Manufacturing Technology Industry backs Detroit's plea for help

Nov. 11, 2008
Bob Simpson, President of The Association For Manufacturing Technology, has called on Congress and the Administration to heed the pleas of America’s automakers for help or risk a crushing blow to businesses and jobs dependent on the auto industry

Bob Simpson, President of The Association For Manufacturing Technology, has called on Congress and the Administration to heed the pleas of America’s automakers for help or risk a crushing blow to businesses and jobs dependent on the auto industry.

Citing reports that U S automakers are on the verge of financial ruin amid massive third quarter losses, Simpson requested immediate legislative action to help Detroit’s Big Three recover from the worst sales reported in 17 years.

“The collapse of the Big Three has ramifications far beyond Detroit. Millions of American jobs across the country depend on our auto industry for survival. From small job shops to high-tech manufacturers, all will bear the brunt of a bankrupt auto industry,” said Simpson.

The auto industry orders for manufacturing technology on the factory floor represent a third of the revenue generated by America’s producers of production equipment. Manufacturing technology equipment provides significant productivity improvements in that it equalizes the playing field for America’s highly skilled and highly paid workforce to compete against low-cost labor markets.

Ford, GM and Chrysler employ more than one half million workers. Those auto jobs and the more than four million jobs with companies in the auto industry supply chain represent about a third of all the manufacturing jobs in the United States.