As the U.S. manufacturing sector barrels toward a renaissance, the path ahead comes with challenges that many manufacturers may not be prepared for. The industry—which employs 12 million people and accounts for 11 percent of the U.S. GDP—has slowly crawled out of a decline, and it has the potential to create 1.5 million jobs.

While the resurgence is ripe for the taking, and most manufacturers are confident of growth, many factors play into that developing reality. PTC, the software company that created the design software Onshape, recently released a report, “The State of Hardware Development and Product Design 2022–2023,” which highlights some of the main hurdles manufacturers must overcome. Engineering.com spoke with John McEleney, PTC corporate strategy advisor and Onshape co-founder, to glean highlights of the report and what manufacturers can do to prepare themselves for the future.

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