Private Equity Has Noticed Manufacturing (Again)

Technology isn’t the only disruptor in American manufacturing.  For years entrepreneurial manufacturing firms were ignored by the private equity community as big money chased after technology, health care and other sectors thought to be more “glamorous”. 
 
No more!  Financiers have again become true believers in U.S. manufacturing as advanced manufacturing technologies such as robotics and additive manufacturing are enabling production to move back toward the source of demand  and geopolitics has made outsourcing far less attractive.
 
So what is the future for American entrepreneurs who own and operate the myriad of firms, particularly in the American Heartland, that make the products that make our economy hum?   My colleague Craig Ladkin provides an answer to that critical question in an important piece he has just published and which you can download at the following link, An Industry “In Play”: The Future of Independent Precision Machining.  While Craig’s article focuses on one important piece of the manufacturing ecosystem, the lessons apply across the world of manufacturing.