看未来:下一步是什么?

吉姆·菲利普斯(Jim Phillips),纱线市场编辑

t他的美国纺织工业是一家工业强国,在20世纪中叶以风格,数量和质量领先于世界。不幸的是,到21世纪初期,该行业已经落到了它以前的荣耀的阴影下,这被从政府补贴的亚洲公司进口摧毁了,这些公司支付了非常低的工资。

旋转器,织布工和编织者一个接一个地关闭了灯,永远关闭了门。一些专家和分析师预测,该行业没有未来,最终将几乎消失。

尽管有所有反对,但纺织领导者仍未准备好扔毛巾。取而代之的是,他们从商品产品的大规模生产过渡到创建专业,利基和高科技产品。他们拥护一个新的价值主张,重新调整了行业的重点。美国公司不再尝试争夺数量和价格。取而代之的是,他们承诺将成为世界上最好的质量,服务和市场速度。他们重新调整制造能力以更现实地与需求保持一致。他们看到了订单,收入和利润飞涨。美国行业在世界精英中夺回了自己的地位。一切都很好 - 至少直到有一种传染性病毒的消息传出,该病毒正在摧毁中国并开始在世界各地蔓延。

该行业在2020年上半年跌落。植物关闭。人们被庇护到位。商店和餐馆关闭。装满产品和用品的集装箱船
在世界各地的港口排队,无法卸货。

持久

坚决,该行业坚持,当the economy began to reopen, spinners and their sister companies once again began to recover. Orders improved — some companies even finished 2020 close to their original projections. Yet, even with a decent degree of recovery, things were not quite the same. Many companies had problems keeping qualified employees even before the pandemic began. After the initial quarantine period, many of those who were temporarily laid off decided not to return to work. A shortage of qualified labor, coupled with a global supply chain in disarray, meant customers were not getting their orders as quickly as before.

“Demand remains solid,” said one industry expert. “The problem is getting product to the customers. Between production problems and shipping problems, the time from order to delivery has increased substantially.”

这否定了美国三个行业的基础优势中的两个。质量仍然存在。服务和市场速度不是。

因此,这导致了一个问题:下一步是什么?

许多咨询公司和分析师已经评估了包括纺织行业在内的美国当前制造状态,并建议公司可以采取多个步骤来解决当前的劳动力问题,并为安全的未来做准备。

建议

例如,咨询公司德勤(Deloitte)建议制造商需要观看并采取特定趋势以确保其未来。这些趋势中的三个专门适用于纺织工业中的旋转器和其他趋势。在处理劳动力短缺时,德勤建议您寻找增加灵活性和工作/生活平衡的方法,以使制造业工作。许多流离失所的工人习惯了更加平衡的生活方式,并选择不回到更严格的制造环境。

Logistics challenges, including shortages of truck drivers, dock workers and others, are likely continue — maybe into the first half of 2023. As a result, spinners will likely incur higher costs, which are likely to be passed on through to customers. Companies should carefully plan and map out their supply networks. Deloitte says, “digital supply networks and data analytics can be powerful enablers for more flexible, multitiered responses to disruptions.”

第三个适用趋势是可持续性。德勤报告:“环境,社会和治理因素的快速上升正在重新定义和提升制造业的可持续性,从未有过。”这是许多旋转器脱颖而出的东西。Unifi和Elevate纺织品等公司的努力引起了全球的广泛关注。该行业越来越多的公司正在采取一致的可持续发展计划。

2022年5月/6月