Published September 15, 2021
The Gardner Business Index (GBI) ended August at 58.8, marking the second consecutive month that the overall Index moved lower.
The Gardner Business Index (GBI) ended August at 58.8, marking the second consecutive month in which the overall Index moved lower. Every measure of business activity moved lower in absolute terms during the month with slowing expansion reported for new orders, production, employment and backlogs. The latest reading is only slightly more than 3 points below the all-time high posted in June 2021. Compared to pre-COVID levels, the latest delivery reading is almost 17 points above the high of 2018, indicative of the still extreme conditions facing supply chains. August marked the seventh sequential month in which the reading for production activity was less than or equal to that of new orders. The last 5-months of new orders and production data look strikingly similar to those from early 2018 and may indicate that the manufacturing sector has — or is soon to enter — a new phase of the business cycle. Read more.
With the U.S. industrial sector projected to face 1.9 million unfilled jobs by 2032, according to Deloitte, and equipment failures causing up to 20% production losses, SMBs are under pressure from workforce shortages, costly downtime, rising operating costs, supply chain disruptions and the complexities of adopting Industry 4.0 technologies. “Small- and medium-sized manufacturers are the backbone of our economy and they are dealing with a different set of challenges compared to enterprise-scale manufacturers,” said Chris Stevens, president, Siemens Digital Industries, U.S. “Among these are transparency to performance, workforce readiness, technology integration, cybersecurity and productivity.” For SMB manufacturers navigating today’s complex production landscape, the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio offers a transformative solution.
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