Since the peak of 2.5 million US high tech jobs in 2000, the US has lost 687,000 of those desirable manufacturing jobs. Meanwhile, about 85% of R&D growth in US multinational corporations since 2004 has been based abroad. These trends reflect an emphasis by large US corporations on high growth and low cost labor markets found overseas over the past decade – especially in China*. The good news is that now economists estimate that production cost differentials between US and Chinese markets are rapidly dwindling – with a very narrow gap expected by 2015**. SIGMA believes US small business manufacturers are nimble and competitive enough to grow and lead the turnaround in high-tech production and employment in the USA. Read on to find out “how”.
“In New Jersey the creation of about 40,000 new jobs (only 12% of our current manufacturing base) would restore the manufacturing sector back to its peak level. This is a realistic goal over the coming few years”, proclaimed Lynch of SIGMA. “If we could start more small manufacturing businesses that each create 25 to 50 jobs per company, then we will be well on the road to reestablishing our hi-tech manufacturing might. Each small manufacturing firm needs to buy screws, paint, machining, plastic which all builds momentum”, he added. A recent Business Week article confirms his point – “manufacturing still has the highest leverage factor of any sector. It creates much more value and many more ancillary jobs than any other sector”*** And the National Association of Manufacturing (NAM) indicates that each dollar’s worth of manufactured goods creates another $1.43 of activity in other sectors, twice the $.71 multiplier for services.
For its part, SIGMA will follow its successful B2B technology commercialization model. One example is a diagnostic laboratory apparatus that SIGMA newly designed in 2011 for the US market and which SIGMA has been producing monthly since August 2011 (see our Sept 2011 blog article) . This product is creating steady work for SIGMA employees and for numerous local suppliers. Significantly, about 40% of sales are for export, which is also beneficial for the US trade balance, the US dollar and for US competitiveness. SIGMA is committed to repeating this local B2B commercialization-production model for other highly engineered products at our New Product Manufacturing Center in Middlesex, NJ. Come join us!
Sigma Design Company – Promoting the New American Manufacturing Era
Sources: *Manufacturing.net, **Boston Consulting Group, ***Business Week
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