Wisconsin Manufacturing Firms Face Challenges

There is a large gap between Wisconsin manufacturing firms understanding the importance of meeting certain performance goals and actually doing it, a new survey released on Wednesday showed.

The survey commissioned by the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership revealed challenges faced by the state’s 10,000 manufacturing companies as they try to compete in a global market, meet increasing customer demands and work to become environmentally friendly.


Of those Wisconsin manufacturers that identified themselves as world-class, roughly the same percentage also said they were making no progress on the goals identified, said John Brandt, CEO of the Manufacturing Performance Institute, an Ohio-based research firm that did the study for WMEP.

Among the survey’s more troublesome findings:

– 26 percent said less than 5 percent of annual sales comes from new products introduced within the past three years.

– 22 percent said less than 1 percent of their workforce is dedicated to new product development.

– 29 percent said fewer than eight hours of formal training is devoted annually to each employee.

– 56 percent said less than half of the products they produce are completely recyclable or reusable.

– 58 percent said they have no employees located overseas or dedicated to overseas business.

The survey showed that world-class manufacturers were more likely to invest in new product development, train their workers and improve their technologies. They were also more likely to use environmentally friendly processes and recognize that engaging with the global economy was vital to their success.

Source: The Chicago Tribune

View all