Tool or Die: Will Machinists Throw a Wrench in the Auto Recovery?
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Carmakers in recent years have come to recognize risks inherent in relying on a global gaggle of suppliers for everything from tires to touch screens. And if they don't turn quickly, they could crash into a wall that everyone should see coming.
Within five years, the North American auto industry will fall far short of its ability to make the machines that make the parts that make our cars. Making all this production equipment, or tooling capacity as it’s known in the trade, will fall 40 percent short of the level necessary to keep the industry humming, according to a new study from Harbour Results Inc., a Royal Oak, Michigan-based consulting firm.