North American manufacturers remain optimistic about their growth prospects for 2012, according to a recent survey by Accenture. The results underscore sentiments in similar surveys among US purchasing professionals and manufacturers. (See: US Buyers Optimistic for 2012 and Data Points to More Onshoring.)
Eighty-nine percent of senior executives at North American manufacturers expect their company’s revenue to grow in 2012, and 50 percent expect growth of at least 6 percent, Accenture said in a press release on its survey. Almost two-thirds of manufacturers said they are optimistic about global economic growth.
The survey also provides additional evidence that manufacturers are looking to onshore more operations. Forty-three percent of the manufacturing respondents said they expect to move operations through 2012 and 2013, according to Accenture.
These moves would follow a flurry of activity that occurred in the last two years, during which 65 percent of the manufacturers said they had moved some operations. Executives most frequently said they moved operations to the United States (40 percent), China (28 percent) and Mexico (21 percent).
Richard Bergmann, managing director for manufacturing at Accenture, said this in the release about motivations for such moves: “We see a strong indication that North American manufacturers are relocating not just to drive down costs, but to seize growth opportunities and maintain customer satisfaction.”
The survey was not electronics-specific — respondents represented the automotive, consumer and industrial products, electronics and high technology, and aerospace and defense sectors — but the IPC is conducting a survey that is. (See: IPC Survey to Measure Onshoring Impact.) That survey is open to both members and nonmembers and will be available until May 25.
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