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26 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JANUARY 9, 2023 INDUSTRY OUTLOOK | MANUFACTURING impacting and driving growth strategy in Connecticut," Howey said. Supply chain and inflation Auletta, who is also president of the state's largest manufacturing trade organization ManufactureCT, said supply chain disruptions will con- tinue to impact Bauer and a majority of manufacturers across the state "well into 2023." "We have had to select alter- nate parts and brands to satisfy customer commitments," Auletta said. "Although necessary, this has required unplanned engineering time, which increases costs." Lavoie said supply chain pressures will ease in 2023 but remain an issue. To mitigate that, the state is encour- aging companies to "re-shore" supply chains closer to home. "We are working on a project for Connecticut Shoring, connecting Connecticut manufacturers together to shorten supply chains and improve lead times and deliveries," Lavoie said. Howey said inflation has impacted manufacturers "quite hard." Even though the costs of goods and sup- plies have been increasing, it's hard to pass those higher prices onto custom- ers that have already signed contracts. "A lot of manufacturers are in multi- year contracts, so it's very difficult to go back to your customers to get price increases when you're in a multiyear contract and customers are multibil- lion-dollar companies," Howey said. Howey said costs of labor, raw materials and services have gone up "across the board" for many businesses. Innovation, collaboration Lavoie said manufacturers will con- tinue to innovate in the year ahead to remain competitive. "Innovation continues to accelerate at the speed of relevancy while the speed of relevancy is accelerating," Lavoie said. "We will continue to invest heavily in Industry 4.0 tech- nologies to continue to drive effi- ciencies, improve performance and create resiliency in the manufactur- ing supply chain." Auletta said he expects Connecti- cut manufacturers to continue to use the state's various resources and support organizations such as Man- ufactureCT, CCAT and CONNSTEP. Collaborative work at these organi- zations will allow companies to share best practices, find local suppliers, identify training opportunities, access matching funds and stay ahead of emerging technology, Auletta said. Growth projections Even with the significant chal- lenges, the state's manufacturers see Connecticut Chief Manufacturing Officer Paul Lavoie (right) at the Advanced Composites Technology Center at Goodwin University in East Hartford. HBJ PHOTO | STEVE LASCHEVER growth prospects in 2023. Sixty-nine percent of Connecticut producers expected to report a profit in 2022, while 47% forecasted sales growth last year, according to the CBIA manufacturing survey. Howey said OKAY Industries will see some top-line growth in 2023 but it's not without concerns. "The fear is whether we'll have enough people to execute it," Howey said. Auletta said Bauer is projecting 20% sales growth with both its core aerospace test equipment prod- ucts and contract manufacturing sectors going into next year. The company recently opened a new 30,000-square-foot expansion at its Bristol facility that he said includes "a significant investment in state-of-the- art fabrication equipment." "We more than doubled our manu- facturing footprint, giving us the abil- ity to expand build-to-print services, primarily with sheet metal, welding, machining and light assembly, for virtually any industry," Auletta said. Building Ideas That Work... Building Ideas That Work... Contact us at 860.482.7613 or visit us at BorghesiBuilding.com 2155 East Main Street Torrington, Connecticut 06790 © 2011 BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. All rights reserved. Butler Manufacturing ™ is a division of BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. Borghesi Building & Engineering Co., Inc. will guide you in defining your project goals, help analyze your prospective property and provide a realistic budget. For more than 80 years, Borghesi Building & Engineering Co., Inc. has provided quality and reliability with design and energy efficient construction. With an attractive design, it presents to your customers a comfortable relaxing environment to help promote sales. You will appreciate the quality your facility presents.