MT Magazine November/December 2025

THE INDUSTRY OUTLOOK ISSUE

24

FEATURE STORY

The R&D that goes into developing new products or processes and the patents that eventually protect them are only half of the equation for future success in manufacturing. Attracting, training, and retaining top talent is the other crucial half; in an effort to bridge the current workforce gap, educational institutions have increased their spending on metalworking machinery more than fivefold between 2012 and 2024, according to the U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders Report published by AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology. Not all machinery purchased by educational institutions is destined to be used directly to train students for a career on a shop floor; the mere presence of manufacturing technology can acclimate students to the field and inspire them to a lifetime of craft and innovation – and at best, they’ll learn about taking a concept from design to production. Increasing manufacturing fluency among younger generations will pay dividends in future inventiveness and productivity. Finding Faults Through the second quarter of 2025, businesses across all sectors invested roughly $1.4 trillion in new equipment on an annualized basis. Of that investment, only about $13 billion is expected to be dedicated to the metalworking machinery AMT members build and sell. The small relative size of the market for manufacturing technology compared to all investment in equipment understates the importance of metalworking machinery to the overall manufacturing economy. Without the technology to cut, bend, form, and fabricate metal parts, the machinery and inputs critical to the rest of the manufacturing industry could not be made domestically, requiring the import

of parts, raising potential logistical and national security issues. Just as society and the economy are markedly different today than they were in 1979, when manufacturing employment hit its historical peak, the industry looks decidedly different from what it was 45 years ago. The future of U.S. manufacturing is intertwined with the health of the market for manufacturing technology, and its strength and success will depend on capital equipment and a skilled workforce to effectively utilize that equipment. Reconsidering the aims and current effectiveness of industrial and trade policies instituted over the last half-century or more is certainly justified. Yet, as we look toward the future of manufacturing and foster an environment that unleashes American ingenuity and inventiveness, we need to do so with the recognition that, in terms of output levels, the environment for workers, and the opportunities before us, manufacturing is currently in a golden age. To ignore these trends and embrace a path based on a romanticized past – with more employment but less output, more dangerous conditions, and less efficient operations – risks stifling the length of this prosperous period. The result could be a future that looks promising on the surface but lacks the underlying strengths that carried manufacturing through the first quarter of the 21st century on such stable footing.

If you have any questions about this article, please contact Chris at cchidzik@AMTonline.org