1H 2022 Manufacturing M&A Report

Manufacturing has been in the news plenty in the past two years. Can we make enough, can we import fast enough, can we make a profit? What can we do? If American producers of everything from cars to aluminum cans are tired of delays, supply chain snarls, and the unpredictable impact of COVID outbreaks in far-away ports, some form of onshoring – returning manufacturing to American soil – may be part of manufacturing’s future. And that’s where the story begins. The next generation of American factories, and products, probably won’t resemble Henry Ford’s steam-powered factories of the past. To combat higher labor costs, the future of manufacturing may depend not just on what goods are made, but how they’re made. Think “smart factories,” manufacturing facilities built on connectivity, efficiency, and creativity driven by emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, 3D printing, machine learning, cloud computing, robotics, and 5G communications…