2024 promises to be an exciting year both nationally and internationally. Reflecting on 2023, it becomes evident that manufacturing businesses thrived in their transactions.

Demand for Manufacturing Businesses Remains High as Sale Prices Rise 15%

The manufacturing sector showed the strongest performance in 2023, with the number of closed deals up 17% and sale prices up 15%. The median sale price rose from $700,000 to $797,000. Furthermore, these businesses showed stronger financials than the previous year, with median cash flow up 5% and median revenue up 4%. You can Email us for the full report.

Although many forecasts are pessimistic, considering the consensus forecast of 1-2% GDP growth, the Manufacturing Index is still a bit off, and being offset by the service sector. 

The S&P Global US Manufacturing PMI was revised lower to 47.9 in December 2023 from a preliminary of 48.2, and compared to 49.4 in November, pointing to a bigger deterioration in manufacturing conditions. Output returned to decline and the downturn in new orders gathered pace, reflecting weakness in both domestic and external demand conditions, with firms adjusting down their input buying and hiring activity accordingly. Signs of greater spare capacity were seen through a faster fall in backlogs and destocking, with firms also seeking to better manage cashflow.

The S&P Global US Services PMI rose to 51.3 in December of 2023 from 50.8 in the previous month, beating expectations of 50.8, and extending the period of resilience of the US services sector to restrictive interest rates from the Fed. The result marked the 11th consecutive period of expansion, at the fastest pace since July, with respondents confirming an increase in new orders due to greater advertising spending, upselling of additional service lines to existing clients, and looser financial conditions due to the sharp decline in Treasury yields. Still, firms noted that pressure on the disposable income for overseas clients limited growth in the period. Additionally, US service providers logged the sharpest level of employment growth since June, supported by anticipation of strong business in the coming months.

Hopefully your Strategy and Business planning are set with the eventual scenario planning, so you can adjust quickly to deviations to your Goals measured with KPI. Keep in mind the 3 basic levels of decision making

1. Strategic: Long-term, high-level decisions determine the direction of an organization and require a lot of forethought.
2. Tactical: These decisions translate strategic direction into action, focusing on how and why work gets done.
3. Operational: Daily, routine decisions put strategic and tactical goals into practice.

And some considerations that can affect the quality of the decisions:

• Lacking relevant information: When you don’t fully understand a situation, it’s hard to make a good decision about it.

• Misidentifying the problem: Be clear that your decision addresses a root cause, not just a symptom.

• Failing to consider risks: Assess the consequences of each course of action before choosing one.

• Letting bias cloud your judgment: View your choices with objectivity and seek stakeholder feedback.



• Not communicating: Many decisions involve more than one person, so make sure everyone’s on the same page.

While there may be varying opinions on the matter, it's important to recognize the numerous positive applications, particularly in marketing, customer relations, and human resources. Reach out to your website creator or digital project manager.

Adopt AI at speed and scale to capture the full value of new technologies Machine Intelligence, propelled by generative AI, holds the promise of contributing $2.6-4.4 trillion in annual value to the global economy, with manufacturing and supply chain productivity improvements capturing nearly a quarter of this potential.



Five Ways AI Can Take Small Businesses To The Next Level (forbes.com)