Auburn Hills-based Plexus Systems Inc. played host to nearly 300 guests at its PowerPlex 2008 User conference in Grand Rapids Wednesday and showcased a prominent speaker who provided a poignant report on the state of U.S. manufacturing.

David R. Brousell, editor-in-chief of Managing Automation, was keynote speaker at PowerPlex 2008, hosted at the JW Marriott. His remarks included the findings of a survey conducted by Thomas Publishing, the magazine's parent company.

More than 2,000 manufacturing representatives responded to the U.S. Industrial Competitiveness Survey, which found these results:

* Seventy percent said they are "very concerned" about industry's ability to compete in the global market and its future prospects.
* Nearly 80 percent said government should take an active role in strengthening manufacturing.
* On whether international trade agreements have helped or hurt U.S. competitiveness, nearly half of the respondents said such agreements have had a mixed effect. Yet, 80 percent said government can do more to "level the playing field" with competing nations such as China, India and Korea.

"The manufacturing community is poised for change," Brousell said. "Moreover, manufacturers appear to be open-minded about the kinds of change they would find acceptable in basic healthcare, education and regulation."

In addition to discussing the competitiveness poll results, Brousell addressed steps manufacturers can take now to deal with many of their business issues. A concept called Progressive Manufacturing recommends that manufacturers rethink business models and practices and apply advanced technology to them to gain new competitive advantages.

The survey findings resonated with those high performance manufacturers assembled at PowerPlex 2008. The audience of global manufacturing leaders has positioned their organizations technologically to resolve the challenges revealed in the Managing Automation survey, especially in the areas of compliance, supply chain management, and cost containment.

Plexus Online is on-demand software for the manufacturing enterprise, and it is built on the "software as a service" model. It offers over 350 functional modules, providing companies instant access to vital information and management functions using a simple Web browser.
More at www.plex.com.