Automation key to area's future
Manufacturers, university recognize the need for advanced technologies to stay competitive.
By Shawn Strong
For the News-Leader
Election-year accounts of losing 2 million manufacturing jobs between 1995 and 2002 to countries such as China have become common and paint the manufacturing industry in the U.S. as being in a decline. Seldom is it mentioned that during the same time period China lost 15 million manufacturing jobs.
In the global economy no one is without competition and the playing field is not even. Low foreign wages and sometimes unfavorable trading conditions require manufacturers to rely on ingenuity and resourcefulness — traditional strengths of Americans.
Southwest Missouri is not exempt from the effects of the global economy and has answered the call to adapt to competition from around the globe. Automation has become necessary to compete with low labor costs in undeveloped countries. In the past, talk of automation made many fear for their jobs. Today, automation is a sign that times are good and the company is willing to invest in the future. Examples of automation in Springfield include:
• In 2001, NorthStar Battery completed one of the most advanced lead-acid battery manufacturing plants in the world. Due in large part to automation, this facility was able to remain open during a recession that hit their main customer, the telecommunication industry, particularly hard. Today, NorthStar is expanding their production facility to meet demand.
• General Electric has made several capital investments that have automated aspects of its 33-year-old Springfield plant. Every investment in this facility increases efficiency, which can help protect this facility from the fate of the Ozark Fasco plant. Fasco, which also made fractional-horsepower electric motors, closed in 2003 and shipped most of its jobs to Mexico.
• In 1996, the Maiman Company built what is probably the most advanced door-manufacturing plant in the world. This highly automated plant has allowed the Maiman Company to achieve unprecedented efficiencies and continued growth.
• Higher education in Southwest Missouri has recognized the need for advanced manufacturing technologies such as automation and is contributing on several fronts. The industrial management department in the SMS College of Business Administration has invested heavily in what has become perhaps the most advanced automated manufacturing laboratory in the region.
This lab contains many of the same automated technologies found in only the most modern manufacturing facilities. The entire laboratory is controlled and monitored through a single computer. Students entering manufacturing in the future will find numerous job opportunities but they will require technical savvy, the ability to adapt to change, and the capacity to function in a number of diverse roles. The industrial management department has revamped its curriculum to prepare students for this type of dynamic and highly automated environment.
The Center for Applied Science and Engineering at Southwest Missouri State University is another example of SMS's efforts to meet the needs of southwest Missouri. The CASE center will make its new home in the Jordan Valley Innovation Center, which will be located in the soon-to-be-renovated former MFA mill. The university is working with private companies to develop new technologies, such as biosensors, that may eventually be manufactured in Springfield.
Job losses have overshadowed other recent positive trends in manufacturing. Record productivity gains help the U.S. economy by producing low-cost goods and increasing consumer buying power. Productivity gains require capital investments which affect the entire economy. Ultimately, the combination of automation, education and the resulting productivity gains keeps southwest Missouri manufacturers competitive and helps strengthen America's position as a world leader in the production of goods and services.
Shawn Strong, Ph.D., is associate professor and head of the department of industrial management at Southwest Missouri State University.
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