A short-term COVID-19 manufacturing recovery outlook survey by the US Census Bureau revealed that 23pc of manufacturers expect they will require financial assistance or supplementary capital within six months.
The survey indicated that 4.1pc of manufacturers said it would take around two to three months for their business to return to pre-pandemic operating levels, while 16.3pc expect business to return to normal over the next 4-6 months. However, the majority, 43pc, believe it will take more than six months to return to normal operating levels. Moreover, 5.7pc of manufacturers do not feel their operation will resume at normal levels, while 1.2pc conveyed their operation closed permanently.
On the other hand, 12.1pc of manufacturers surveyed have already returned to normal operations levels, which is just ahead of the national average of 11.7pc. An additional 16.8pc said the pandemic had little to no effect on operations.
Supply chains
Manufacturers that said they underwent supply chain disruptions tallied at 49.6pc near the beginning of the pandemic, with levels tapering off thereafter.
The most recent survey results show 38.3pc convey domestic supplier delivery delays, 14.4pc reported foreign supplier delivery delays, 15.3pc claimed difficulty locating alternate domestic suppliers, 4pc had difficulty locating alternate foreign suppliers, 22.3pc suffered production delays and 28.5pc reported delays in deliveries or shipments to customers.
Revenue
The latest survey results from October indicate that 20pc of small manufacturers are reporting revenues of $500,000 or more in the prior month period, a significant jump from May 17 when only 4pc had reported revenues at those levels or more.
The manufacturing sector was among the most impacted industries in terms of revenue declines at the start of the pandemic, with 74.1pc describing a decrease in revenue from April 20-25. The latest survey from October 4-12, however, reports 29.8pc manufacturers describing a drop in revenue.
Also, 10.4pc of manufacturers conveyed an increase in revenue in the most recent survey compared to 7.4pc at the start of the pandemic. Furthermore, 1.3pc of manufacturers said the pandemic had a positive impact on business in the latest survey, compared to 0.8pc at the start of the pandemic.
Employment
The survey results indicate that 4.3pc of manufacturers plan to rehire employees that were furloughed and 8.9pc reported an increase in their personnel, while 10.6pc reported a decline in their workforce.
The US Census Bureau has conducted weekly surveys to poll small businesses in the US throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, weighing its impact on operations for several industries including manufacturing. More than 200,000 small businesses have contributed to the survey that was held ever week between April 26 to October 12.