The 11-county Detroit Region is an Industry 4.0 global leader where revolutionary concepts are both developed and manufactured. The Detroit Region’s supply chain advantage, deep roots in innovation and exceptional workforce makes the region an ideal location for smart manufacturers.
“This region is one of the best SMART hubs around, 100% from a manufacturing perspective. Detroit is the only place to be, everyone wants to go towards technology but if you are going to manufacture any products, it needs to be in Michigan.”
The Detroit Region’s manufacturing workforce of 335,767, includes the highest concentration of engineers in the United States. The smart manufacturing industry has added nearly 20,000 U.S. jobs (2010-2019), at the most affordable wages.
All five smart manufacturing sub clusters have seen significant growth:
Robotics
- Metro Detroit ranks #1 in the U.S. for deployed robots at more than 15,000 industrial robots by Brookings Institution. Since 2017, Detroit has held the FIRST Robotics World Championship that attracts more than 40,000 participants and 15,000 students from 25 states and 37 countries.
Defense
- In the past five years, an estimated $3.6 billion in defense contracts were awarded across 3,704 defense supporting establishments employing more than 100,686 workers.
Medical Equipment
- Michigan ranks top 10 for medical device manufacturing in the U.S. along with an annual GRP of $850 million and nearly 4,000 jobs.
Food & Beverage
- In the past five years, the food and beverage industry experienced a 17.7% job growth. In 2019, the growth brought the total workforce to nearly 13,000.
Custom Product Manufacturing
- The textile and furniture manufacturing sector experienced a 12.2% growth in jobs while the United States recorded jobs losses of 9.7% between 2015 – 2019.
Supported by a strong high-skilled workforce, the Detroit Region’s leadership role is well postioned for the future. Learn more about smart manufacturing in the Detroit Region with this interactive story map. In addition to the interactive and engaging story map there is a downloadable PDF version available.
