Supply Chain Pressures Transforming Manufacturing

The MAPI Foundations – the research affiliate of Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation - notes that supply chain pressures are becoming a transforming influence behind automation.

Automation use by competitors, customers, and suppliers were three of the top five drivers of automation investment over the past five years, inferring a supply chain and industry influence on this business decision. It also suggests that as supply chains become increasingly global, automation activity by U.S. manufacturing companies will likely spread around the world.

The impact of new technology on product quality was another top driver.

The survey shows that the two most common criteria used by U.S. manufacturers for evaluating the performance of new automation technologies are whether they lower total production costs and whether they improve product quality.

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