Manufacturing Evolving Across Indiana

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(UNDATED) - Manufacturing in Indiana is in the midst of an evolution from traditional manufacturing to advanced manufacturing.

Indiana Manufacturers Association President Pat Kiely tells Inside Indiana Business that the past ten years have brought dramatic change, from what the internet now means to companies connecting to the value chain to the significant emergence of foreign competition from companies like china and India.

Kiely says manufacturers have learned to better deal with the logistics chain and productivity has been up every year. However, he says that means direct employment is down.

Kiely admits the state has lost about 120-thousand manufacturing jobs over the past ten years. Still, he says Indiana is probably one of the greatest productivity stories in the Midwest. He says manufacturing in Indiana has grown by about 25-percent since 2001 in Indiana when you look at what the state produced, yet it is doing it with fewer employees.

Kiely says that's because of the evolution to advanced manufacturing and the change to high-tech equipment and computers.

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