For years, we in the U.S. and in other developed nations have been hearing about artificial intelligence (AI) and how AI technology was advancing.

Nextracker Inc. and MSS Steel Tubes USA, a joint venture of Metalogalva and Soufer, commissioned a new Tennessee factory to manufacture low-carbon steel components for Nextracker’s solar tracking systems. The Memphis-based facility will manufacture steel torque tubes and create 129 new jobs. Nextracker’s dedicated tube mill will feed projects in Kentucky, South Carolina, Virginia, Mississippi and Georgia.

It is April, which means tax season in America. Unfortunately, we can officially add a third to the list of life’s certainties: death, taxes and Congressional inaction.

According to the Reshoring Initiative’s 2022 data report, reshoring and foreign direct investment (FDI) job announcements in 2022 were at the highest rate ever recorded. There was 364,000 reshoring and FDI jobs announced for 2022, which was up 53% from 2021’s record number. Fourth-quarter announcements accelerated even more than anticipated due to the Chips and Infrastructure Acts and deglobalization trends. In addition, 2022 brought the total number of job announcements since 2010 to nearly 1.6 million.

Shifting forces continue to drive reshoring higher, providing incentives for companies to produce at home. Supply-chain gaps and the need for greater self-sufficiency continue to be major factors driving reshoring. Destabilizing geopolitical and climate forces have exposed our vulnerabilities and the need to address them. Consequently, great opportunities have emerged for an enduring and meaningful rebound of U.S. manufacturing.

Here is my annual holiday reflection that has little to do with technical stuff. Call it Miller’s Musings, if you like.

This article considers the production deficits, logistics turmoil and demand surges that contributed to supply-chain disruptions that were brought into focus with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.

There are few things that the U.S. Congress does better than nothing. And after being off to a slow start in 2021, Harry Truman’s “do-nothing Congress” label affixed in 1948 was quite apt for this 117th Congress.

Industry in the United States currently has its best chance to invest, increase productivity and reshore.

Supply chains and logistics are an integral and important part of a successful manufacturing operation. They have always been so, but with the advent of the COVID-19 virus and its having shut down the world’s economy for a time during a period of global quarantine, supply-chain issues have since taken center stage for consumers and manufacturers alike.