According to a new McKinsey report, the United States is expected to boost manufacturing by some $3 trillion by 2021 – on pace to grow a full 20% above expectations. Where will you be when the boom happens?

There are several factors that have experts dancing about these new predictions. First, it appears that in general, American firms have largely outperformed their global counterparts. Second, demand for products and goods has risen both abroad and domestically, with lots of room to keep on growing.

So what do you need in order to capitalize on this boom? The report indicates manufacturers need to come up with a wider range of products and pricing models as well as retool their marketing approaches. Customers expect more choice and the ability to customize, and manufacturers should be attuned to that. Manufacturers also have a host of helpers when it comes to meeting these demands. New design tools, rapid 3D printing and prototyping and other technologies, such as IoT sensors, analytics and advanced robots can help meet demand.

The report does note one possible barrier to this future – aging plants and equipment. Just as the new manufacturing industry needs new, adept workers, so, too, does the factory floor need to replace its legacy technology and be ready for the coming boom.

Understanding how to upgrade technologies on your factory floor doesn’t mean you have to spring for full automation and a suite of robot workers! Sometimes the most innovative and cost saving designs appear to be rather “low tech.” For example, a static mixer, such as Komax’s Triple Action Static Mixer, uses low pressure drops and the force of gravity to produce the energy required to mix components in the pipeline in a thorough and highly efficient manner. Mixing directly in the pipeline saves space and energy while maintaining peak efficiency – a win-win in the competitive manufacturing industry.

Let Komax help you innovate, improve your factory floor and scale up what you do best!