________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
These are complex operations requiring sophisticated skills. You can’ t simply hire workers straight from high school and expect them to maintain the quality standards and efficiency rates necessary to make domestic production economically viable. The facilities that are operating successfully in the US are often doing so at higher costs than their offshore counterparts, constrained by labor shortages and extended ramp-up periods as new workers gain the skills needed to reach full productivity.
Some states are bucking the trend. Connecticut, Alaska and Ohio added manufacturing workers during this period. Unfortunately, these represent isolated successes rather than a sustainable national pattern. The question is what these states are doing differently, and whether their approaches can scale. While the specifics vary, successful states typically share common traits: robust technical training programs, partnerships between manufacturers and community colleges, and early adoption of workforce augmentation technologies that help new workers become productive faster.
Beyond automation: augmentation as strategy
The conventional response to workforce challenges in manufacturing has been straightforward: automate everything possible. Replace human workers with robots, eliminate variability, reduce dependency on skilled labor. This approach has limitations that become apparent when you’ re trying
34