In Washington, you will find manufacturing industries like aircraft and missiles, chemicals, shipbuilding and other transportation equipment, metals and metal products, lumber, machinery etc. You will find other manufacturing companies like boats builders, trucks, space exploration equipment manufacturer, food processors, fruits, and vegetables and the makers of beverages, instrument manufactures, electro medical equipment, lumber and plywood manufacturer, computers peripheral manufacturers, construction equipment manufacturer, pulp and paper manufactures, printers and publishers manufacturer etc.
Why manufacturing is important to Washington State?
Manufacturing is the main component of Washington State economy. This industry provides for almost 13 % of the total employment I the state. Manufacturing also creates a good amount of additional jobs in the supplier and distributor level. The manufacturing creates need that drives the service sector performance. It has a contribution of $26.6 billion to economy of the state. Manufacturing constitutes a good part of the state’s tax revenues. Manufacturing accounts for major export items.
In Washington State, manufacturing has rise and downturns. Manufacturing industry see it because of the market cycles in the economy. Aircraft and electronics are facing more competition from the world. You will find manufacturing spread all over the state, in different counties. The distribution is because of availability of power and less cost electricity. The aircraft and aerospace industries, aluminum, boat and shipbuilding facilities are located at the western part. Boeing, Microsoft and Weyerhaeuser dominate Washington manufacturing. Combined they have 20 in-state facilities.
BoeingThe Boeing Company is an aerospace and defense corporation. It is the largest global aircraft manufacturer. In defense equipment manufacturing it stands at the second position. It is also the world’s largest civil aircraft company. Boeing was established in 1916 in Seattle. Boeing’s stock, listed in NASDAQ, is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Boeing has some interesting records in its history. Its 777-200LR while traveling from Hong Kong to London, on November 10, 2005, continued flying for 22 hour 42 minute, where it covered 11,664 nautical miles or 21,601 km. It was a demonstration of the capacity of the aircraft that Boeing makes.
Boeing also has a satellite base Internet Connectivity called as Connexion by Boeing, for the air travelers. But due to its high cost, it was not very successful and ultimately Boeing discontinued it. Boeing is trying to bring in some radical changes in the technology used in aircrafts. The aim was to reduce fuel usage. Boeing was facing continuous competition from Airbus. The competition has reached such a position that now Airbus is competing at all the categories of aircrafts that Boeing makes. There are many controversies related to Boeing. Some of them are the subsidy disputes with airbus, industrial espionage in Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) competition, unethical conduct in leasing of KC-767 etc.
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is the biggest computer technology corporation. It is a multinational company which dominates the operating system area in computer technology. About 76000 employees are working for it in the world. It is a high revenue grosser in the world. Microsoft develops softwares, license them and provide support for various software products for computers and such related devices. The main products from Microsoft that are popular in the world are Windows Operating Systems and Microsoft Office suite. Microsoft has its foot on other areas also. It has the MSNBC cable television network, the MSN Internet portal, and the Microsoft Encarta multimedia encyclopedia in its kitty.
In the computer hardware section, it has produced computer mouse and also home entertainment and gaming console like Xbox, Zune and MSN TV. Microsoft is the unquestionable leader in the software system for desktop computers. It is listed in NASDAQ. It offered its IPO (Initial Public Offering) in the share market which is continuously increasing in value since then. Microsoft was founded to develop and sell BASIC interpreters. Then in mid 1980s it made the popular MS-DOS. From then it just went on to do more and better. Microsoft has many controversies also. It was accused of monopolistic business practices, antitrust violations and software bundling. Microsoft also sells computer games for windows like Age of Empires, Halo and the Microsoft Flight Simulator series. Microsoft also markets hardwares like mice, keyboards, joysticks, and game pads, along with other game controllers.
WEYERHAEUSER
