The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) presented some interesting points last month.

• Since 2000, manufacturing has lost 2.3 million jobs.
• Increasingly, manufacturers are having trouble raising prices to offset higher costs.
• The manufacturing base in this country is receding and hurting our industrial strength and competitive edge.

Then NAM said: "If the U.S. manufacturing base continues to shrink at its present rate and the critical mass is lost, the manufacturing innovation process will shift to other global centers. Once that happens, a decline in U.S. living standards in the future is virtually assured."

That's as tough an assessment of the future of U.S. manufacturing as I have heard in 20 years. Those were the days when most Americans thought only the Japanese and Europeans knew how to make quality cars and other consumer goods. The question then was – can U.S. manufacturing make it well enough. And we know the answer is a resounding "yes."

Now, NAM says the question is – can U.S. manufacturing make it at all. In fact, it went on to promote a range of policy changes on subjects from trade with China to energy as essential to fixing what ails the manufacturing sector.

NAM may have a point about the need for more supportive policies. This is an especially difficult time for the business of manufacturing. And while I'm far from convinced that this is a downward spiral that cannot be stopped without major policy changes, the pressure on manufacturing is alarming, and those remedies are worth evaluating.

But as NAM points out, manufacturing productivity over the past two decades has advanced at twice the rate of other economic segments. And there is no reason to think that is about to stop. Every month the pages of Modern Materials Handling feature advances making the shop floor ever more productive and competitive. Now is no time for manufacturing to let up on that.

In fact, U.S. manufacturing in general can take a page from recent success at Stihl. As we reported earlier this year, the German company decided that it was not only going to manufacture its outdoor power tools in Virginia Beach rather than offshore, but it was going to do it competitively. The solution was an investment in automated materials handling and efficient processes.

"To remain the leader in the industry, we have to have the most advanced equipment and automation technologies, not only in production, but also when it comes to logistics and in-plant transportation," says Peter Mueller, executive vice president of operations. And he says his company can still get better.

As Stihl clearly understands, now is not the time to let political policies overshadow what needs to be done on the shop floor to make it more competitive.