Made in America: New report highlights impact of manufacturing job losses on black communities
by October 23, 2016 9:04 am 210 views
Editor’s note: Each Sunday, Talk Business & Politics provides “Made In America,” a round-up of state and global manufacturing news.
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NEW REPORT HIGHLIGHTS IMPACT OF MANUFACTURING JOB LOSSES ON BLACK COMMUNITIES
A new report by the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) explores the wide gaps in white and black joblessness and identifies the roots of the problem to industrial flight in once thriving manufacturing centers that gave African Americans a path to the middle class.
The report, “Unmade in America: Industrial Flight and the Decline of Black Communities,” examines the multi-generational impact of plant closings, outsourcing and housing discrimination in trapping black communities in concentrated poverty. While high joblessness is the obvious outcome of deindustrialization, other casualties include crime, educational inequity and fractured neighborhoods.
According to AAM, more than 63,000 factories have closed since 2001. Over a 15-year period alone (between 1998 and 2013), an estimated 5.7 million manufacturing jobs were lost. The report spotlights a tale of many cities, the long-term impact in large industrial hubs like St. Louis, Baltimore, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Birmingham.
REEBOK INTRODUCES ROBOT-DRIVEN LIQUID FACTORY, WILL PRODUCE 3D-DESIGNED, NEXT-GENERATION FOOTWEAR
Footwear and sports apparel giant Reebok on Thursday (Oct. 20) introduced its new “Liquid Factory,” – which the company says is a ground-breaking manufacturing innovation that could fundamentally change the process and speed of footwear creation.
Developed by the Reebok Future team, the Liquid Factory process uses state-of-the-art software and robotics to literally draw shoes in three dimensions. The new technique leverages 3D Drawing, where a proprietary liquid material, created especially for Reebok by BASF, is used to draw shoe components cleanly, precisely and in three-dimensional layers.
This proprietary layering technique is used to create totally unique footwear, without the use of traditional molds.
Spearheaded by Bill McInnis, Head of Future at Reebok and a former NASA engineer, this next generation of footwear manufacturing allows the fitness brand to design and create a high performance athletic shoe faster and more efficiently than ever before, the company said.
The first concept shoe born from this manufacturing process is the Reebok Liquid Speed, an energy return-focused running shoe that also brings the outsole and lacing together in one piece for a comprehensive feel and sensory feedback for the entire foot.
To view a video about Reebok’s Liquid Factory, watch below.