobe Steel’s admission raises fresh concern about the integrity of Japanese manufacturers.”
Tags: Aircraft, Aluminum, Cars, Copper, Falsified data, Integrity, Japan, Kobe Steel. Scandal, Manufacturers, Nissan, Takata
