manufacturing trends

Innovators from around the world submitted 3.46 million patent applications in 2022, marking a third consecutive year of growth, according to WIPO’s annual World Intellectual Property Indicators (WIPI) report. In the fiscal year of 2023, a total number of 346,152 patents were granted at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. This is an increase from the fiscal year of…

Out of the Box Manufacturing again opens its doors to the public for Manufacturing Day for a behind-the-scenes look at how electronic assembly happens. Our mission: "…raise awareness among students, parents, educators, and the general public about modern manufacturing and the rewarding careers available." On October 6, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Out of the Box…

Recently, Washington Department of Commerce Director Lisa Brown appointed a new 21-member Manufacturing Council which will advise on policy, strategies, and investment to grow regional manufacturing sectors and jobs statewide.

Supply has always been challenging, but now it's the biggest hurdle. Supply Chain is the #1 risk for a small company launching with an EAU (Estimated Annual Usage) in the low thousands.

On November 29th, there was news about how President Biden had a roundtable meeting with a group of major retailers and consumer product manufacturers to discuss rising prices and supply chain problems that have resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic. Our mastermind group continues to brainstorm, research, and understand material shortages and logistics issues along with…

This is an update about some important happenings in China that will affect PCBs and everyone in the manufacturing industry. The Chinese government released new policies regarding electricity consumption that is reducing manufacturing capacity and ability for off-peak power consumption. This is already happening at the major manufacturing centers there.

Our team keeps up with the trends and how the world of manufacturing is connected. It’s clear that the global chip shortage shows no sign of abating anytime soon. It seems to be getting worse. While the White House is racing to expand chip manufacturing in the US to avoid future shortages, it could be years before that government investment actually pays off f Today we…

Manufacturing can lead the state out of economic downturns and created a better quality of life in our communities. Learn how manufacturing and technology can improve Washington’s future economy at this year’s Policy Summit in Spokane, WA. (or on-demand)

The global market of semiconductors is under stress because of the unavailability of fundamental components for product implementation. Official channels indicate delivery terms (called lead times), are 26 to 52 weeks and uncertain because of availability vs demand. Over the past few years, significant efficiency barriers have made procurement specialists, engineers,…