Despite the labor drain to Asia in the 1990s, manufacturing is experiencing trends like “reshoring” and embracing new smart technologies that are becoming a game changer for the industry. If your business wants to examine its procedures, here are the changes you should be aware of now.

Skilled labor will be the biggest demand in the coming decade. As rising costs of labor overseas continues to impact business bottom lines, many manufacturers are looking for ways to bring jobs back to the United States. But the outflow of this labor pool in the first place was largely due to work that had to be done requiring low skilled labor. Thus, it was far easier to outsource to a country where wages were much lower. With the development of new technologies, the labor force must be highly skilled and current to new technologies. Thus, businesses that focus their labor abroad are looking at a significant offshore disadvantage. Taking advantage of skilled labor now is critical, since the demand for skilled labor will skyrocket; education has not kept up with these demands, so get these workers while you can and provide attractive incentives.

Innovative technologies. So much of what drives manufacturing – and the industries that benefit as a result of it – has come from research and development. Advanced automation can increase productivity for some companies by as much as 70% at the cost of only a single employee’s salary. This leads manufacturers to search for products, machines and processes that are innovative but also cut costs. Upgrading technologies, such as mixers or heaters, need not break the budget, and such upgrades pay for themselves in efficiency and productivity output.

By combining the intellectual resources of a skilled labor pool with the innovative technologies available to many companies, manufacturing can only grow. Over 3.5 million manufacturing jobs are expected to crop up in the coming years. Will your company take advantage of innovative technologies?