mckinsey -美国制造业的未来就在眼前 The future of US manufacturing is hiding in plain sight

McKinsey

&Company

Industrials&ElectronicsPractice

ThefutureofUS

manufacturingishiding

inplainsight

IntheUnitedStates,theglorydaysofmanufacturingcouldonceagainbepossible.Industrialtechcompanies,getreadyforyourclose-up.

◎L21/Gettylmages

December2022

Boringisbeautifulwhenitdriveseconomic

prosperity.Cueindustrialtechnologycompanies,whoseunder-the-radarsuccessesarepoweringaresurgenceinUSmanufacturing.Theirproven

promiseisthebasisofthenewbookTheTitaniumEconomy,cowrittenbyMcKinsey’smanaging

partnerforNorthAmerica,AsutoshPadhi.

AsutoshjoinspartnerKimBordenandglobal

editorialdirectorLuciaRahillytodiscussthis

overlookedbrightspotintheUSeconomy—andwhat’snecessarytopowerthenextstageof

manufacturinggrowth.

Thistranscripthasbeeneditedforclarity.

TheMcKinseyPodcastiscohostedbyRobertaFusaroandLuciaRahilly.

Awondrousdiscovery

LuciaRahilly:Over20yearsago,ayoungAsutoshPadhicametotheUnitedStatesbywayofIndiaandultimatelylandedinCleveland,Ohio.Andhewas

amazedbywhathesaw.

AsutoshPadhi:Atthatpoint,Istartedtosee

industrialcompaniesforthefirsttimeinthe

Midwest,andIsawhardworking,innovation-driveninstitutionsthathadbeenaroundfornearlyone

hundredyears.Andtheyweredrivinginnovationonaday-to-daybasis.

LuciaRahilly:Asutoshwasstartledbyanirony.

Thesestalwartcompaniesembracedcutting-edgetechnology,wereprofitable,hiredlotsofpeople—andnobodyknewwhotheywere;theywere

relativelyunknown.

AsutoshPadhi:Theydon’tmakethecoversofthemostimportantmagazinesthatweread,orthe

newspapersweread,orthenewschannelsthatwewatch.

LuciaRahilly:ToAsutosh,nowaMcKinseysenior

partner,theseunheraldedorganizationscanrebuildAmerica’smightasahigh-techmanufacturing

leaderandrestorethebackboneoftheUSeconomy.Andhe’sshoutingitfromtherooftopsinhisnew

book,TheTitaniumEconomy,whichhecowrote

withGauravBatraandNickSanthanam.ThisisThe

McKinseyPodcast,wherewehelpyoumakesenseoutoftheworld’stoughestbusinesschallenges.I’myourhostfortoday,LuciaRahilly.

Durableandsustainable

LuciaRahilly:Let’sturntothephrase

titaniumeconomy.Whatdowemeanwhenweusethatphrase?

AsutoshPadhi:Bytitanium,wewantedtosignify

companiesthatweredurable,thatwereresistant

andtechnology-driven.Anddeliberatelystrikea

contrastwithpeople’sviewofmanufacturing,whichisseenasold,stodgy,unattractive,anddifficulttoworkin.

LuciaRahilly:Infact,they’retheoppositeof

stodgy.McKinseypartnerKimBordensaysthesecompaniesaretrailblazers.

KimBorden:They’releveragingadvancedanalytics,artificialintelligence,andautomationinwaysthatalotofpeopledon’trealize.

LuciaRahilly:Andalotofpeopledon’trealizewhatexactlytheseindustrialtechnologycompaniesdo.

Theyproviderawmaterialsandcomponentpartstobusinessesthatgoontocreateproductsordeliverservicescriticaltoourdailylives.Take,forexample,arestaurant.Ifyou’reacarnivore,youwantthemeattobefreshandsafe,right?So,thesealinwhichthemeatisdelivered...

KimBorden:...needstobequalityandontime.

SealedAirisaleadingindustrialcompanythathas

pioneerednewmethodsforthepackagingand

trackingofmeatshipments.Itsoundssomewhat

complicated,butthey’veleveragedblockchain

labelstotrackchainofcustodyofmeatandensure

thatwhatendsuponyourtableisthehighestquality.

LuciaRahilly:Andafteryou’vegrabbedaquickbite,inthenameofsustainability,wheredoalltheplates,napkins,andcupsgo?

KimBorden:CasellaWasteSystemsisoneofthosecompaniesthathasdevelopedsolutionstobeabletotellthedifferencebetweenatrulyrecyclable

2ThefutureofUSmanufacturingishidinginplainsight

ThefutureofUSmanufacturingishidinginplainsight3

‘Idoactuallythinkalotofthese

family-ownedbusinessesareopentodisruptionbecauseit’sdoordie,honestly.Itissurvival.’

—KimBorden

materialandonethatisnotandactuallybelongsinalandfill.

Thousandsemployed;billionsofsales

LuciaRahilly:Sohowmanyindustrial

technologycompaniesexistintheUS?Get

readyforsomestellarstats.Intheprivate

sector?Overthreethousand.Publicly-traded?Aboutsevenhundred.About80percentof

thosepubliccompanieshavesalesranging

from$1billionto$10billion.Theyemploy

2,000to20,000people.Andhere’ssomethingelsereallyremarkable:90percentofthefirmsareprofitable.

AsutoshPadhi:Thissectorismassively

importanttotheUSeconomyintwoways.Thecompaniesthemselvesdriveabout$250billionofGDP,ofannualrevenuegrowth.Thesecondpart,whichisequallyimportant,iswhatwecalltheamplificationcycle.

LuciaRahilly:Theamplificationcycleisavirtuouseconomiccycle.Theoretically,whenpeoplehavegoodjobs,theybuyhomesandspendmoney

withinthecommunity.Thecommunitiesthen

thrive,developdesirablereputations,andpeoplestartmovingin.Thisdiversifiesthetalentpool.

OneexampleofatownthatboomedthankstothetitaniumeconomyisSimpsonville,SouthCarolina.

AsutoshPadhi:It’sagreatexampleofatown

whereonetitaniumeconomycompanymovedin,andthenanumberofothercompaniesmovedinto

thatarea.Sothere’sroughlyaboutfivecompanies

nowinthatarea.Thecommunity’snotbig.Ithas

probably40,000people.Buttheimpactithashadisjustprofound.Youlookattheaveragepercapitaincome.Youlookatthehighlevelsofemployment.

Youlookatothereconomicindicatorsaswellaroundeconomicinclusion,aroundsafetyandeverything.

Resilient,reliable,andsteadyrevenue

LuciaRahilly:Acrosstheboard,KimandAsutoshagreethesecompaniesarealsoresilient:theywerenothithardbytheGreatResignation.Andtheir

financialperformance...

AsutoshPadhi:...hasbeenstrongandsteady.

They’venothadthemegarevenuegrowth,ofwhat

youwouldassociatewithtechcompanies.But

whatyouseeisyouseestrong,stable,andsteady

performance.Inotherwords,consistentandreliable,butpotentiallyboring.(Laughs)

LuciaRahilly:What’snotboringisthekindofwagesworkersareearninginthesetypesofcompanies.

AsutoshPadhi:Typically$60,000ayearversus

$30,000intheservicesector.Butthen,theyalso

aremuchmoreorientedtowardemployingfolks

forthelongerterm.Soifyoulookatthebenefits

packageandothers,eventuallyyoucanretirewithacomfortableincomefromthesecompanies.

LuciaRahilly:Notonlyaretheypayingattractivesalaries,buttheyalsoprioritizeimprovingthe

naturalenvironment.

‘Sotheplaybookis,youfirstgetvery

focusedaroundanareathatyouwanttocompeteinanddowellin.Wecallthismicro-verticals.That’safirstthing.’

—AsutoshPadhi

Mission-drivenmanufacturing

AsutoshPadhi:Ithinkallofthemhaveaclear

purpose.Andthepurposeofthemstartsbysaying,howcantheyhelptheworlddecarbonize?Howcantheyhelptomoveproductsandservicescheaper?Howdotheykeeptheeconomygoingbetter,faster,cleanerthanhashappenedinthepast?

KimBorden:Trexisanexcellentexampleofa

companythat’sdonethis.Theytransformwasteintobuildingmaterialsbysalvagingplasticandwood

fromlandfillstomakevariousmaterialsforbuildings,forbenches.Andwhat’sreallycomeofitisthattheyhavecreated,frankly,superiorproductsinalotof

cases,withstandingweatherelements,etcetera.

Eachyear,Trexsaves500millionpoundsofwoodenplasticfromlandfills,recycling1.5billionplastic

bagsannually.Andsotheirentirebusinessmodelisanchoredinenvironmentalstewardship.

LuciaRahilly:Notonlyaretheseindustrial

manufacturingcompaniescaringforthe

environment,buttheyalsodefythestereotypeofatypicalfactory.

AsutoshPadhi:Youwalkintoatraditional

manufacturingcompany,andyougettolargehalls

thathavetypicallynotbeenrefurbishedindecades.Theplaceusuallylooksdarkanddingy,notwelllit.

Andit’sveryhardtoactuallybedoinganythingotherthanworkingbyyourselfasanindividual.That’skindofwhattraditionalmanufacturingis.

LuciaRahilly:Contrastthatpicturewithanindustrialtechnologycompany.

AsutoshPadhi:Themachinesarenew.The

peopleareworkingtogetherinteams.Theplaceisinviting.Andyougetthesensethatthereis

somethingthatismuchmoremodern,much

moreorientedaroundprecisionmanufacturing,whetherit’susingnewmaterials,new

technologies,differenttypesofequipment.

Wise,notold

LuciaRahilly:Lotsofnewnessinmanycompaniesthatareold,small,andfamilyrun.

LuciaRahilly:Doyoufindthesebusinessestendtobeopentodisruptingthemselvesdigitally?

KimBorden:Idoactuallythinkalotofthesefamily-ownedbusinessesareopentodisruptionbecause

it’sdoordie,honestly.Itissurvival.Andifyourfamilyhasbuiltthisbusiness,youhaveaheckofalotof

passiontomakethatwork.

Theyareveryfocused,therefore,aroundthetrendsintheindustry.Whatisitthatthecustomersreallycareabout?Whatisitthat’shappeningwithinthesupplychains?

LuciaRahilly:OK,sosupposeI’masmall,family-ownedindustrialscompany.What’stheplaybookfortakingmycompanytothenextleveland

achievingscale?

AsutoshPadhi:Sotheplaybookis,youfirstgetveryfocusedaroundanareathatyouwanttocompete

inanddowellin.Wecallthismicro-verticals.That’s

ThefutureofUSmanufacturingishidinginplainsight

4

afirstthing.Secondistohaveprudentacquisitionsintheseverticalstocontinuetobuildupaleadingpositionasyougothroughthis.

Thethirdoneisacontinued,relentlessfocusonoperationalperformance.Allaspectsof

operationalperformance,frommanufacturingthroughsupplychain.

LuciaRahilly:Beyondinnovatingtheiroperations,thesecompaniesarestartingtoinnovatetheir

searchanddevelopmentoftalent.Likehiringpeoplethathaveskillsbutnotcollegedegrees.

Creativeandinclusivehiringpractices

AsutoshPadhi:Therearemillionsofpeoplein

theUnitedStatestodaywhodon’thavefour-year

collegedegrees,butcanbehighlyqualifiedintermsofdoingthebasicactivitiesandtasks.Theycan

designproducts.Theycanrunthemachines.Theycanbecomealinesupervisor.

Fromthere,theymightbecomeashiftsupervisor.

Fromthat,theymightbecomeaplantmanager.

Andallofthisisbecausetheyactuallystartedby

knowing,forexample,whatmachiningis,whatheattreatmentis,whatweldingis,whatprocessformingis,whatprecisionengineeringanddifferenttypesoftechnologiesare.

Sotheabilitytoteachpeoplethesethingsthatreallydrivethesetitaniumeconomycompanies—that’sa

skill-basedhiringapproachandIthinkthat’swherethecompanieswillneedtogo.

LuciaRahilly:Inadditiontoskill-basedhiring,Kimsayscompaniescanpartnerwitheducational

institutionstoimprovethetalentpipeline.Forexample,Graco.

KimBorden:Gracohasbuiltrelationshipswith

educationalinstitutionsinfivestates,where

thecompanydonatescapitalequipment,offers

scholarships,partnersoneducationprograms,andhelpsthefolksinthecommunityinthosestates

basicallyupskill.In2021,thefundingexceeded

$1.3million.Thesepartnershipscanreallybenefitboththecompanyandthecommunityaroundit.

Toobusytobrag

LuciaRahilly:Buildingpartnershipsrequires

thatpeopleknowtheseorganizationsexist.But

titaniumeconomycompaniestendtonotinvestintheirownstorytelling.

KimBorden:ManyofthesecompaniesaresobusygettingthejobdonethatPRandmarketingisnot

necessarilyfrontandcenterforthem.

AsutoshPadhi:It’squiet,they’requiet.

LuciaRahilly:Exactly,it’sunderstated.

AsutoshPadhi:They’reunderstated.

LuciaRahilly:Understated,hardworking,andfinanciallythriving.Yet,USsupportofthese

industrialmanufacturingcompaniespalesincomparisontoothercountries.

DoestheUShaveachancetocatchup?LuciaRahilly:Whatmightwelearnfromother

countriesthatdothisbetter?

KimBorden:IdothinkintheUnitedStateswe

needtosignificantlyincreasetheinvestmentinto

thissectorversusothercountries.Forexample,

Chinahas,Ithink,200timesmoreinvestment.Theirgovernmentandtheirbusinessesareconstantly

reinvestingintechnologytoliftuptheentiremanufacturingsectorandlearnnewskills.

Germanyisanothergreatexamplewherethegovernmentinvestsincrediblyheavilyinto

theseareas.

LuciaRahilly:Andit’svitaltoincreaseinvestmentnoworriskbeingleftbehind.

KimBorden:Wehaveprobablylessthanfive

yearstodriveameaningfulliftformanufacturinginAmerica.

LuciaRahilly:Anditwilltake