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AEM: outlook of the equipment manufacturing industry is mixed  

A leader with the Association of Equipment Manufacturers says the outlook for the industry is somewhat mixed.

Kip Eideberg, senior vice president of government and industry relations, says equipment manufacturers are not immune to inflation and supply chain concerns.

“That’s having an impact on the cost of inputs for our industry, which makes it less competitive for us to make things in America,” he says. “Supply chains are still clogged. Smaller suppliers in the United States are struggling to keep up.

He tells Brownfield workforce is another challenge.

“Part of the reason why they can’t keep up is they do not have enough workers,” he says. “Our industry does not have enough workers.”

But, Eideberg says legislation like the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is helping equipment manufacturers.  

“We’re starting to see more money coming into the system for roads and bridges, locks and dams, waterways, and rural broadband,” he says. “We’re also making sure that our ports get modernized and keep up with ports around the world and making sure that those in our industry that make equipment that is dependent on investment in infrastructure have some certainty.”

He also discusses the Ocean Shipping Reform Act and the CHIPS and Science Act.

“We got the Ocean Shipping Reform Act passed that will hopefully help unclog our ports and make sure that carriers actually do carry export-ready equipment to their destinations as speedily as possible,” he says. “We got the CHIPS and Science Act passed so that will be a huge investment in domestic research and development and production of semiconductors, which is going to help our industry long term.”

More than 50 equipment manufacturers participated in an AEM Fly-in last week and met with lawmakers to discuss the state of the industry and its challenges and opportunities.  

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Audio: Kip Eideberg