Scott Morrison committed the error, unwittingly it would seem, when he, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, Foreign Minister Marise Payne and the local Liberal candidate toured Rheem's Rydalmere factory earlier this week to announce a government pledge to create 1.3 million jobs over the next five years.

As revealed by The Canberra Times, the hot water manufacturer is poised to shed staff at its western Sydney site and increase production in Vietnam, as part of a restructure designed to ensure the wider business remains viable and competitive.

For a man known for his marketing acumen, this was a howler from the Prime Minister. Perhaps not one as clear and obvious as Anthony Albanese's forgetting (or not knowing) the unemployment rate, but a howler nonetheless.

But as Mr Morrison's campaign roadshow rumbles on, it's worth pausing to reflect on Rheem's situation, and the future of manufacturing in Australia.

There's a deeper issue here.

Companies like Rheem are competing in a global market, where cost pressures elsewhere aren't as intense as they are here.

Business survey data from the National Australia Bank on Tuesday showed cost pressures within the economy are rising as a result of supply constraints.

These pressures are faced by businesses like Rheem, and would impact their decision to remain operating in Australia.

Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows manufacturing jobs in Australia are in decline, and are at their lowest point since the Coalition has been in power.

If traditional manufacturing is not viable, then there must be significant investment in upskilling workers for jobs of the future.

That includes in manufacturing clean and green technologies. Incidentally, that what's happening at Rheem's Rydalmere site as part of the restructure.

Perhaps Scott Morrison could make a return visit if he's re-elected as Prime Minister - but this time armed with dollars and plans, not rhetoric and targets.

The optics of that would be much better.