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Manufacturing Innovation Blog
Powered by the Manufacturing Extension Partnership
MEP National Network by the Numbers: Industry Highlights
This is the first in a series of blogs examining the sectoral composition of the MEP National NetworkTM client project activity.
The MEP National Network has assisted over 26,800 unique manufacturing clients in every U.S. state and Puerto Rico and has completed over 71,600 projects with a total impact value of over $96 billion while creating or retaining nearly 530,000 jobs in the last five fiscal years.1
That’s a lot of manufacturers, a lot of projects, a lot of impact, and a lot of jobs!
But what does that all mean? Manufacturing is, after all, such a broad and vibrant sector of the economy and includes everything from the parts that make cars function and the computer chips that run the devices from which you’re reading these words, to the little plastic bumpers you can put under furniture to prevent scratches to hardwood floors. Who, or specifically, what industries does the MEP National Network help? The answer – the Network aims to serve all manufacturing industries.
By the Numbers
During this same time period, the MEP National Network has worked with manufacturers representing nearly 90 different industries (identified with 4-digit NAICS codes), which demonstrates the vast diversity of the U.S. manufacturing landscape and deep expertise of our Network’s manufacturing consultants who help manufacturers grow their operations, make strategic decisions and investments, and compete domestically and globally.
That’s the who, what, and how much, but how do these different industries differ in their engagement with the Network? In this first blog of the series, we’ll take a high-level look at the industries that drive the Network’s impact measures, like sales, cost savings, and jobs created or retained, and highlight industries that will be featured in future blogs.
Top Industries by Impact
The MEP National Network collects outcome information about our services and their impact from clients as projects are completed through our regular third-party client surveys. This includes client reported challenges, satisfaction and outcomes. For this blog, we will define “impact” as the total dollar value of MEP client-reported outcomes for new and retained sales, cost savings and new investments (e.g., production and processing, plant and equipment, workforce).
From FY2016 to FY2020, the MEP National Network’s top 10 impacted industries accounted for over $37 billion dollars, about 38% of the total value of the Network’s impact across all industries.
The top 10 industries by dollars of impact generated in ranking order are:
- 3363 – Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturing
- 3261 – Plastics Product Manufacturing
- 3323 – Architectural and Structural Metals Manufacturing
- 3331 – Agriculture, Construction, and Mining Machinery Manufacturing
- 3327 – Machine Shops; Turned Product; and Screw, Nut, and Bolt Manufacturing
- 3115 – Dairy Product Manufacturing
- 3399 – Other Miscellaneous Manufacturing
- 3364 – Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing
- 5413 – Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services
- 3329 – Other Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing
With a total impact value of $37 billion dollars in 10 industries, we’re talking about serious dollars. Work with the top two industries alone – 3363 – Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturing and 3261 – Plastics Product Manufacturing – generated over $13.1 billion dollars and accounts for 35 percent of this group.
MEP Center clients in these industries have consistently reported impacts landing them in the top 10 category. For example, 3363 – Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturing, 3261 – Plastics Product Manufacturing, 3323 – Architectural and Structural Metals Manufacturing, and 3331 – Agriculture, Construction, and Mining Machinery Manufacturing have been in the top 10 in dollars of impact generated every fiscal year during this period.
| Top 10 Impacted Industries - Value of Impact Generated Frequency |
|
|---|---|
| 3363 – Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturing | 5 |
| 3261 – Plastics Product Manufacturing | 5 |
| 3323 – Architectural and Structural Metals Manufacturing | 5 |
| 3331 – Agriculture, Construction, and Mining Machinery Manufacturing | 5 |
| 3115 – Dairy Product Manufacturing | 4 |
| 3327 – Machine Shops; Turned Product; and Screw, Nut, and Bolt Manufacturing | 3 |
| 3399 – Other Miscellaneous Manufacturing | 3 |
| 3329 – Other Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing | 3 |
| 5413 – Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services | 2 |
| 3364 – Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing | 2 |
Top Industries by Job Creation and Retention
Our jobs created and retained metric is exactly what it sounds like: the total number of client-reported jobs that were created or retained as a result of a project with an MEP Center.
From FY2016 to FY2020, our clients reported creating over 122,000 new jobs and retaining over 407,000 jobs for a total of nearly 530,000 jobs created or retained.
The top 10 industries in which the Network had the greatest impact in terms of jobs created or retained reported a total of nearly 210,000 jobs, accounting for 40% of the total value of all jobs created or retained by the MEP National Network.
The top 10 industries by job creation and retention in ranking order are:
- 3363 – Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturing
- 3261 – Plastics Product Manufacturing
- 3364 – Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing
- 3323 – Architectural and Structural Metals Manufacturing
- 3327 – Machine Shops; Turned Product; and Screw, Nut, and Bolt Manufacturing
- 3371 – Household and Institutional Furniture and Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturing
- 3391 – Medical Equipment and Supplies Manufacturing
- 3399 – Other Miscellaneous Manufacturing
- 3331 – Agriculture, Construction, and Mining Machinery Manufacturing
- 3344 – Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing
The top 10 industries in terms of jobs created or retained should look very familiar – seven are also in the top 10 industry grouping by dollars of impact generated. The industries in this category have been more consistent in appearing in the top spots of the jobs created or retained ranking as six have been in the top 10 every year during this period.
This category does include three new faces: 3371 – Household and Institutional Furniture and Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturing, 3391 – Medical Equipment and Supplies Manufacturing, and 3344 – Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing.
| Top 10 Impacted Industries - Job Created and Retained | Frequency |
|---|---|
| 3363 – Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturing | 5 |
| 3261 – Plastics Product Manufacturing | 5 |
| 3364 – Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing | 5 |
| 3323 – Architectural and Structural Metals Manufacturing | 5 |
| 3327 – Machine Shops; Turned Product; and Screw, Nut, and Bolt Manufacturing | 5 |
| 3391 – Medical Equipment and Supplies Manufacturing | 5 |
| 3399 – Other Miscellaneous Manufacturing | 4 |
| 3344 – Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing | 4 |
| 3331 – Agriculture, Construction, and Mining Machinery Manufacturing | 3 |
| 3371 – Household and Institutional Furniture and Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturing | 2 |
Top Takeaways
The MEP National Network is working with small and medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs) to help them grow, achieve meaningful impacts and create and retain good jobs in the United States.
From FY2016 to FY2020, the Network worked with manufacturers to deliver $96 billion in new and retained sales, cost savings, new investments and created or retained nearly 530,000 jobs. The two categories of industries by NAICS code that have experienced the most impact over the past five fiscal years (FY2016 to FY2020) represent 13 industries and thousands of projects that amount to 38% and 40% of the total impacts for those categories, respectively. Three industries have consistently benefitted from particularly high dollar value impact, three have consistently benefitted from high job creation and retention, and seven have consistently benefitted from both measures.
What’s Next?
This blog is the start of a series that aims to explore how the MEP National Network supports different industry sectors. These blogs will provide industry overviews, MEP performance data and trends, success stories to help contextualize related MEP Center client projects, and what the U.S. manufacturing landscape looks like for SMMs.
We’ll feature highlights of industries that are mentioned in this blog as well as those discussed regularly in the news, such as:
- 3363 – Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturing
- 3261 – Plastics Product Manufacturing
- 3364 – Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing
- 3391 – Medical Equipment and Supplies Manufacturing
- 3344 – Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing
While these blogs will focus on the MEP National Network’s completed projects, manufacturers can always reach out to their local MEP Center for assistance with new projects. Stay tuned for more!
1 FY2016-FY2020 (October 1, 2015 – September 30, 2020)
