Manufacturing Industry Outlook: Foundations for Success

February 27, 2023

The Brown Schultz Sheridan & Fritz (BSSF) and LEA Global 2022-2023 Manufacturing Outlook Survey and Insights report has been released. This year’s theme is “Foundations for Success” because survey respondents communicated a strong focus on plant and capital investments that will support more automated and productive companies in the future. Manufacturing leaders are focused on long-term growth and are restructuring their sourcing strategies while investing in new product and process research.

How Do I Get the Report?

Fill out the form below and you will be redirected to the full 2022-2023 Manufacturing Outlook Survey and Insights report. The full report will go over the general outlook for manufacturing in 2023, which will explore levels of optimism, barriers, opportunities for growth, top operational priorities and investments.

Key Survey Highlights

When participants were asked about forecasting the revenue growth over the next 12 months, about 40% predicted a 10-20% revenue growth while 19% expected revenue to remain unchanged through the second quarter of 2023. This survey data was gathered from a concentrated sample of middle-market and large global manufacturers in a variety of industries. Below are some key survey highlights that are included in this report:

  • More local and regional strategic partnerships – Manufacturers are looking for supplier relationships closer to home and are placing more trust in their regional economies.
  • More automation to augment smaller labor pools – The pandemic and increased labor shortages have meant that money is moving towards plant modernization. The top 2023 investments include new manufacturing equipment, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and robotics.
  • Exploration of machine learning and analytics tools – Manufacturers have recognized an uptick in Research and Development (R&D) investment this year, which aligns with their top operational spending priorities for technology tools, new product or service development and business technology and/or intelligence data.
  • Less cybersecurity response than expected – Companies who participated in the survey did not plan to invest a significant amount in their cybersecurity in the next 12 months, even though the manufacturing sector was the most targeted industry for ransomware attacks in 2021.
  • Less concern over environmental, social and corporate governance principles (ESG) as an emerging requirement – The sample of manufacturers in the middle market U.S. machining/industrial, transportation/automotive and construction sectors indicated little concern about ESG factors as serious barriers to growth in the next 12 months. This is an emerging requirement as larger customers must perform ESG due diligence along the value chain.

 

Disclaimer: Information provided by Brown Schultz Sheridan & Fritz (BSSF) as part of this blog post is intended for reference and information only. As the information is designed solely to provide guidance and is not intended to be a substitute for someone seeking personalized professional advice based on specific factual situations, responding to such inquiries does NOT create a professional relationship between BSSF and the reader and should not be interpreted as such. Although BSSF has made every reasonable effort to ensure that the information provided is accurate, BSSF makes no warranties, expressed or implied, on the information provided. The reader accepts the information as is and assumes all responsibility for the use of such information.