U.S. manufacturers do not face impending doom. They no longer operate, though, like they did 100, 50 or even 20 years ago.

The days when a manufacturing revolution meant one car model sold only in black are gone. But the days of cutting-edge ideas, like those of the Model T inventor Henry Ford, are still here.

Innovation meant success for Ford, who developed the "horseless carriage" in 1896, used the profits to improve the product and eventually launched the Model T in 1908. Although he sold more than 15 million Model Ts over the next 19 years, he never stopped thinking of new ways to operate. He revolutionized Ford Motor Co., and manufacturing in general, by always looking for ways to improve the process—creating the assembly line, shortening the typical shift by an hour so he could have three shifts operate around the clock, and paying higher wages to attract the best employees.

Today's successful U.S. manufacturers continue to create modern innovations, still realizing the importance of rethinking processes and strategies—lessons that can benefit almost any business no matter the industry.

For example, making mass-produced steel in the United States is no longer as profitable as it once was. But some steel manufacturers remain in the country, opting for a profitable venture—specialty steel that serves a niche market.

"There has to be a need," says Joel M. Rosenthal, CPA, accounting and auditing shareholder at Leading Edge Alliance firm, Alpern Rosenthal.

The story of manufacturing's challenges is not a new one. In the last 10 years, manufacturing itself has been revolutionized—proactively and reactively.

"Manufacturers all are aware of what's going on," Rosenthal notes.

Russell Warrant, president of the TransActionGroup, agrees. "People in business have had time to adjust, or at least be aware, of what we need to do to be competitive," he says.

What is going on for U.S. manufacturers is the need to compete in a global market. No longer is the sector a stronghold of the United States. "It's competing head to head with growing world powers," says economist Kathryn Kobe of Economic Consulting Services Inc. She assisted in the development of the BNA Wage Trend Indicator, which helps identify turning points in private-sector wages.

In the last 10 years, China and India are two countries that have rapidly expanded their ability to support a manufacturing sector, Kobe says.

Kobe says being a thriving manufacturer in the United States requires looking for the higher value—and maintaining a mindset of developing innovative products in a smart and agile manner. U.S. manufacturers focus on what they do best, she adds. For example, textile manufacturing is a labor-intensive process, thus it may be more profitable to send that work overseas where labor is less expensive. Instead, U.S. operations could focus on custom textile products, which require more technically savvy, trained employees.

Rosenthal echoes that sentiment—validating that higher U.S. labor costs is important. "You can do things in the United States that you can't do overseas," he says.

A U.S. manufacturer that uses special knowledge to make its products might not want that knowledge leaving the country, where it could become more susceptible to replication by competitors, Rosenthal says.

He explains that China is a country where products can be replicated very quickly—sending proprietary production information to a factory there might not be a wise move.

However, if the company mass produces a common product, China might be the better location.

"I think to compete in the world market, you just have to pick and choose," Rosenthal says.

Warrant says selling a commodity product on price does not work well in the United States. "It's an extremely difficult road," he says, explaining that a U.S. automaker pays an average $60 an hour in wages and benefits, far more than a non-U.S. plant would have to pay.

"Innovation, intellectual property strategies work well for U.S. manufacturers," Warrant says.

Ford sold 15.5 million Model Ts in a 19-year run—but he didn't stop the production evolution when the first one sold in 1908. He constantly revamped his operations—striving for a more efficient production line that would operate longer hours. The first-produced Model Ts took 728 minutes to build. Just six years later, the car was built in 93 minutes, and by its final year of production in 1927, a new Model T was built every 24 seconds. As production time dropped so did the price, opening up new markets for the auto manufacturer.

Kobe says manufacturing always has supported research and development in the United States.

Innovation continues today. For example, one company hired a vice president whose primary job is to reconfigure the production process to create sufficient savings to cover the cost of inflation for the product's price, Warrant says.

Offering customization is one step. In some industries, customers are used to having a selection and are not willing to buy if only one type is available. Warrant points to Dell Inc., which allows customers to essentially build their own computer by selecting each aspect of the system they want. After the order is placed, the company creates the customized computer and ships directly to the customer.

Warrant says another option for some manufacturers is to constantly redefine their product. "Make your old one obsolete," he says.

Reverse engineering—deconstructing a product to figure out how it was created—is one more option. "There are a lot of ways to go at that," he says.

Warrant says a company should consider all its options—both in and outside the United States—from designing and assembling to sourcing products, all in an effort to create a globally sustainable, competitive product.

Rosenthal says manufacturers now think about others' ability to help their production processes. "In the old days, it was (manufacturers) against their vendors. Now we're opening up the supply chain and working together," he says.

Warrant says manufacturing is similar to poker—where bigger risk has the potential for bigger rewards. "If you want to stay in the game, ante up," he says. However, realize that the money won't last as long as it used to. A million-dollar investment that could last five or six years in the previous manufacturing environment today might only last a year, two at most today.

That investment may be needed to create a lean manufacturing environment—cutting away as much fat from product as possible—or a just-in-time production process—creating the products as customers place their orders.

Both those paths often require production and suppliers who are in the United States. If a product is made overseas, it can't be shipped, clear customs and arrive as quickly as the customer may need, Warrant says.

Rosenthal says successful U.S. manufacturers should keep up on the best practices for their industry. Six Sigma and theory of constraints are two models to consider as well, he notes.

Companies that follow Six Sigma use a data approach to remove defects from any process. It is named for the six standard deviations between the mean and the nearest specification limit. To achieve Six Sigma, the process must not produce more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities.

Theory of constraints is used by companies that view their businesses as systems, which have at least one constraint. They operate under the premise that the organization can operate more simply and effectively if managers focus on a few specific areas to improve the constraints.

No matter the particular theory or process, Rosenthal says, examining the manufacturing process is about improving knowledge and understanding so you have the tools to find out what would work best for your company.

"U.S. manufacturers are just going to have to keep getting better at what they do," he says. e