The US once dominated the manufacturing world and the blame for its decline falls far and wide. Was it China? Mexico? Globalisation? Robots? Republicans? Democrats? Investment Monitor takes a deep dive.

Would like to open a discussion on tarrifs if it’s allowed.

There has been two intentions stated with tarrifs.

1. Get off of income tax and go to a consumption style tax (still a tax)

2. Build up domestic manufacturing. Can talk here in the manufacturing sub.

If there is no alternative domestic supply, then we have no choice but to import. We lost a lot of our skills to manufacture. Especially a lot of the little low value items. Think zippers and buttons and caster wheels.

What is everyone thoughts?

Hey guys I'm a machinist from the mid west and I'm deeply worried that tarrifs just might cause mass layoffs in manufacturing. Like I hope they work out and help boost manufacturing in the USA for now and the foreseeable future. My fellow employees are mixed on tarrifs some think it will help some think it won't at all. Wonder how things will be for many shops short term ? Will layoffs occur in a month or two once margins are totally destroyed? Or will things just be kinda slow for a bit but pickup after a few months ? Very concerned!

We really are trying to reshore components and subassemblies, but every time we investigate something, it ends up costing 4x as much as making or having it made it overseas. So if we bring back American manufacturing, everything is going to cost 4x as much.

I am looking to start a manufacturing consulting company - I have been in the Manufacturing Industry for over 13 years, i have a Masters Degree in Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering. I also have a Green Belt in Lean Six Sigma, and am on track to become a Professional Engineer. I have been in the Pharmaceutical, OTC, Medical Devices and Chemical Manufacturing industries. I also have experience in Electronics and Mechanical applications from my Graduate School and side ventures.

I would love to hear others perspectives, what has worked, where to find clients, I have a deep rooted passion for continuous process improvement, looking for inefficiencies and making positive changes, designing and implementing new automation techniques and equipment.

My background is in Process & Equipment Validation, Plant Management, Automation, Manufacturing Engineering & Operations Excellence, and Project Management.

Thank you very much. Would love to hear more of others experiences here.

Jeeeeeessuuuuusssss.

Impending tariffs. Screwworm infestation in South America with an import ban on Mexico where 13% of our beef imports come from. Bird flu. CPI is up. Shutdown of copackers due to stringent standards via USDA. Extreme weather haulting production and cutting margin & order inventory.

People are whining about expensive groceries now, wooooooo boy. I often wonder what prices will look like by the end of the year. I haven't seen it this bad in a while.

Big interview coming up for me and looking for any suggestions from experienced people. Any good questions or topics or ideals I should bring up. I’ve been managing departments in manufacturing for a few years but only small time and this company is still a print shop, but with different finishing machines than I’ve ever used. Always been overseeing folder gluer machines and this is more of a bindery shop. It’s a global company and big pay. I’m probably very under qualified, but I have very good references. Just nervous and looking for any tips. TIA

I saw this on twitter randomly and at first thought "ok veteran biz guy and additive manufacturing guy say US is fucked what else is new" then realized theres no way those numbers are accurate. China spends 10x the US on manufacturing?

Check it out

Howdy fellas. I dont know shit about NC programming. From my understanding its creating a tool path for manufacturing a part in CAD (so basically CAM)

Regardless my year is coming up and i have an option to take spares engineering, NC programming, or a manufacturing role at big airplane company. or i go back into design.

Wont NC programming be replaced by AI in the future?

Question for this subreddit: https://www.pymnts.com/artificial-intelligence-2/2025/report-softbank-to-invest-1-trillion-in-ai-powered-robot-factories-in-us/

Is this for real? How would Softbank pull together this kind of funding and what types of products would be the first to launch? I'm assuming either electronics (phones) or medical devices. What do you think?

Hey! Working for Toyota Ontario in Woodstock, with all these tariff threats, do I need to worry about any lay offs or shutdowns? Just with the layoffs at GM I am a bit worried but I know Toyota is a bit safer then GM and Ford, right?

So, ive been in manufacturing for almost 7 years. Right now i work for Navistar which was a great job at first but its slowly starting to crash and burn. What i mean by that is management has been terrible the last year or so... They started hiring who ever they could get and that started creating a toxic work environment. They've started picking favorites and make it impossible to move up in the company. The bad thing is i cant really go anywhere else bc no one else in north alabama pays what i make without having to work swing shift. I currently put in to transfer to a different department so hopefully it'll be a little better but i dont have high hopes. I just want to know what can i do nor to be ao miserable?

I am seeing a lot of reports in the media and news and a lot of it seems very mixed on this topic?

Are we seeing more plant openings and jobs created over the past decade and overall rise in employment? Or is it more plant closures and layoffs?

How is the job market these days for an aspiring person across the Country?

Are most industrial cities making a comeback or is it still the same old decline along with outsourcing and AI/Automation?

Do you have difficulty engaging with colleagues due to manual processes or siloed tools?

A massive data leak from the U.S. branch of HEXPOL Compounding, a key supplier of polymer compounds, has compromised sensitive information, raising concerns about the security of corporate data and intellectual property.

The company supplies materials to major corporations, including Walmart, Caterpillar, and M3, with 700,000 files (428GB) now publicly accessible.

(View Details on PwnHub)

Key Points:

• Scope of the Breach: Approximately 700,000 files (428GB) containing sensitive internal data were exposed.
• Client Information: The company works with major clients, including Walmart, Caterpillar, and M3, but it is not explicitly stated that their specific data was compromised. The leaked files contain contracts, financial agreements, and product descriptions from the past 15 years.
• Employee Data: Personal information such as names, phone numbers, and addresses of employees across all subsidiaries was included in the leak.
• Production Secrets: Proprietary production technologies and trade secrets were disclosed, raising concerns that competitors could replicate HEXPOL’s products.
• Incident Reports: Documents reveal frequent workplace safety violations, including burns and other injuries, with indications that management may have attempted to cover up incidents to avoid reputational damage.

Security Recommendations:

• Hire a cybersecurity firm before it’s too late: Continuous monitoring can help detect and prevent cyber threats.
• Secure sensitive data: Use encryption and store critical information in secure, offline backups.
• Patch known vulnerabilities promptly: Regularly update systems to protect against exploits like Zerologon and CitrixBleed.
• Monitor for unauthorized access: Implement tools to detect unusual activity and unauthorized remote connections.
• Restrict access to sensitive data: Use strict access controls and multi-factor authentication (MFA).
• Train employees on cybersecurity threats: Educate staff to recognize phishing and social engineering attempts.
• Develop an incident response plan: Prepare a clear strategy for responding to data breaches and minimizing damage.
• Don’t wait until you’re publicly exposed: Proactive security measures can prevent financial loss and reputational damage.

Hi all - when shipping DDP from China to USA, if the international forwarder uses unsavory tactics like lying about the value of the shipment in order to reduce tariff amounts, and they get caught, who is legally responsible for the fines, etc? The forwarder or the USA buyer? I believe the USA buyer but am having trouble finding something on the internet that makes this crystal clear, especially in the case of DDP shipping.

I'm just wondering if anyone in manufacturing has a Q1 or Q2 outlook for production, and maybe let us know what industry you're in. The manufacturing organizations we are part of seem to be less optimistic about Q1 now that we're in it versus the end of 2024 when they were all projecting production increases. So from the people living it, and not just a report, what are you seeing out there? We have seen a slight increase in orders so far after a slow start in January.

The creation of a common language to store and query data for the aerospace and defense (A&D) industry is underway, with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) like Airbus and Boeing set to benefit from widely recognized and accepted terms for parts and operations.

In late January, Thomas Barré, Solution Architect at Airbus, gave a presentation and answered questions about The Common Language project that he initially developed for internal use at Airbus. He shared this information in a webinar hosted and moderated by James Roche, A&D practice director for CIMdata, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based global strategic management consulting and research company focused on Product Lifecycle Management (PLM).

Barré said that by mid-2026, The Common Language project is expected to be ready for application at scale. The language will offer OEMs beyond A&D with easy paths for people and machines to clarify, federate and pose questions to blocks of data.

“Prior to the development of this common language, OEMs have spent tens of thousands of hours searching for data without a Rosetta stone to navigate terminology and definitions. Point-to-point mapping across hundreds of IT applications must be updated each time an application is added or modified. The [way] to overcome this obstacle is to create a standard—which is a consensus by nature—with key players of the domain. [This is] then available for application within aircraft programs as needed,” said Barré.

The language is built on International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) 81346, a series of international standards originally developed for construction projects like buildings.