Over the last several years manufacturing employment has fluctuated for a variety of reasons. The aging workforce, the collapse of labor-intensive commodity manufacturing here in the US and the expansion of super-productive advanced manufacturing have reduced the number of people necessary to exceed production rates in US manufacturing plants. The proof can be seen in North American robotic sales statistics. 2016 was projected to go down as a record breaking year for robot orders and shipments in North America. “Overall, North American companies have ordered a value of $1.3 billion robots (around 23,985 robots) just in the first nine months of 2016! This is a 7% increase in units and 3% increase in dollars when compared to 2015, which held the previous record. According to RIA, there are around 269,000 robots in North American factories, third to Japan and China. RIA states that these record sales were driven by the strong demand from automotive OEM’s and component suppliers. In this industry alone, robot orders were up 14% before the year’s end. In addition, the food and consumer foods industry continues to increase by an astonishing 40%, every year.” This trend has created a heightened need for manufacturers to have even more educated, highly technical employees.
Bruce Peacock
Vice President of Business Development
The Richmond Group USA