Manufacturing Leadership Journal

The Manufacturing Leadership Journal August 2025

Bold Ideas for a Better Future

Shaping the AI-Powered Factory of the Future

MLC’s Future of Manufacturing Project report assesses AI’s current state and future promise.

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At Merck, It Takes a Digital Village

From shared purpose to tech-powered teams, MLC’s 2025 Manufacturing Leader of the Year, Merck’s Besu Alemayehu, explains what it takes to drive digital transformation.

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Using AI to Boost Supply Chain Visibility and Resiliency

AI overcomes traditional supply chain limits with real-time insights, automation, and predictive tools.

Connectivity and AI Drive the Future of Manufacturing

Advanced networks and intelligent technologies are creating agile, secure and high-performing smart factories.

The AI Divide: Manufacturing’s Pivotal Moment is Here

As artificial intelligence reshapes manufacturing competitiveness, organizations must act decisively or risk falling permanently behind their AI-enabled competitors.

Maximizing Continuous Improvement with GenAI

Generative AI tools have the potential to raise continuous improvement to a new level – continuous intelligence.

How the C-suite Can Drive Results for AI Success

For companies to achieve truly transformative generative AI, they need six key pillars.

Transforming Manufacturing with AI: Applications, Benefits, and How to Begin

AI is offering manufacturing benefits to the bottom line while also providing a path toward expansion into new products and…

“I always joke with my colleagues, … if you really want to test the importance of technology, I dare you to close it for a month and see if the business can run and if you can deliver on your objectives.”

Besu Alemayehu,
Senior Vice President for Digital Manufacturing and Supply, Merck

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Defining the Human-Machine Relationship

In his Rethink speech in June, MLC’s founder said manufacturers should take a proactive approach to decide what increasingly intelligent, AI-powered machines should and shouldn’t do.

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Also in this issue

Scenes from Rethink 2025

MLC’s signature event broke records again this year as manufacturers gathered to accelerate their journeys to Manufacturing 4.0.

Welcome New Members of the MLC August 2025

Introducing the latest new members to the Manufacturing Leadership Council

Merck, Celanese and Pure & Gentle Top Winners

Of the annual Manufacturing Leadership Awards.

Survey: Tariff Tumult Roils Supply Chains

More than 40% are already seeing a negative impact from tariffs, resulting in rising costs, a new MLC survey shows.…

Survey: M4.0 Appears Poised for A Significant Leap

As they climb up the maturity curve, manufacturers see a host of benefits as well as challenges with AI, says…

Survey: Leadership Preparedness Improves, but Gaps Remain

As they climb up the maturity curve, manufacturers see a host of benefits as well as challenges with AI, says…

Survey: Manufacturers See AI as a “Game-Changer” as They Ramp Up Investments

As they climb up the maturity curve, manufacturers see a host of benefits as well as challenges with AI, says…

For Manufacturers, Digital Maturity Hasn’t Yet Come of Age

Manufacturers are at an early stage of understanding how far advanced they are with Manufacturing 4.0, as they grapple with…

Survey: Smart Factories Are Still a Work in Progress

Manufacturers are moving ahead with creating smarter factories as they grapple with cultural resistance and integrating new technologies.

SURVEY: Manufacturers Go All-In on AI

A growing number of manufacturing organizations have brought AI to the shop floor, and as usage grows, so do aspirations…

SURVEY: Choppy Supply Chain Seas Making Skilled Sailors

MLC’s latest survey reveals continued disruptions and challenges but big shifts in digital technology deployments and supply network geography

Survey: On Board with Technology, At Sea with Strategy

Manufacturing executives want to know what digital transformation can do for their businesses, but an overall plan to find out…

Survey: Data Mastery is Slow to Mature but Essential

Manufacturers show some progress with data mastery efforts, but much opportunity for growth exists.

Survey: Smarter Factories Are on the Way

Manufacturers will be pressing ahead with their M4.0 investments as they expand their digital deployments in operations, a new MLC…

Survey: Sustainability Momentum Surges Dramatically

Sustainability is rapidly becoming one of the key drivers of industrial transformation for the rest of the decade, reveals the…

Survey: More Expect M4.0 Tech Adoption to Increase

A new MLC survey reveals that rapid technology adoption continues as manufacturers deploy transformative technologies to reshape how work gets…

SURVEY: Manufacturers Get Tough on Cybersecurity

More companies are taking a disciplined approach to dealing with the growing threat of cyber attacks, a new MLC survey…

SURVEY: Digital Leadership Playbook Still Work in Progress

In manufacturing’s new digital era, the requirements for leadership are evolving just as rapidly as the technology that is underpinning…

SURVEY: Manufacturing Supply Disruptions to Last Well Into 2023

A new MLC survey warns that disruption could continue for as long as two years as manufacturers strive to adopt…

SURVEY: Future Outlook: Hazy

While pandemic disruptions created a rush to move to M4.0, MLC’s latest Factories of the Future survey finds those plans…

Manufacturing’s Sustainability Challenge: The Race is On

The desire to adopt more sustainable and environmentally responsible practices is now an overwhelming sentiment among manufacturing executives, reveals the…

Pedal to the Metal

Manufacturers see data’s massive potential to improve operations, predict disruptions, and bring about new revenue streams, but realizing that promise…

Growing Pains

Manufacturers see data’s massive potential to improve operations, predict disruptions, and bring about new revenue streams, but realizing that promise…