Reshoring hits snags, automation and smart factory adoption lags: Machinery Minutes

Key points in this episode of the Machinery Minutes podcast: 

• There are significant stumbling blocks to reshoring, including our labor shortage, lack of manufacturing capacity and failure to invest in artificial intelligence, according to the annual Kearney Reshoring Index. 

• China is eating our lunch when it comes to investing in automation and industrial robotics. Can plastics processors help? 

• Smart technology is a smart investment. A new study from Deloitte shows improvements of up to 20 percent in production output, 20 percent in employee productivity and 15 percent in unlocked capacity.