Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/415707
24 | /INSIGHT ON MANUFACTURING • November 2014 w w w.in s i g h t o n m f g . c o m By the NUMBERS U.S. industrial manufacturers are getting more optimistic about projected company growth, according to the Pricewaterhouse Coopers Q3 2014 Manufacturing Barometer. Survey respondents forecast an average growth rate of 5.6% during the next 12 months, up from 5.2% in the second quarter and 4.2% a year ago. However, manufacturers are more concerned about the U.S. and global economies overall, expressing concern about legislative/regulatory and taxation policies particularly. Optimism about the world economy dropped to 30%, down from 38% in the second quarter — the lowest in eight quarters. Manufacturers predict solid growth in coming year; global outlook drops Robot technology expected to impact need for skilled workers » 59% of manufacturers are currently using some sort of robotics technology. » 28% believe that replacement of workers will be the biggest impact of robots on the U.S. manufacturing workforce in the next 3 to 5 years. » 35% believe the biggest impact will be the creation of new job opportunities to engineer advanced robots and robotic operating systems. » 27% listed "not having a need" as the biggest limitation for not adopting robotics in the next 3 to 5 years, followed by cost and insufficient resources/expertise. »The global industrial robot market is estimated to reach $41 billion by 2020. 59 28 35 27 Source: PwC's Industrial Products practice's report, "How a new generation of robots is transforming manufacturing"