If the U.S. manufacturing community could send a message to the next president about industry's ability to compete on the global stage, what would it say about international trade, education, health care, taxation, and other issues?
In a phrase, the message would be to take action and change things — big time. Today, manufacturers aren't happy about the state of the industry and its future prospects. And they are even unhappier about the lack of attention the Republican and Democratic parties are paying to manufacturing in the election race.
These messages came through loud and clear in a new poll by Managing Automation and its sister publications in parent company Thomas Publishing, including Industrial Equipment News, Thomas Global, ThomasNet, and InBound Logistics. Conducted earlier this year, which is the 110th anniversary of Thomas, the U.S. Industrial Competitiveness survey has so far garnered more than 1,600 responses from across America.
Poll takers are united in their concerns about the future of America's industrial base and, interestingly, quite nuanced in how they would approach fixing some of the problems. For example, 70% said they are "very concerned" about industry's ability to compete in the global market, and nearly 80% said the government should take an active role in strengthening manufacturing.