North America's largest metal forming, fabricating, welding and finishing event heads to Orange County Convention Center in October 2024. FABTECH provides a convenient "one stop shop" venue where you can meet with world-class suppliers, see the latest industry products and developments, and find the tools to improve productivity, increase profits and discover new solutions to all of your metal forming, fabricating, welding and finishing needs.
North America's Largest Metal Forming, Fabricating, Welding and Finishing Event
Good news for the U.S. manufacturing sector came this week in the form of Markit’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (“PMI”). According to a Financial Times article, the new data showed output rising at the fastest pace in three years increasing to 56.2 in May from 55.4 in April!
An expert economist quoted by the Financial Times said the numbers are predictive of the manufacturing sector’s positive impact on the U.S. GDP in the second quarter and beyond.
This message was also trumpeted by President Obama this week when he spoke at an event in Cooperstown, NY at the Baseball Hall of Fame. An article published by the Rome Observer quoted the president as saying, “A manufacturing sector that had lost about one-third of its jobs in the last decade is now adding jobs for the first time since the 1990s.”
President Obama also said, “And rather than create jobs in other countries, more and more companies are recognizing that it makes sense to invest right here in America. We’ve got great workers. We’ve got the largest market in the world. We’ve got a whole bunch of stuff going for us and we’re starting to see insourcing rather than outsourcing of jobs.”
But the topic of those American manufacturing workers – or the lack thereof – is one that has gotten a lot of attention lately. For instance, an article this month in U.S. News & World Report noted that the competitiveness of American manufacturing may be compromised by a derth of skilled manufacturing workers in this country. The article cites a panel of manufacturing sector experts – one of whom is the chairman of FABTECH show partner Precision Metalforming Association – who worry about finding the right workers for open jobs. A variety of contributing factors are mentioned in the article from an aging workforce to difficulty attracting young people and combating negative stereotypes about the sector.
And a new article in The Wall Street Journal this week describes what companies are doing to bridge the skills gap. The article reports the results of a new study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and lists the top techniques as increasing recruitment efforts, training exisiting workers and partnering with local educational institutions.
The future of the U.S. manufacturing sector will be on display at the 2014 FABTECH show scheduled for November 11 – 13 in Atlanta, GA. FABTECH is North America’s largest metal forming, fabricating, welding and finishing event. So join an anticipated 27,000 attendees and 1,400 exhibiting companies by registering today!
You can learn more about FABTECH 2014 on our website and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
FABTECH 2024
About the Expo
North America's largest metal forming, fabricating, welding and finishing event heads to Orange County Convention Center in October 2024. FABTECH provides a convenient "one stop shop" venue where you can meet with world-class suppliers, see the latest industry products and developments, and find the tools to improve productivity, increase profits and discover new solutions to all of your metal forming, fabricating, welding and finishing needs.
