Amazing as it may seem, manufacturing jobs in the United States actually grew in 2010 for the first time since 1997. The Wall Street Journal article “U.S. Factories Buck Decline” says manufacturing jobs increased by 136,000 or 1.2 percent last year.
This rise can be attributed to several things, such as the rise in consumer demand, improved economy and greater efficiency. The WSJ article doesn’t agree with me on the third part, though.
“Despite the upbeat forecasts, job growth may remain modest because many companies are finding ways to increase production through greater efficiency and automation, without adding many workers,” the author notes.
Perhaps this is true of the short term, but in the long term automation and greater efficiency are just what manufacturers need to stay healthy and hire more workers. A growing business is much more likely to hire new workers than a faltering one.
As companies automate complex processes, they save time and money. They can put that extra time and money to use in other areas, such as developing better products or new technologies.
Manufacturers should be on the lookout for ways to improve their efficiency all the time. One way they can do this is by using manufacturing inventory software. Manufacturing inventory software automatically generates work orders, bills of materials, invoices, packing lists and more, as needed. All of these improvements are designed to speed up the manufacturing process.
The faster manufacturers fill sales orders, the happier their customers will be. And the more happy customers they get, the more workers they’ll need to keep up with demand. It’s a very positive chain of events.
Make manufacturing inventory software part of your business, so you can be part of the turnaround in U.S. manufacturing. Get an inventory software demo right now!
QuickBooks Manufacturing Blog 