Manufacturing businesses may not get counted as such
Are you looking to start manufacturing operations in Indiana? It might help to understand something about the way that the industry operates before you expand into this direction. For example, it may be more helpful for business heads to remember that there is room for some statistics to be underreported or misrepresented.
A Washington Post article discusses the role that "factory-less goods producers" may play in the greater scheme of manufacturing. The piece cites a recent study arguing that as many as 1.9 million manufacturing jobs could have been opened up in 2007 alone if the government re-framed its definition of the industry to include non-traditional newer approaches. Could this be a boon to all manufacturers?
A report released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics earlier this summer looked at the different qualities that may or may not distinguish these different kinds of business models from each other. According to this paper, changing our perception to include these companies within the umbrella of "manufacturing" could have a net effect on American business revenue.
"Over the past two decades, vast improvements in technology, communications, and transportation have allowed firms to share intellectual property and closely control all steps of the transformation process without directly performing any of the transformation steps," the authors of the report state.
Whatever the setup of a particular business, manufacturing software solutions may be necessary to successfully track the progression of a type of company and the greater industry that they exist as a part of. Understanding the changing face of a certain business might also allow for new opportunities to open up.