The National Association of Manufacturers’ Manufacturing Leadership Council recognizes these world-class manufacturing companies and individual leaders for their outstanding efforts.

Project Finalists

Artificial Intelligence Vision and Strategy

  • Dow Inc. – Improving Furnace Reliability Using AI
  • Emirates Global Aluminium PJSC – AI-Driven Operational Excellence at Al Taweelah Aluminum Smelter
  • Hexion – Transforming Manufacturing with AI
  • IBM Corporation – AI Macro – Next Gen Supply Chain Intelligence in Action
  • Lockheed Martin Aeronautics – Pinspector – AI Computer Vision Defect Detection System
  • Makino Milling Machine Co., Ltd. – Makino Addresses the Skills Gap, Amps Up Service Management with AI
  • Merck – Transforming Pharma Manufacturing, Quality and Supply Chain Through AI
  • Pella Corporation – Supercharging the Future: Pella’s Industrial AI Strategy for Quality and Efficiency at Scale
  • Pfizer Inc. – EdgeLite: Transforming BioPharma Manufacturing with AI and MLOps
  • Plexus Corp. – Innovating Responsibly: Driving Enterprise Value Through Strategic AI Adoption
  • Pure & Gentle, Inc. – Orchestrating AI to Accelerate Manufacturing Growth
  • Rockwell Automation – Setting a New Standard in Multi-Level Manufacturing: Industrial AI-Driven Autonomous Operations in Singapore
  • Sandisk Storage Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. – IR5 Future Ready – Our Next Step in Operational Digital Transformation
  • Seagate Technology Holdings PLC – AI Space: Scalable AI Operating System for Smart Manufacturing
  • Toyota – GearPal: AI-Powered Manufacturing Intelligence Transforming Shop Floor Operations
  • Toyota – Invisible AI – Vision AI Platform Digitizing the World-Famous Toyota Production System
  • Trinity Industries – A Platform for Growth and AI Innovation: Trinity Industries’ Transformation Through Databricks
  • Xylem Inc. – From Data Foundation to Agentic Operations: Unleashing Profitable Growth AI-Driven Manufacturing at Xylem

Business Model Transformation

  • Accumold – Transforming Micro-Manufacturing Through Micro Additive Manufacturing Integration
  • Hologic Costa Rica – Migration and Optimization of APAC-EMEA Financial Processes to the Finance Shared Service Center
  • Honeywell – Honeywell Service Made Simple (SMS) Offering
  • Humtown – Transforming Quoting into a Digital Manufacturing Engine
  • Hyster Yale Materials Handling – Automation Without Barriers: Simplifying Automated Lift Truck Accessibility and Adoption
  • IBM Corporation – Field Planning Stocking Strategy – Automated Model
  • Miller Fabrication Solutions – Scaling Production Through Space, Automation and Smart Manufacturing Investments
  • Pure & Gentle, Inc. – Turning Manufacturing Intelligence into Strategic Growth and New Revenue
  • Rheem Manufacturing Company – Reinventing the Business Model with a Digital First, AI-Ready Platform
  • Sappi North America – From Paper to Packaging: Transforming a Manufacturing Business

Collaborative Ecosystems

  • Daikin North America – Daikin North America Business Transformation Using SAP
  • Douglas Dynamics – Empowering Dealers Through a Centralized Digital Sales Platform
  • Hitachi Energy – Utilizing Remote Technologies to Improve Quotation Accuracy and Enhance Customer Satisfaction
  • Jabil – E2E Auto‑Planning Platform: AI‑Driven Transformation of End‑to‑End Production Planning
  • Jindal Stainless Limited – Project PRAGATI – Transforming Manufacturing Planning Culture Through Integrated Digital PPDS
  • Milwaukee Tool – Milwaukee Tool Powers Rapid Growth With Scale Using Cloud Technologies
  • Whirlpool Corporation – Digitizing the Backshop: A Regional Blueprint for Supply Resilience

Digital Supply Chains

  • Corning Incorporated – Cornerstone – Unified AI Forecasting for Manufacturing Leadership
  • Husky Technologies – Husky Prevents Disruption Through a Predictive Digital Supply Chain
  • Merck – Merck Digital Logistics Control Tower – Ocean Load Consolidation Planning Hub
  • Merck – Excellence in Orchestrating a Supply Planning Revolution (Supply Plan Automation)
  • PACCAR – Body in White Component Traceability
  • Schneider Electric USA – Autonomous Supply Chain: End-To-End Planning and Execution
  • Taylor Corporation – Taylor Harmonizes Diverse Business Units and Fuels Growth by Fine-Tuning its Supply Chain

Engineering and Production Processes

  • The Boeing Company – 3D Printed Drill Plates and Enhanced Powerfeed Drilling
  • The Boeing Company – Spirit Feature Inspection (SPIFI) System
  • Cisco Systems – AI-Driven Quality Intelligence: Transforming Silicon-to-System Manufacturing Excellence
  • Corning Incorporated – Skynet – Advanced Anomaly Detection and Auto Adjustment for Premium Quality
  • General Motors – Automated Chemical Verification for Adhesive Dispense Accuracy
  • Jabil – X-Line: All-in-One Automation Platform for Global Manufacturing Excellence
  • Lexmark Internacional, Inc. a Xerox Company – CPT Optimization
  • Lockheed Martin Aeronautics – Accelerating Cure Times to Accelerate Deliveries
  • Lockheed Martin Aeronautics – Restoration of Canopy Transparency Coatings with Minor Optical Defects
  • McCain Foods – Realizing Next-Generation Manufacturing: Coupling Computational Fluid Dynamics with Process Control
  • NCDMM – Large-Scale Additive Manufacturing with Advanced Thermoset and Thermoplastic Materials with JuggerBot 3D
  • NCDMM – Additive Manufacturing for Affordable, Scalable Hypersonic Propulsion with Ursa Major
  • Pella Corporation – Revolutionizing Patio Door Design and Manufacturing: Pella’s Smart, Agile, and Automated Transformation
  • Prima Power – 3D Laser Becomes Giga: +280% Productivity Per Square Foot
  • Protolabs – Expanded CNC Offering at Speed
  • Rockwell Automation – Revolutionizing Autonomous Production Logistics at Rockwell Automation’s Twinsburg Production Plant
  • Schneider Electric USA – Hybrid Additive-Subtractive Directed Energy Deposition
  • Whirlpool Corporation – Breaking Rigid Automation Barriers with Intelligent Vision Guidance
  • Xerox Corporation – Optimized Toner Filling and Dust‑Capture Safety at Xerox
  • Zebra Technologies Corporation – Zero-Defect Manufacturing: How Advanced Machine Vision Transforms Quality Control

Enterprise Integration and Technology

  • Bobcat – Doosan Bobcat Digital Manufacturing Lighthouse
  • The Boeing Company – Boeing 737 Automated Beam Line System
  • Chung Hua Plastic Industry Co., Ltd. – Parameter-Bound Digital Product Passport for Unit-Level Supply Chain Traceability
  • CooperSurgical – CooperSurgical’s Digital Integration Journey
  • Eli Lilly and Company – Enterprise Equipment Connectivity Strengthening Manufacturing Data Integrity
  • First Solar – Enterprise Platform Transformation and Technology Consolidation Initiative
  • Genentech, A Member of the Roche Group – Genentech Manufacturing – Tulip eCleaning Logs Application as a Digital Solution for GMP Facility Cleaning Documentation
  • General Motors – In-House Software Defined Manufacturing Transforms Testing and Global Vehicle Production
  • Grupo Bimbo – Grupo Bimbo Kneads Cloud Technologies and AI into Its Growth Strategy
  • MxD – Cybertown
  • Oshkosh – Enabling Digital Transformation, AI, and Connected Factory Through Digital Maintenance Execution

Operational Excellence

  • Cisco Systems – Cloud-Connected Testing: Automating Secure, Scalable and Counterfeit-Free Manufacturing for the Cloud Era
  • Corning Incorporated – Lights-Out Operation: Realizing Autonomous and Unmanned Production Lines
  • Corteva Agriscience – Cost Reduction Journey for Florasulam: Adopting M4.0 Mindset to Reduce COM
  • Dow Inc. – Operational Excellence Using Real-time Optimization (RTO) and Model Predictive Control (MPC) at Dow
  • Eaton – Ignition MES Automation and Hyperscaling: Transforming Operational Efficiency
  • Flex North Guadalajara Mexico – Flex’s Guadalajara North Site Digital Lean Transformation Journey Project
  • General Motors – Manufacturing Optimization: Scalable Automation and Predictive Quality at Spring Hill
  • Iochpe-Maxion – Methodology-Driven Breakthrough: Achieving a Productivity Leap in Wheel Casting
  • Iochpe-Maxion – Rapid Casting Through Advanced AI/DT tools
  • Kubota Manufacturing of America – Kubota Manufacturing of America’s Model Factory 4.0
  • Kuraray America, Inc. – Kuralytix: AI-Driven Reliability Transformation to Close Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) Performance Gaps at Kuraray America, Inc.’s La Porte Plant
  • MxD – Classification and Remediation of Defects Using AI
  • Pella Corporation – Intelligent Manufacturing: Driving Operational Excellence
  • Protolabs – Single-Pane Dashboard: Continuous Improvement in CNC
  • Sutton Tools Pty. Ltd. – VisionX – AI-Driven Intelligence to Improve Precision Cutting Tool Manufacturing
  • Tronox – Tronox Operations Information Systems Global Deployment
  • Woodward, Inc. – Innovative Automation Lab Drives Digital Factories, Culture Change and Savings

Sustainability and the Circular Economy

  • Armstrong World Industries – From Landfill to Ceiling: The Macon Loose Fiber Project
  • Armstrong World Industries – Industrial Wastewater Reclamation and Landfill Waste Reduction Using VSEP Technology
  • Corteva Agriscience – Advanced Technology for Sustainable Haviza™ Active Ingredient Product Manufacture
  • Hologic Costa Rica – Sustainable Safety: Advancing Human Protection in Manufacturing Environments
  • IBM Corporation – Circularity in Action: Driving the Next Supply Chain Evolution
  • Iochpe-Maxion – Sustainable Degreasing: Cutting Emissions Through Low-Heat Innovation
  • Plexus Corp. – Zero Waste to Landfill: Powering a Circular Economy for Local Industry
  • Pure & Gentle, Inc. – Advancing Circular Manufacturing Through Data-Driven Process Design
  • Saint-Gobain North America – Building a More Sustainable Future with Industry-Leading Net-Zero Carbon Manufacturing Operations
  • Sandisk Storage Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. – Digitally Enabled Circular Manufacturing Ecosystem
  • Schneider Electric USA – Driving Industrial Sustainability through Efficiency, Digitization, and Circularity
  • United Scrap Metal – Circular Energy Solutions Drive Sustainability

Transformational Business Cultures

  • Eli Lilly and Company – Empowering Frontline Decision-Making with Real-Time Manufacturing Intelligence at Scale
  • Genentech, A Member of the Roche Group – Achieving One Way to Work: Eliminating Variability through Radical Simplification
  • Greene, Tweed & Co. – Digital Enterprise Training Management System (TMS)
  • Jabil – My Lean Co‑Partner: Making Continuous Improvement Accessible Anytime, Anywhere
  • MxD – CAPITAL Program
  • PACCAR – PACCAR’s Design For Assembly Training and Integration
  • Saint-Gobain North America – Developing the Next Generation of Manufacturers: Saint-Gobain’s Sustaining Futures, Raising Communities Program
  • Sandisk Storage Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. – R.E.S.E.T.: Driving Organizational Transformation Through a Future-Ready Execution Framework
  • Whirlpool Corporation – WCM 4.0: Accelerating Frontline Problem Solving through Generative AI

Individual Winners and Finalists

Digital Transformation Leadership

  • Randy Altschuler, Xometry
  • Sivakumar Balasubramanian, The Boeing Company
  • Kim Lee Bock, Sandisk
  • Robert (Bob) Buttermore, Rockwell Automation
  • Sanjay Choubey, Sylvamo
  • Hanumantha R. Gadila, Merck
  • Hassan Ghassemi-Armaki, General Motors
  • David WF Gu, Seagate Technology Holdings PLC
  • Sivakumar “Siva” Gurupackiam, NTT DATA, Inc.
  • Michael Lefenfeld, Hexion
  • Mark LoPresti, Biogen
  • Alan Machuga, Rheem Manufacturing Company
  • Lisa McEvoy, Merck
  • Lion Moeliono, Rockwell Automation
  • Gretchen Murray, General Motors
  • Aimee Rodgers, USG Corporation
  • Jason Saly, NCDMM
  • Tim Sedlock, Hunter Douglas
  • Ravi Yalamanchili, Merck

Next-Generation Leadership

  • Ng Chun Yang Bernard, IBM Corporation
  • Erika Bornstein, IBM Corporation
  • Tucker Burhans, Corning Incorporated
  • Sarah Coffee, Biogen
  • Manuel Contero, Toyota
  • Kristen DellaVecchia, Corning Incorporated
  • Anthony Dote, MxD
  • Aaron Fischer, Biogen
  • Iran Arely Gomez Reyes, General Motors
  • Trey Hickey, General Motors
  • Arun Kumar Jegarkal, Peterbilt Motors Company
  • Ryan Kerezman, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics
  • Ruiqi Li, Protolabs
  • Hayden Pinkelman, General Motors
  • Danutha Samael, Seagate Technology Holdings PLC
  • Sean Scadden, Chryso North America
  • Jeremy Smith, Winnebago Industries
  • Renan Torres, MSD
  • Dremere Woods, Honda
  • Adam Zaouague, Reata Engineering & Machine Works, Inc.

Partners in Collaborative Innovation

  • Accenture
  • Aquant
  • Dassault Systemes
  • Databricks
  • Ernst & Young LLP
  • Fulcrum
  • Invisible AI
  • LeanDNA
  • MaintainX
  • NTT DATA
  • Oracle Corporation
  • Rockwell Automation | Kalypso
  • Tacton
  • Teamswork