■ Teri, please discuss any recent trends you have been seeing in these industries along with how job seekers can find jobs with our Weekly Hot Jobs Report?
● Research supports that the auto manufacturing industry has fallen short of meeting demands. ○ According to Michigan State University supply chain faculty (No. 1 ranked supply chain department in the nation) the industry is struggling to keep up with demands due to the fact that the automotive industry operates on a just-in-time inventory management model.
■ Just-in-time inventory management model, How is that impacting this sector? Parts arrive hours or even minutes before they’re put on the assembly line. Hence the name, parts arrive just-in-time to be used.
■ There are 30,000 parts in the average car. If you’re missing one or a few of those parts, you can’t build a car.
■ If you’re not producing vehicles, which is what drives your revenue, you’re eating into your profitability. Plus, you suddenly have inventory piling up that you don’t have space for.
○ The problem with this model is that it has to function exactly as you designed it to. When these models start to break and fall apart, the repercussions are huge. (low supply, high demand)
○ Just-in-time inventory by its very nature also affects staff. Workers at the various automotive manufacturing suppliers must regularly adjust their schedules. The suppliers and their staff often get very little notice when a production is going to run late. That makes childcare, transportation, and basic work/life balance challenging.

The UAW contracts, how does that fit into all this?
○ We won’t know for a few months whether the UAW contract negotiations this Fall could impact any of this. Thanks, Teri, and thank you for getting our audience primed for the upcoming Speakers Series event
● Stay tuned for more information regarding MBN’s September 12 Mobility Panel featuring MICHauto & MEDC, Time: 11:00 am to 1:30 pm ○ Location: Friendship Hall, Capital Region International Airport.