Industry Pulse:
As manufacturing leaders prepare for year-end, results from the third volume of Sikich’s M&D Industry Pulse survey can be a helpful benchmarking tool. In September, manufacturers and distributors weighed in to uncover industry trends and challenges. Optimism seemed to wain with continued workforce and supply chain headaches. Though, the industry’s resilience still shines through. Here are some high points:
Over half of the respondents said they purchased or are interested in purchasing bots to use in robotic process automation (RPA). As leaders work to combat the labor shortage, automation is a strategic solution for manufacturing businesses. We will continue to see innovation in the industry to achieve efficiencies and reduce manual, tedious tasks.
Speaking of the labor shortage, it will come as good news that only 9% of respondents experienced greater than 30% turnover in 2021. Competitive wages and benefits are critical during a tight labor market and can make a significant difference in employee retention.
We also collected data on supply chain interruptions, the vaccine and more. To learn more about this data and related insights, continue reading the Sikich Industry Pulse results.
Jerry Murphy, CPA, CMA, CGMA, Partner-in-Charge
Manufacturing & Distribution Services
Volume 3 Results
When considering their business prospects over the next six months, only 71% of manufacturing and distribution executives rated their optimism a seven or higher on a scale of one to 10, compared to more than 80% in June.
Around half of economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal in October cited “supply-chain bottlenecks as the biggest threat to growth in the next 12 to 18 months, while nearly one-fifth pointed to labor shortages.”
MATERIAL SHORTAGES
project lead time
material costs
84% of businesses experienced plant floor employee turnover in 2021
0%
of manufacturers reported their office staff does not work remotely at all
OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard
- Percentage of Respondents
According to UiPath, “Robotic process automation (RPA) is a software technology that makes it easy to build, deploy, and manage software robots that emulate humans actions interacting with digital systems and software.”
Over half of respondents said they purchased or are interested in purchasing bots to use in robotic process automation (RPA).
In June, 25% of Pulse respondents said they were considering purchasing a competitor in the next twelve months. And that’s only a portion of the buyer pool looking to invest in the industry.
– Cheryl aschenbrener, Transaction Advisory Services NAtional Leader
in the news
Forbes Features Sikich M&D Industry Pulse Results
Findings from Sikich’s M&D Industry Pulse survey were highlighted in an article from Forbes. This article discusses AI in manufacturing and cites Sikich’s data on the percentage of manufacturing companies
M&D Industry Pulse Media Coverage
Sikich’s latest M&D Pulse survey results were featured in a number of media publications. In Q3 2023, Sikich surveyed more than 100 manufacturing and distribution executives on their optimism, artificial
Laura Fischer Featured in Middle Market Growth
Laura Fischer was featured in a Middle Market Growth article from the Association for Corporate Growth. Findings from Sikich’s M&D Pulse survey were included in this article. Laura, PHR, leads
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