Manufacturing Day 2023: 7 Facts You Should Know About the Manufacturing Industry

Happy Manufacturing Day 2023!

Manufacturing Day is a day for manufacturers to open their doors and inspire the next generation of manufacturers. But it’s also a day for all of us to recognize the hard work and contributions that manufacturers make to our everyday lives.

Every manufactured product represents countless hours of dedication, innovation and craftsmanship. This year, as we celebrate Manufacturing Day, let’s take a moment to appreciate the workforce behind the scenes—the dedicated men and women who make it all happen. They are the ones who ensure that quality is never compromised, safety is paramount and products are delivered on time.

Genius ERP is proud to work with hundreds of manufacturers across North America, helping them to achieve their goals. Thank you for everything you do.

7 Facts About the Manufacturing Industry That You Should Know

Today, for Manufacturing Day 2023, we thought it would be fun to share seven interesting facts about the manufacturing industry in Canada and the United States.

1. The manufacturing sector in the United States would be the world’s eighth-largest economy. 

Manufacturing contributed a substantial 2.79 trillion U.S. dollars to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the United States in 2022. Compared to the global economic landscape, only seven other nations—including the USA as a whole—outpace the U.S. manufacturing sector in terms of GDP. These countries are the United States, China, Japan, Germany, India, the United Kingdom and France.

2. Most manufacturing companies are small businesses.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, among the 249,962 manufacturing firms in the U.S., only 3,837 have a workforce exceeding 500 employees. The overwhelming majority—three-quarters of all manufacturing companies—comprise businesses with 20 employees or fewer. Similarly, in Canada, most workers in the manufacturing industry work at firms with fewer than 99 employees.

3. The manufacturing industry employs a lot of people in Canada.

Canada boasts 1.7 million full-time manufacturing jobs, which is noteworthy given that Canada’s total workforce is approximately 18 million people.

4. American manufacturing employs a lot of people, too.

There are 14.82 million manufacturing workers in the United States, accounting for approximately 8% of the total U.S. workforce.

5. The manufacturing industry in North America is growing.

American manufacturing growth outpaced the rest of the world’s at the end of 2022. Additionally, in 2022, for the first time since the late 1970s, U.S. employment in manufacturing surpassed the peak set during the previous business cycle. Roughly 200,000 to 250,000 new manufacturing jobs are expected to be added in the U.S. over the next couple of years, with millions more likely to be added over the next decade.

6. Over the past 30 years, US-manufactured goods have more than quadrupled.

In 1990, U.S. manufacturers exported $329.5 billion in goods. This number more than doubled by 2000 to $708.0 billion. In 2021, U.S. manufacturers exported nearly $1.4 trillion in goods—more than quadruple the amount exported in 1990—accounting for 80 percent of all U.S. merchandise exports.

7. Manufacturers drive more innovation than any other sector of the economy. 

Manufacturers in the United States perform 64 percent of all private-sector R&D. In 2017, the manufacturing sector spent 252 billion U.S. dollars on R&D. Top corporate innovators are technology, motor vehicle and pharmaceutical companies. In Canada, industrial R&D spending was projected to be 23.8 billion dollars in 2022.