The farm machinery industry, though dominated by three large companies, is a complex sector of the global manufacturing economy that encompasses many smaller manufacturers as well. While contributing a small percentage to gross world product, it is vitally important to another key sector of the economy agriculture. Consequently, the recent rise in global crop prices has allowed the industry to be more resilient than other mature manufacturing sectors, like automobiles. The proposed book will provide a concise but comprehensive look at the farm machinery industry: its history, organization, competitors, and the challenges and opportunities the industry faces as a result of regulations, globalization and outside market forces. This will be done as a means of understanding a crucial building block to the success of agriculture's ability to feed the expanding world population.

The farm machinery industry, though dominated by three large companies, is a complex sector of the global manufacturing economy that encompasses many smaller manufacturers as well. While contributing a small percentage to gross world product, it is vitally important to another key sector of the economy agriculture. Consequently, the recent rise in global crop prices has allowed the industry to be more resilient than other mature manufacturing sectors, like automobiles. The proposed book will provide a concise but comprehensive look at the farm machinery industry: its history, organization, competitors, and the challenges and opportunities the industry faces as a result of regulations, globalization and outside market forces. This will be done as a means of understanding a crucial building block to the success of agriculture's ability to feed the expanding world population.

This book examines farm machinery in the context of its history, corporations, outside market forces, regulations, and challenges and opportunities. The farm machinery industry is a complex sector of the global manufacturing economy that encompasses many companies, including those who that produce tractors, combines, planting equipment, tillage equipment, and irrigation systems. While the global industry is dominated by three full-line manufacturers (Deere and Company, Case New Holland, and the Allis-Gleaner Corporation), there are thousands of other companies, including many short-line manufacturers, that also dictate the nature of the industry. In recent years, equipment built by competitors from Asia have become more common in the farmstead landscape, capturing some of the market share U.S. manufacturers once dominated. This book examines farm machinery in the context of its history, corporations, outside market forces, regulations, and challenges and opportunities. The farm machinery industry, while contributing a small percentage to gross world product, is vitally important to another key sector of the economy—agriculture. In advanced economies, where the percentage of the labor force engaged in agriculture has been on the decline since World War II, high horsepower tractors and efficient harvesting systems are necessary to cultivate more acres with fewer workers to feed an ever-growing world population. Threats to profits in agriculture, such as natural disasters, climate change, and trade wars, increasingly challenge the profits and the viability of the farm machinery industry.

The furniture industry has played an important role in the history of the United States as a bellwether for manufacturing. This sector continues to be a major manufacturing employer in the US and around the world through its utilization of a global production network. Types of furniture range from household (indoor and outdoor) to institutional, with particular growth in firms supplying medical and government-related commodities. The industry is highly responsive to economic and fashion trends, but is partitioned into high, medium and low cost segments that reveal different location-al and market responses to changes in these factors. Recent developments indicate that the post-1980's migration of furniture manufacturing to offshore, low labor cost countries has stabilized and shows signs of re-shoring in the US for high end customized technologically intensive products utilizing the remaining embedded skilled labor and locally clustered industry components. Businesses that survived the recessionary 'creative destruction' largely adopted lean manufacturing processes and took advantage of newly available, lower cost equipment and buildings to upgrade their production practices, absorbing market from former competitors. New partnerships will be traced with branches and headquarter relocations in Asia, along with cooperative supplier relationships with former U.S. and new foreign companies. Industry survivors adopted practices that could be highly instructive for other manufacturers challenged by globalization to grow stronger by increasing their adaptive capacity. Concepts illustrated in the furniture industry would be useful to a number of audiences in academic, industry and public policy markets. The proposed book provides an overview of the industry and its global production network including a brief overview of the manufacturing technologies of each sector. Assessment of new competitors in Asia and South America will illustrate opportunities and challenges in these locations. The book culminates by considering challenges, opportunities, and the future outlook of the industry in regional clusters.