Stories from the Steel Trenches – United States
Regardless of one’s Political thoughts in the United States, it is without doubt that Steel manufacturing in United States has been decimated and towns in Midwest and even East Coast have been hollowed out. I remember until the early 90s driving for meetings through Gary, Sparrow Point, Bethlehem, Allentown, and other similar towns in Indiana, Illinois, Pennsylvania and New Jersery which had a manufacturing ecosystem with machinery manufacturers, small steel users, thriving steel service centers and of course large producers….National Steel, LTV, Weirton, Bethlehem Steel (all merged or moth balled). The decimation began in the early 90s and continued with the advent of the Service Industry, China, Information Technology and of course Wall Street with financial engineering and focus on short term profits.
I think people across the political spectrum conveniently forgot there were living and breathing human beings in the manufacturing industry rather than figures in reports that were losing a way of life.
Reasons for this devastation maybe debatable. So also the present actions being taken to bring back manufacturing in USA. Questions are however galore. Is it simply too late? Is it possible to take this U turn as many manufacturing companies have simply relocated in Asia to serve their customer from there because of the available infrastructure and ecosystem? Is it possible to recreate the lost ecosystem for manufacturing in United States? Will the job creation be just marginal because of robotics and high levels of automation in manufacturing? And how do you create a work force with the required capabilities that combines digital technology with manufacturing?
Regardless of the way forward, there is much to celebrate about the past prowess of manufacturing in United States. A scattered few still remain in some form despite the decimation. The Littell shearing lines, Minster presses for EOEs, Bronx Group for Steel Processing Equipment, Stolle for Can Making and there are so many more that can come to mind. Of course in Steel Producers, NUCOR is always top of the mind in Mini Mills with Electic Arc Furnaces and their business strategies with Steel Dynamics not being far off as well. Even US Steel has its roots in the early 1900s. Not to mention the numerous service centers that have managed to survive by reinventing themselves a number of times.
Instead of drowning in nostalgia, I invite my friends from USA to recall companies that they remember from the past, companies that remain and their thoughts on bringing back the ecosystem that supports manufacturing. And what form can the manufacturing come back in United States? It will be nice if the comments are civil, contextual and non-political.