Manufacturing

Coronavirus Pandemic Threatens Semiconductor Industry Recovery Just as the semiconductor industry was poised to spring back from a cyclical downturn, the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic is threatening its recovery. Some segments of the semiconductor industry remain healthy, such as those exposed to cloud-computing data centers, analysts say. Other segments, such as consumer electronics and automotive, are at greater risk from negative impacts from the pandemic and any resulting recession, they say. This week, Wall Street analysts have been picking which chip stocks are best and worst positioned in the current environment. "We are concerned that global chip shipments might be impacted...

Special A3 Report: Signs of Hope for Manufacturing Amid the Coronavirus Crisis by John Gallagher, Special to A3 The Association for Advancing Automation asked former Detroit Free Press Business Columnist John Gallagher to examine the state of manufacturing during the coronavirus crisis. Here’s his special report for A3: The COVID-19 pandemic has delivered a gut punch to American manufacturing. But the picture, while grim, is by no means the catastrophe of our worst fears. Factories have idled or slowed production to allow deep cleaning and to protect workers. Supply chains have been disrupted. Shortages of products from medical supplies to,...

Tesla's Biggest Advantage in the Auto Industry Building a new car company is hard, but it has a lot of advantages that Tesla is leaning into. One of the advantages of being a new, disruptive company is that you can change the business model that legacy companies are stuck in. Marketing, distribution, and even production can be rethought in a way that makes sense in 2020, instead of being built for 1950.  Tesla's (NASDAQ:TSLA) biggest advantage over competing automakers today is how it has updated the auto business model. Bloated dealerships are out of the picture, marketing budgets can be slashed, and...

How Will Artificial Intelligence Change The Commercial Real Estate Industry? Since the start of the industrial revolution, the world has seen skills shift in a way that has resulted in ever-changing jobs and newer skills required to keep pace with emerging technologies. According to McKinsey, these technologies "will bring numerous benefits in the form of higher productivity, GDP growth, improved corporate performance, and new prosperity, but they will also change the skills required of human workers." The ongoing adoption of AI and automation technologies will transform the way people work and cause a disruption, particularly in industries like real estate, finance...

Coronavirus fears are battering the $2.5 trillion trade show industry The coronavirus outbreak has caused the cancellation or postponement of more than 24 exhibitions and conferences worldwide, hammering the $2.5 trillion trade show industry.The Mobile World Congress, the world’s largest trade show for the mobile phone industry, was canceled last week.The cancellation of trade events is having damaging ripple effects across the hotel, airline, entertainment, marketing, restaurant and other industries. Medical team members of the Second Hospital of Shangdong University prepare to leave for Hubei Province in Jinan, capital of east China’s Shandong Province, Feb. 9, 2020. The coronavirus outbreak...