Canadian Manufacturing Outlook: Balancing Volatility and Cautious Optimism presents the results of a Canadian survey of 139 senior Canadian manufacturing executives, with over half of respondents in a C-level role and three quarters responsible for, or significantly involved in, their company’s sourcing/manufacturing strategy. The findings reveal that despite all the alarm bells and focus around the economic volatility of 2011, Canadian and global manufacturers are optimistic about their business outlook.
Other key findings include:
- Even though emerging markets are expected to play a role, manufacturing in North America is still alive
- Top-line growth will be the main priority for the near term and, in both high-growth and developed markets, increasing production capacity is seen as a key element for growth
- Even though they are optimistic about the future, Canadian manufacturers view uncertainty around demand as one of their biggest challenges
- Canadian companies are unclear what role R&D will play in their growth strategies
- Canadian manufacturers are potentially lagging behind global manufacturers when it comes to using long term contracts, derivatives and commodity hedging techniques as part of their supply chain strategy.