There is no doubting the fact that the world of manufacturing is an important one here in the United States. After all, this is an industry that not only helps to bolster our economy, but provides a great many much needed and wanted products all throughout the country and even beyond it as well. In addition to this, there are a great many jobs created through the manufacturing world as well. This is something that has a tremendous impact on communities, families, and individual people living in all corners of the United States – and everywhere else in between as well, for that matter. At the end of the day, we certainly cannot dispute the importance of our manufacturing world. As a matter of fact, this information is even backed up by the data that has been gathered on the subject. This data shows that already more than 11% of our total GDP here in the United States comes from the manufacturing world. In addition to this, the fourth quarter of 2018 alone saw more than $2 trillion contributed from the manufacturing industry. And, in terms of jobs, more than four and a half million will need to be filled in the realm of manufacturing over the course of the next ten years or so, something that will help many people living throughout the United States to become employed – and gainfully so.
Because of this, the role of manufacturing consulting firms has become particularly important, especially in relation to creating factories and designing things like factory layout and factory operating systems. Fortunately, there are many manufacturing consulting firms employing many manufacturing engineering consultants who are perfect for designing factory layout, testing this factory layout, and other important functions of the role. And many times, you’re supporting a small business when you support a manufacturing consulting firm. This is due to the fact that, though there are up to 700,000 such consulting firms found all throughout the world, very nearly three quarters of them here in the United States don’t have more than even just 20 employees, putting them firmly in small business territory, something that has always been considered at least part of the backbone of our country, if not immensely so.
And utilizing such professional services is important, as factory layout and facility design are critical to the function of any manufacturing facility of any kind. For one thing, the right factory layout and facility design can facilitate better communication between all kinds of workers. This is something that is very much important, as communication tends to be something that is struggled with when improper factory layout is in place. As a matter of fact, it has even been found that more than 55% of all workers (around 59% of them, to be just a bit more exact) actually felt that it was communication that most hampered them in being successful as a team, followed quite distantly by matters of accountability. For many people, having a better factory layout would likely go a long way towards helping this problem, even if factory layout alone was not able to solve it entirely.
Of course, this is not the only important factor when it comes to factory layout and overall facility design. In addition to factory layout improving worker relations in many cases, factory layout and facility design can help to improve overall energy efficiency as well. After all, the world of manufacturing uses quite a great deal of energy indeed, to say the very least on the subject. As a matter of fact, up to 30% of all the energy generated by the United States as a whole can be traced back to the industry and world of manufacturing, something that is certainly significant, and only growing more so as we focus on saving our planet in the years that are to come. By making a factory layout and design as eco friendly and as green as possible, we can help to ensure that our planet is product while our industry of manufacturing is still able to thrive.