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Last month's Thomas Industrial Survey examining impacts of COVID-19 on the industrial sector, the results of which were released today, revealed one in four U.S. manufacturers are considering expanding industrial automation as a result of COVID-19, while one in five already has automated systems in place.
Additionally, 64% of manufacturers report they are likely to bring manufacturing production and sourcing back to North America — a 10% increase from the same sentiment reported in the March 2020 survey.
COVID-19 Impact on Manufacturing: Survey Highlights
Strong Faith in North American Manufacturing
While 41% of manufacturers are predicting a decrease in demand as a result of the outbreak, 91% are confident that the sector as a whole will recover.
Shifts in Talent Needs
56% of manufacturing companies have not laid off employees due to COVID-19 and 30% of companies are actively hiring.
Non-essential Business Shutdown Impacts Demand
64% of manufacturers report their business is affected by the shutdown orders impacting other non-essential businesses, with the transportation (77%), automotive (75%), construction (70%), and agricultural (69%) sectors most drastically affected.
Relief Efforts
15% of the companies surveyed report they shifted to produce supplies related to COVID-19 relief efforts; medical and healthcare, agricultural, and automotive manufacturers are leading the charge to produce PPE.
Managing Cashflow
63% of manufacturing companies report having applied for financial assistance. Of that group, 60% report they applied for the Paycheck Protection Program, 17% report they applied for Economic Injury Disaster Loans, and 9% report they applied for Debt Relief and Express Bridge Loans from the Small Business Administration.
In-demand Materials
In order to stabilize supply and keep production on schedule, manufacturers reported the most vital items to be personal protective equipment (42%), metals (37%), fabricated materials (29%), and machining tools and parts (27%).
Methodology
These results are from an online, follow-up survey completed by 1,131 manufacturing companies conducted by Thomas via Qualtrics on the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on manufacturing in April 2020.
Participating suppliers have revenues spanning from less than 4.9 million to over $500 million and are from a broad range of industrial sectors.
Access the Complete 2020 COVID-19 Survey Report
Click here to view the full report of the "Thomas Industrial Survey: COVID-19’s Impact on North American Manufacturers."
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