Industry Trends
What's happening now and where is the industry going?Advanced Manufacturing
United States manufacturing companies are producing more now than any other time in history. Manufacturing accounts for almost two thirds of US exports and we continue to be the world's leader in manufacturing market share, at 24 percent. Japan is in second with 22 percent and China in a distant third with nine percent. It is then no surprise that manufacturing is the largest contributor to economic growth. (More...)
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology may never become a huge industry on its own, but its certainly making us rethink the way we operate in other industries. Nanotechnology is defined as controlling the matter of an object on a scale smaller than one micrometer, and the fabrication of devices at this level. (More...) Biotechnology
Biotechnology is a large, global industry, that is growing daily with no signs of stopping anytime soon. Global revenues have risen from $23 billion in 2000 to over $50 billion in 2005. The US has not gone without its share of that growth. Since 1992, this industry in the States has more than tripled in size. (More...)
Challenges to Overcome You may have guessed, but the biggest challenge that the advanced manufacturing industry, as well as many other industries in Snohomish County, will have to overcome is finding a sufficient workforce. Today, manufacturing for any product can happen anywhere in the world. That means the limited skilled workforce is being pulled to all corners of the world.
In order for Snohomish County to remain competitive in this global environment, it is critical for local companies to have the processes and products to attract the best workforce. At the same time, these companies need to actively recruit the workforce they need.
One of the other major challenges that the industry has to overcome is the outdated and negative industry image. The perception is that a manufacturing plant is a dark place where employees go day after day to do the same task repetitively. This could not be further from the truth. The workforce needs to be intuitive to predict where the industry is going and the processes need to be efficient so the company can be globally competitive.
The negative image, along with an employee shortage, is severely affecting the ability to serve customers. This, in turn, affects our companies' capability to compete worldwide. Once these problems are successfully addressed, Snohomish County will be a true global success.
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