Where Innovation Meets Imagination
Despite billions in federal incentives and high-profile tariffs aimed at reshoring manufacturing, the US still can’t seem to fill its factory jobs.
While the official narrative blames skills gaps and labor shortages, the deeper story may be about cultural shifts, generational values, and the unintended consequences of financialisation. [Read more…] about The US can’t fill its factory jobs even now. So how is it going to revitalize manufacturing in the future?
Economic activity in the American manufacturing sector contracted in December for the ninth consecutive month and the 25th time in the last 26 months, according to a survey of the nation’s supply executives.
The findings have been published in the latest Institute for Supply Management’s Report On Business, the key component of which is the purchase managers’ index, or PMI. The report was issued by Timothy R. Fiore, chair of the ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee.
The Manufacturing PMI registered 49.3 percent in December, 0.9 percentage point higher compared to the 48.4 percent recorded in November. The overall economy continued in expansion for the 56th month after one month of contraction in April 2020. [Read more…] about US manufacturing sector shrinks for 25th time in 26 months
Apple wasn’t always the 3.75 trillion-dollar company it is today. The company was close to bankruptcy in 1997, before Steve Jobs returned to launch newly designed and eye-catching products – like the first multi-coloured iMac range, the iPod and then the iPhone – and put the company on the journey to become the modern corporate phenomenon that it is today.
In today’s globalised economy, Apple could now be said to be the quintessential example of a company that designs its products in the United States while manufacturing them in China and across Asia.
Apple is not, of course, unique in this approach. Many other companies have been doing this for a long time. Such companies used to be called “multinationals” before the internet made the term almost redundant.
[Read more…] about Learning from Apple: Designed in the West, manufactured in the EastBy Shihao Fu, technology analyst at IDTechEx
The commercialization of Autonomous driving technology in the trucking industry has rapidly advanced in 2024, presenting substantial potential to address critical industry challenges such as high operational costs, driver shortages, and safety concerns.
It is expected that the global trucking fleet will be supported by an additional half million L4 autonomous drivers, while the remaining drivers will either transition into supervisory roles or continue to operate in less developed regions.
IDTechEx’s recent research on more than 10 companies in the autonomous trucking sector reveals that the industry has officially entered the commercialization phase, marked by deep collaborations across the global supply chain.
[Read more…] about Autonomous trucks: How the US, EU, and China are commercializing driverless logisticsFlytrex, an airborne food delivery service, says it has made 100,000 drone delivery across its locations in North Carolina and Texas, making it “the largest operation of its kind in the United States”.
As the only company to achieve 100,000 commercial food deliveries by drone, Flytrex has seen 70 percent of the households in their delivery areas use the service.
By putting the most beloved food brands in America in customers’ hands, Flytrex is specifically tailored for on-demand deliveries in the underserved suburban market where the majority of Americans live. [Read more…] about Flytrex achieves 100,000 drone deliveries
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has unveiled plans to invest $12 billion in Phoenix, Arizona – building an advanced semiconductor manufacturing fabrication.
In December 2022, the company announced its commitment to build a second fab in Phoenix, increasing its total investment to $40 billion.
Then in April 2024, the US Department of Commerce and TSMC Arizona announced up to $6.6 billion in direct funding under the CHIPS and Science Act, fulfilling a goal to bring the most advanced chip manufacturing in the world to the United States. [Read more…] about World’s largest chipmaker TSMC to build $12 billion facility in the US
