AMT's Byrd Predicts Major Rise In North American Production

ByJohn S. McClenahen A combination of rising shipping rates, steadily improving productivity in North America, changing currency values and growing demand for raw materials will result in a major upswing in North American manufacturing production within the next 12 months, contends John B. Byrd III, president of AMT-The Association for Manufacturing Technology, McLean, Va. "Shipping costs and the availability of affordable raw materials will reduce the ability of overseas manufacturers to continue domination of U.S. and European manufacturing in many categories," he predicts. "As these market forces converge, they will create an upheaval in the international manufacturing sector -- the result of which will be a boom in the North American manufacturing sector unlike anything we have seen in the last quarter century."