How Manufacturing Has Evolved in Recent Years

As anyone who has worked in the manufacturing field for the past two decades will surely agree, the industry never stays the same for long. New procedures, technologies and practices are being introduced on almost a daily basis, which makes the industry among the most interesting and challenging. While the changes force companies to adapt their operating processes, the ones that embrace them can work faster and more efficiently, which helps them remain competitive and profitable.

Changes in Manufacturing in the Past 10-15 Years

How has manufacturing changed in the past several years? Here are a few examples:

Automation

Perhaps the most impactful change has been the transition to automation. While automation has been around since the mid-twentieth century, it has gained momentum over the past decade or so, fueled by the widespread implementation of robotics. While there were initial concerns about automation eliminating the need for human labor, the opposite has been true in many work environments.

It takes highly skilled, well-trained workers to oversee the operation of robotics, for instance. In fact, automation has increased the average worker output value in many manufacturing-related industries.

Insourcing

Most of us are familiar with the concept of outsourcing where work that was once performed in-house is shipped to third-party entities (often located overseas) who can perform the task at a lower cost. A recent trend in manufacturing has been the move to insourcing, where work that was once outsourced is brought back to the home company — or at least closer to home on American soil.

Insourcing is occurring at an increasing rate due to issues such as inferior or inconsistent quality, shipping delays and communication challenges.