The Friday Report: May 6th, 2022

U.S. to Spend $3 Billion On Electric Vehicle Battery Manufacturing 

In March, President Joe Biden stated that he would be utilizing the Defense Production Act to aid in the assembly of batteries for electric vehicles. The Cold War-era Act will be used to support the production of necessary minerals used to make the batteries and increase the development of the battery supply chain industry. Biden has said on the record that by 2030 he hopes that half of the vehicles sold in the U.S. will be fully-electric.  

Biden hopes that by funding the manufacturing process, unionized employment will rise and that this will offset America’s largest competitor, China, from over taking the market. Biden also suggested that this is a way to aid climate control by reducing carbon emissions, providing the U.S. the ability to assure itself energy independence.  

For more information, please continue reading here. 

Electric Truck Designed for Urban Logistics to be Manufactured in the U.S. 

Volta is coming to America. As the use of electric vehicles continue to rise, Volta has announced that it will introduce a commercial vehicle in U.S. markets by 2023. The Volta Zero Class 7 truck will be a fully electric vehicle similar to the company’s current 16-ton design, used exclusively for the demands of urban logistics.  

Since launching in 2019, Volta Trucks has secured over 6,000 pre-orders of its European version.  According to Carl-Magnus Norden, founder of Volta trucks, the expansion into North American territory is necessary and a testament to the vehicles usability in meeting the needs of its customers. The company plans to use Los Angeles as its testing site by manufacturing 100 trucks for use.  

The Volta Zero Class 7 is tentatively scheduled for mass production in 2024, with eAxle parts from Michigan-based Meritor and high voltage batteries from California-based Proterra.  

For more information, please continue reading here. 

Forbes Envisions 2022 as Turning Point for Manufacturing in America

Talent, Technology, Innovation. According to Forbes, these are the things that American manufacturers must invest in if they desire to be industry leaders once again.  

Taking Back Supply Chain  

By merging technology and innovation, Forbes advises that manufacturers will be better able to alleviate the stresses of interference. The global pandemic forced major companies to alter the way business was run and also what they produced. High priority products, such as masks and ventilators, were able to be made by utilizing existing technology. One such company, ROE Dental Laboratory, began to produce face shields and nasal swabs in place of their normal product, dentures.  

Post-Pandemic Innovation 

A normally conservative industry, solving real world problems during the pandemic blew the doors open for the supply chain industry. Without innovation, manufacturers found themselves unable to compete with those that invested in tendering needs of the market. By paying attention to consumer behavior, successful companies were able to take calculated risks which enabled growth by taking real-world issues and solving them.  

Investing in the Future 

As the pandemic showed, companies that failed to invest in innovation failed to keep up with global standards and many of these companies were purchased by others. In doing so, companies were able to improve upon their ability to transform and keep up with technological advances that other countries, such as China, were and are currently making. These implementations have been shown to improve supply chain flexibility, increase profits, and provide formidable understanding of necessity. 

Automation Replacing Talent 

Purell is a great example of what investing in automation technology can do for a company. As the global pandemic bloomed, Gojo, the makers of Purell were able to nearly triple its production instantly. They were able to succeed due to automation allowing talent to free itself up in order to support growth. With the ‘Great Resignation’ in full force, a lack of talent can lead manufacturers down a slippery slope. The use of automation has allowed companies to reevaluate worker compensation and offer employees a desirable place to work.  

For more information, please continue reading here.