Criss-crossing the state’s industrial parks, one hears a number of things repeated by Connecticut’s manufacturers.
I was asked to summarize these things a couple of weeks ago, during a short speech at the kick-off for the Connecticut Industrial Council. Having written this column for the last six months, the group felt I might offer something of a perspective on the state of the state’s small- and medium-sized manufacturers.
Perfect timing: Six months is an industry-standard good point in time to step back and evaluate the things one’s seen and sees.
I offer the first Industrial Strength-ometer: the five most-glaring trends I’ve spotted in covering Connecticut’s small factories.
The war machine has been a boon. Despite one’s opinion on the rationale or success of the war in Iraq, many of Connecticut’s manufacturers clearly benefit from the colossal demands created by the American military-industrial complex. The state’s defense and aerospace firms – and the long line of suppliers who build their thousands of widgets – are seeing far better times now than when the decade opened. From the bowsers used to fuel and defuel planes, to the fasteners that hold engines and aircraft together, the state’s small machine shops and factories for the most part are seeing steady demand for their products.
Used, inexpensive manufacturing equipment has helped boost productivity in many quarters of the manufacturing world here. Many small manufacturers have had an influx of several-years old computerized equipment such as CNC machines, which has sped up their production time and somewhat helped to ease the lack of qualified employees.
If you can’t beat ’em, do something else. No one has found a good answer to the China question. As work orders and manufacturing business continues to flow toward Asia, many small manufacturers are stretching to find a new niche that can’t be outsourced or offset.
We’re from the government and we’re here to help… Several state- and federal-funded groups like Capital Workforce Partners and The Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology have put the pedal to the metal over the last year to get out and work with manufacturers to lean and improve their businesses and recruit competent workers. This should pay off down the line.
And the biggest worry that keeps manufacturing company owners up at night: Finding workers remains incredibly difficult. Victor Morando of Dymotek in Ellington summed it up best: “We simply cannot find enough qualified people to work here.” It’s a refrain repeated over and over again by the state’s manufacturers. The low rate that vocational and technical schools churn out manufacturing workers could spell doom for companies down the line, when baby boomer tool and die makers start leaving the workforce en masse.
Initial reading on the Industrial Strength-ometer reading: Six out of 10.
Kenneth J. St. Onge is managing editor of the Hartford Business Journal.