The Best of Rethink
The 20th anniversary of Rethink brought together thought leaders and manufacturers to share digital transformation best practices and lessons learned.
MLC members celebrated Rethink’s 20th anniversary by doing what they’ve done at the past 19 summits: learning about the technology, leadership, and organizations driving Manufacturing 4.0 forward. Over the course of three days, more than 60 speakers shared their insights during keynotes, case studies, panel discussions, (Re)Think Tanks, fireside chats, lightning rounds, and executive interviews.
Here are a few of the exceptional sessions Rethink participants experienced.
Access to the MLC Member Portal is required to view the videos.
Opening Address: What’s Next?
David R. Brousell, Founder, Vice President and Executive Director, Manufacturing Leadership Council
Over the past 20 years, the manufacturing industry has worked hard to understand and adopt the digital model of production, learning much along the way. But as new technologies emerge, the proverbial finish line continues to move, leading to new possibilities, aspirations, and opportunities as well as challenges. MLC’s founder shares his views on what manufacturing might look like by mid-century.
Case Study: 25 Years of Transformation—Triumphs and Pitfalls from a Manufacturing Digital Native
Robert Bodor, CEO and President, Protolabs, Winner of the 2022 ML Awards Small/Medium Enterprise Manufacturer of the Year
Protolabs began as a company aimed at filling a specific manufacturing need: injection molded parts really fast. As one of manufacturing’s original “digital natives,” that speed was a result of automation and digitizing a once-traditional process. Since those early days, the company has expanded its offerings and experienced significant growth. The ongoing digital transformation that followed over the next 25 years as a custom components manufacturer has provided a case study in digital evolution comprised of technology advancements, key acquisitions, difficult trade-offs, and even a few hard lessons learned along the way. Learn more about the company’s ongoing Manufacturing 4.0 journey that has driven its mission to serve customers on the forefront of innovation.
Panel Discussion: Next-Generation Leaders
Angela Accurso, Director of Workforce Programs, MxD
Marlon Alberto Gonzalez Martinez, Storage Order Management Fulfillment Team Leader, IBM
Megan McCarthy, Business Process Manager for Global Manufacturing Electrical, General Motors
Jonathan Miller, Automation and OpEx Manager, Saint-Gobain Life Sciences
Facilitator: Penelope Brown, Senior Content Director, Manufacturing Leadership Council
What’s on the minds of the next generation as they develop into tomorrow’s leaders? This panel discussion examines the hopes, aspirations, and visions for the future from some of 2024’s top finalists for the Manufacturing Leadership Awards Next-Generation Leadership award.
Case Study: Hardwiring Innovation Processes from Tech Into a 155-year-old Company
Craig Slavtcheff, Executive Vice President and Chief R&D and Innovation Officer, Campbell Soup Company
The pace and scope of innovation demanded in food by consumers continues to be high, driven by a range of macrotrends including food exploration and nostalgia, ag-tech, and sustainability. To keep pace, food companies have to innovate on how they innovate, focused on the three drivers of “speed to insight,” “speed to design,” and “speed to execution”. Campbell has looked to the world of tech, including machine learning and AI, as inspiration to transform its innovation processes, building on its 150+ year old history of inventing delicious, nutrition, safe, and affordable foods.
Case Study: Making the World a Better Home through M4.0
Regan Gallo, Director of Operations, Coated Abrasives NA, Saint-Gobain North America
With more than 145 manufacturing locations across North America alone and several acquisitions in the past few years, Saint-Gobain faces steep challenges when it comes to deploying a unified digital strategy across the organization. With takeaways applicable to manufacturing companies of any size, learn where the company has found success, where it needed to make pivots, and the progress it has made as it works to meet its mission – making the world a better home.
About the author:
Jeff Puma is Content Director for the Manufacturing Leadership Council
MLC Research Shines a Light on the State of M4.0
Over the course of 2024, five research studies depicted an industry still very much in transition to the digital model of manufacturing.
Ever since its founding in the early 2000s, the Manufacturing Leadership Council has been devoted to using survey research to help take the pulse of digital transformation in manufacturing. Regularly surveying the operational leaders who are leading digital efforts in their companies has yielded insights into digital maturity levels, how advanced technologies are being used, what challenges manufacturers are having in embracing the digital model, and their aspirations for the future.
MLC survey research is usually associated with the Council’s Critical Issues agenda, but with the launch of the Future of Manufacturing Project in 2021, the scope of research widened to include more topics and in-depth white papers.
This pattern continued in 2024, a year in which MLC fielded five major Manufacturing 4.0-related research studies – on Smart Factories; Digital Maturity; Data Mastery, a white paper under the Project; Artificial Intelligence; and Leadership, Culture, Organization, and People.
In aggregate, MLC research for 2024 suggests that manufacturers are at an intermediate stage with M4.0 adoption, with many still working at redesigning their organizational structures, adapting their company cultures, scaling the use of new technologies, and growing leadership skills and behaviors for the digital age.
Here are the key findings of MLC’s research during 2024, as published in the Manufacturing Leadership Journal and in white paper format:
“Smart Factories Are Still a Work in Progress”, February MLJ – This study chartered the stage of M4.0 adoption and found that most respondents are at an intermediate stage in their transformation journeys. The study also found that the most significant roadblocks to implementing a smart factory strategy are organizational structures or cultures that resist change.
“For Manufacturers, Digital Maturity Hasn’t Yet Come of Age”, MLJ April 2024 – A key finding was that a majority of manufacturers either do not have a formal process for measuring their digital maturity or do informal benchmarking. Another important finding was that a majority of manufacturers have a digital maturity target of Manual Execution with Digital Support, with an equal balance of companies on track or behind schedule on this goal.
“Data Mastery: A Key to Industrial Competitiveness”, White Paper, June 2024 – This White Paper, under MLC’s Future of Manufacturing Project, examined data governance and organization, how manufacturing data is being used, the business impact of the data, and future trends. A key finding of the study was that 86% of respondents said that the effective use of manufacturing data in their organizations will be “essential” to their competitiveness in the future.
“Manufacturers See AI as a ‘Game-Changer’ as They Ramp Up Investments”, MLJ August 2024 – No doubt spurred by the interest in generative AI, 78% of manufacturers said they plan to increase spending on AI tools in the next two years. And a majority of respondents, 56%, said they expect AI to change the rules of the industry by 2030, despite issues with data and a lack of AI-related workforce skills.
“Leadership Preparedness Improves, But Gaps Remain”, MLJ October 2024 – Understanding digital roles and skills for the future manufacturing enterprise is only somewhat understood, said 71% of survey respondents. To change that equation, digital manufacturing leaders need to augment traditional leadership qualities with new skills such as fostering a data-driven culture and guiding the workforce through change. M
About the author:
David R. Brousell is the Founder, Vice President and Executive Director, Manufacturing Leadership Council
The Best of the Manufacturing Leadership Journal
Celebrating expert insights from a year of manufacturing innovation and leadership.
As the manufacturing landscape continues to evolve, 2024 brought a wealth of insights, breakthroughs, and transformative ideas to the forefront. From exploring the practical applications of digital twins to harnessing the potential of Generative AI, the articles featured in this year’s best-of issue highlight the ingenuity driving Manufacturing 4.0 forward. The Manufacturing Leadership Journal not only showcased cutting-edge technologies but also delved into the leadership practices, workforce strategies, and cultural shifts necessary to thrive in an era of rapid change.
In this special compilation, we revisit some of the most compelling narratives of the past year. Discover how manufacturers are leveraging AI and machine learning to optimize operations, using smart technologies to attract a new generation of talent, and adopting innovative frameworks for digital transformation. Whether you’re looking to refine your Manufacturing 4.0 approach, improve organizational alignment, or tackle workforce challenges, these articles offer a roadmap for success in the dynamic world of modern manufacturing.
While every article published in the Manufacturing Leadership Journal is chock full of ideas and information that is worth exploring, here are a few of 2024’s best articles.
FEBRUARY / MARCH 2024
SMART FACTORIES AND TRANSFORMATIVE TECHNOLOGIES
How Digital Twin Applications Can Help Manage and Optimize Inventory
By Casey Chapman and Joe Krause, RSM US LLP
Discover how a midsize industrial food production company leveraged digital twin simulations to optimize operations, avoid unnecessary capital expenditures, and enhance decision-making. Highlighting the transformative potential of digital twins, this case study offers insights into improving inventory management, mitigating risks, and driving profitability in a competitive manufacturing landscape.
Connect, Analyze, Improve — Then Rinse and Repeat
By Randal Kenwothy and Kris Slozak, West Monroe and AJ Alexander, Sorba.ai
Struggling to start your smart manufacturing journey? This article explores how connecting equipment and using machine data to solve specific problems can build a strong foundation for Manufacturing 4.0 success, with real-world case studies demonstrating rapid ROI and expanded operational benefits.
APRIL / MAY 2024
THE M4.0 MATURITY CURVE
GenAI Ushers Human-Like Intelligence in Manufacturing
By Amol Adgaonkar, Microsoft; Gonzalo Chavez, Alex Lemken and James Zhang, PTC; and Howard Heppelmann, PTC ThingWorx IoT Solutions
Generative AI is set to revolutionize manufacturing by democratizing data analysis, automation, and problem-solving across the value chain. By leveraging techniques like Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) and building a unified, contextualized data foundation, manufacturers can identify high-impact use cases, pilot innovative solutions, and drive significant productivity and efficiency gains.
Unlocking Manufacturing Excellence with the M4.0 Maturity Model
By Roberto Cisneros and Krishnan Venkat, Softtek
The Manufacturing 4.0 maturity model provides manufacturers with a structured framework to assess readiness and capabilities across key dimensions, including supply chain management, technology, sales and operational management, and knowledge, skills, and attitude. By uncovering gaps and setting actionable goals, the model empowers organizations to navigate technology adoption, foster continuous improvement, and achieve operational excellence.
JUNE / JULY 2024
CHANGE MANAGEMENT IN THE M4.0 ERA
The Human Factor in Industry 4.0: Capability-Led Change
By Mike Doheny, Roberto Migliorini, Ewelina Gregolinska and Justin Grover, McKinsey
A leading global CPG company successfully scaled its digital transformation by prioritizing people, aligning organizational goals with tailored learning programs, and fostering a culture of continuous capability building. Through a structured approach that emphasized local and global collaboration, measurable outcomes, and on-the-job application, the initiative achieved a double-digit uplift in throughput across its manufacturing network while enhancing employee engagement and talent retention.
Technology as Manufacturing’s Skills and Applicant Solution
By John Coykendall, Deloitte LLP; Victor Reyes, Deloitte Human Capital; Kate Hardin and John Morehouse, Deloitte Research Center for Energy & Industrials; Gardner Carrick, The Manufacturing Institute
The U.S. manufacturing industry is experiencing robust growth, yet persistent workforce challenges threaten its trajectory, with nearly 1.9 million manufacturing jobs potentially going unfilled by 2033. By leveraging technology to attract, engage and empower workers — through flexible work arrangements, advanced training tools, and high-tech environments — manufacturers are innovating to address the talent gap and meet evolving workforce expectations.
AUGUST / SEPTEMBER
AI IN MANUFACTURING
Unlocking AI and ML’s Potential in Manufacturing
By Adrian Wood, Dassault Systèmes
Artificial intelligence and machine learning are transforming manufacturing by optimizing production execution, predictive maintenance, and scheduling, resulting in improved quality, reduced downtime, and greater operational efficiency. Successful implementation requires robust data management, collaboration, scalable pilots, and workforce training, while emerging technologies like GenAI and autonomic systems promise to revolutionize self-optimizing operations and model development.
Exploring the Potential Value of Generative AI Throughout Manufacturing
By John Coykendall, Deloitte LLP; Kate Hardin, John Morehouse and Kruttika Dwivedi, Deloitte Research Center for Energy & Industrials
Generative AI represents a transformative step in the manufacturing industry’s digital evolution, with potential applications in product design, training, supply chain management, and aftermarket services. By leveraging GenAI, manufacturers can enhance efficiency, resilience and innovation, addressing challenges like labor shortages and operational disruptions. As companies explore this technology, they stand to unlock significant value and strengthen their competitive position.
OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2024
LEADERSHIP, CULTURE, ORGANIZATION, PEOPLE
Effective Digital Transformation Leadership Practices
By Chris LeBeau, Advanced Technology Services, Inc. (ATS)
Successful digital transformation in smart factories requires clear problem-solving focus, flexible frameworks, and strong leadership. By leading through influence, celebrating small wins, and fostering collaboration, leaders can drive cultural alignment and organizational buy-in. This approach, combined with scalable solutions and trusted expertise, ensures smart factory initiatives deliver lasting value and support long-term strategic goals.
How Manufacturers Can Use Industry 4.0 to Attract Gen Z
By Buddhi Ratawal, Dassault Systèmes
Industry 4.0 technologies offer manufacturers innovative ways to attract Gen Z talent by aligning with their values of autonomy, collaboration, and purpose-driven work. By leveraging data-driven empowerment, eliminating repetitive tasks, and embedding sustainability into operations, manufacturers can redefine worker experiences and improve their appeal to the next generation of the workforce.
About the author:
Jeff Puma is Content Director for the Manufacturing Leadership Council
The Best of the Future of Manufacturing Project
The Future of Manufacturing Project provides a how-to guide for manufacturers to achieve future success
As manufacturing accelerates into a future defined by rapid innovation and transformative trends, the Manufacturing Leadership Council’s Future of Manufacturing Project has become an essential guide for industry leaders. This project continues the council’s longstanding mission to challenge manufacturers to “imagine a better future.” Through curated insights, the Future of Manufacturing Project brings clarity to the shifts that will shape industry in the years to come.
We’ve gathered some of 2024’s best articles and webinars from the Future of Manufacturing Project, each delving into critical developments that every manufacturer should know. From groundbreaking tech advances to leadership strategies for an evolving workforce, these pieces reveal how embracing change isn’t just necessary – it’s the key to thriving in manufacturing’s next era.
Future of Manufacturing Project: The Coming Data Value Revolution – Reflections on Nashville Panel Discussion
Listen in as this expert panel addresses some of the most important aspects of how manufacturers can leverage operational data to enhance their competitiveness today and in the future, including:
- What the future holds for data monetization, data ecosystems and data-driven innovation;
- How data-driven manufacturing will reshape the future workforce;
- How AI, data visualization, and industrial metaverse technologies will redefine operational excellence;
- And, drawn from the interactive sessions at the event, what manufacturers are planning to do now to prepare themselves for a data-centric future.
Access to the MLC Member Portal is required to view this video.
Seeing the Unseen: Observability in Manufacturing
Eric Danzinger, CEO and Co-Founder, Invisible AI
What if manufacturers could achieve the same deep visibility into operations as software engineers do with code? Explore how the principles of software observability are transforming manufacturing, making real-time monitoring and data-driven improvements possible on the factory floor.
Placing Innovation at the Heart of Transformation
David Takeuchi, Global Strategy and Transformation Business Model Innovation Leader, EY
Jerry Gootee, Global Advanced Manufacturing Sector Leader, EY
Claudio Knizek, Global Advanced Manufacturing and Mobility Leader, EY-Parthenon
To build the right foundation for long-term growth, manufacturers must put innovation and digital strategies at the heart of transformation.
Crystal Ball: Business Resilience in 2030 and the Digital Dexterity Effect
Siva Gurupackiam, Senior Vice President of Manufacturing Industry Solutions, NTT DATA
Digital transformation is today’s tested and proven path to business resilience. This era is defined less by permanence than by alacrity of adaptation. Manufacturers must already evolve their approach to business resilience to remain competitive.
About the author:
Jeff Puma is Content Director for the Manufacturing Leadership Council
The Best of 2024 Decision Compass Calls
MLC’s member-exclusive virtual working groups offer a pathway to building M4.0 value.
The MLC’s Decision Compass groups are invaluable for discovering ways to level up your business. In 2024, these five groups explored a number of important M4.0 topics, including considerations for deploying generative AI; meeting the expectations of a multigenerational workforce; how operating data can predict equipment failure; managing supply variability with cloud technologies; and innovative ways to capture and reuse carbon emissions.
These are just a sampling of what was featured in 2024. A full docket of sessions from this year and past years is available in the member-exclusive MLC content library.
Note: These recordings are archived in the MLC content library, an exclusive benefit for MLC members. Members can log in to view the recordings. Nonmembers will be asked to complete an information form to gain access.
Digital M4.0 Technologies
From Data to Insights: Generative AI as a Catalyst for the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Topic Leaders: Srinivas Kuppa, Chief Product Officer, SymphonyAI Industrial; Rahul Shahani, Partner and Industry 4.0 Leader, McKinsey & Company
Where and how can manufacturers apply Generative AI to derive optimum value? What are the best ways to define and achieve ROI? And how does Generative AI factor into broader initiatives for digital transformation? This session dives into unlocking step-change in performance, moving past data silos, setting a strategy to scale, and more.
Next-Generation Leadership
Attracting Talent and Building Resilience in the Frontline Workforce: A Multi-Generational Approach to Employee Experience
Topic Leaders: Tyler Freeman, Associate Partner; Marino Mugayar-Baldocchi, Research Science Expert; McKinsey & Company
The current manufacturing workforce is comprised of four generations, each with their own desires and expectations within the workplace. Find out about the innovative strategies that manufacturers are using to reimagine the frontline worker experience to keep each generation engaged to boost productivity and employee retention.
Operational Excellence
Using Operating Data to Predict Equipment Failure
Topic Leaders: Tim O’Neal, Global Operations Director for Operational Excellence and Leveraged Services; Scott Lawson, Maintenance Technology Center Director; Dow
Learn more about the role of data on reliability through four different lenses: shop floor outside (from operators and maintenance teams); shop floor inside (utilizing alarm limits and operator trending); engineering analysis (key variables, inspection trends, and work order data); and AI/machine learning.
Supply Networks
Farm to Shelf: Producing, Packing and Delivering the Perfect Mandarin with IoT and Cloud Technologies
Topic Leader: Dhruba Misra, Information Technology Manager, The Wonderful Company
Meet the winner of the 2024 Manufacturing Leadership Award for Digital Supply Chains and find out how The Wonderful Company used cloud-based inventory and manufacturing systems to manage a high degree of supply variability in its production of Halos mandarins.
Sustainability and the Circular Economy
GHG Scope 1/2/3 + PCF/LCA and Carbon Capture Case Study
Topic Leader: Kevin Norfleet, Global Sustainability Director, Celanese
Many carbon capture processes capture carbon dioxide emissions and then store them to keep them out of the atmosphere. But what if those emissions could be reused for downstream production? Find out how Celanese is doing just that – and fostering circularity by using those emissions to create products that can reduce the need for fossil fuels.
About the author:
Penelope Brown is Senior Content Director for the NAM’s Manufacturing Leadership Council
Welcome New Members of the MLC December 2024
Introducing the latest new members to the Manufacturing Leadership Council
Kyle Bender
EVP
Falcon Plastics
www.falconplastics.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-bender-84138ab7/
Bob Border
Chief Digital and Information Officer
Ingredion
www.ingredion.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-border-338493/
Evan Doepker
President and CEO
Doepker Industries Limited
https://www.doepker.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/evan-doepker-9b089723/
Rodolfo Luzardo
Principal
ZS
www.zs.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rodolfoluzardo/
Rick Organ
President and CEO
Hynes Industries
https://www.hynesindustries.com/
https://www.hynesindustries.com/about/leadership
Jon Singer
President/COO
AirLife
https://myairlife.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-singer-5b6a492/
Colin Speakman
Digital Transformation Leader
Kalypso, a Rockwell Automation Business
https://kalypso.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinspeakman/
Dialogue: Accessibility Unlocks Untapped Talent
Angela Accurso, a Next-Generation Leadership winner, shares how accessibility through tech and training can bring untapped workers into manufacturing.
Penelope Brown: Hello everyone and welcome to our latest edition of Executive Dialogue and I’m happy to be here today with Angela Accurso who was one of our Next-Generation Leadership winners at this most recent year’s Manufacturing Leadership Awards. We had a really great crop of young leaders honored in this category this year and Angela, of course, had some really outstanding accomplishments.
Angela it’s great to have you here today.
Angela Accurso: It’s great to be here thank you for having me.
PB: And I should back up a bit. Angela is the director of workforce programs at the MxD, so much of her focus is on accessibility in manufacturing and that’s what we’re going to talk about a little bit today.
Angela much of your work is about making manufacturing more accessible to those with disabilities, so how do you define accessibility?
AA: Great question and on the baseline level, it really truly means that everyone – regardless of disability status or any other characteristics – has access to and can fully engage within the workplace within manufacturing. But as I think of it, it also goes beyond that so what can manufacturers and the workplace do to meet the physical, social and cognitive needs of every employee and also foster that sense of inclusion where everyone feels valued, everyone feels heard and actually feels that they’re a part of something larger and are appreciated for who they are as a person and what they bring to the table.
PB: Let’s talk about some of those specific things that manufacturers can do. How can a manufacturer take stock of their accessibility? And what are the some of the things that they might be able to do to improve it?
AA: There are a number of different ways to do that. First is really put in the work to undergo the training it’s not a surprise that perhaps not many workplaces have really invested in disability inclusion or disability accessibility training. There are a number of different partners within communities – whether that’s a community-based organization within your network or other folks or consultants that specialize in disability inclusion – those are certainly really great places to start.
“[Accessibility] truly means that everyone – regardless of disability status or any other characteristics – has access to and can fully engage within the workplace.”
MxD is developing an accessibility training for manufacturers as well as university and community college partners, and we’re developing that in partnership with Access Living of Metropolitan Chicago, which is a community-based organization here in the Chicagoland area and they’re part of a national network for centers for independent living and we’re developing that. Currently we’re actually undergoing in-person trainings with manufacturers across Illinois and Wisconsin, but we are developing a training that is going to be a virtual course on our virtual training center platform so individuals who would like to really prioritize disability inclusion can take those courses and understand how to learn the language of disability, how to understand how your operations can be improved, and they can do that from anywhere in the world. That’s going to be dropping in just the next month or so, but if you’re really prone to wanting to work with a community-based organization, your own community is a really great way and place to start. Doing the work and walking your talk is a really great place to showcase to your employees that you do care about disability inclusion.
Other great ways to do that are doing a full audit. How do you empower your staff to actually feel comfortable coming forward if they do have a disability? One thing I’ll illuminate to manufacturers is that you very much have employees with disabilities already working with you right now. There are 61 million people in the United States who identify as having a disability. While the rates of unemployment are higher for individuals with disabilities, there are certainly individuals with disabilities represented across every sector in the United States including manufacturing. Manufacturers may just not know that an individual has a disability because they don’t feel comfortable coming to disclose or feel perhaps their job might be at risk. We know that about 76% of employees with disabilities do not disclose that to their employer. And so employers may be thinking “Oh that’s not a need I have to meet on one side because I don’t have an employee that has actively shared that they have a disability.” Whereas employees are saying “I don’t feel comfortable fully coming forward and I can’t fully engage with work the way I want to.” So being able to analyze your current practices and how you could make your workplace more inclusive from the get-go from anybody would be a great place to start. Analyzing policies and procedures, do you have accessible infrastructure, do you have a ramp that could be useful for somebody that uses a wheelchair, those sorts of things.
A lot of those are relatively simple fixes. The median cost of a reasonable accommodation is only $500, so for relatively small investment, employers could be making really great headway for individuals who work for them.
And then also thinking about technology. Technology not just for innovation’s sake, but how you can actually use technology to create accessible working environments because we believe that technology can actually be something that levels the playing field for all individuals in the workplace.
PB: Yes, let’s dive into that a little bit. I mean obviously here at the Manufacturing Leadership Council our focus is very much on shop floor technology, so how can that be something that can bridge a gap for workers with disabilities?
AA: Some of the technologies that we discuss as emerging technologies are great use cases for disability inclusion: augmented reality, virtual reality, the use of drones or robots. You know those are things that while they have a use case for innovation that we talk about time and time again, we don’t necessarily talk about them being something that can actually support disability inclusion.
“The median cost of a reasonable accommodation is only $500, so for a relatively small investment, employers could be making really great headway.”
For an example, augmented reality. We have this on MxD’s factory floor tour. We demonstrate augmented reality in an assembly line fashion and it essentially projects through light-guided systems work instructions onto an assembly line table and provides turn-by-turn instructions for an individual to actually go through the assembly process, which is really great if you think about an individual who perhaps has a disability that impacts their memory, being able to have the turn-by-turn instructions is a great way to ensure that they’re fully comfortable with the process.
Virtual reality is also a great way to simulate what a working environment can look like before an individual even starts the work process and is great for an individual with a disability to be comfortable with what the environment will look like and gain that spatial awareness.
There are a number of different use cases where we talk about technology being a catalyst for innovation but also being a catalyst for disability inclusion. We challenge manufacturers to think a little bit about it being a win-win scenario: not only are you investing in emerging technology to help your operations run better, faster, smarter, more efficient, but you’re also allowing a whole crop of really talented people and an untapped talent pool to be able to participate in work that they perhaps haven’t been able to before.
PB: Let’s talk a little bit about that untapped talent pool because obviously manufacturers, are struggling to hire. At the end of June there were something like 900,000 unfilled jobs nationally in manufacturing and maybe that figure has been updated but I can’t imagine it’s moved very much. So I would think that creating a more accessible workplace would help to address some of that issue and could bring in more talent to a manufacturer?
AA: Absolutely. We know exactly 900,000 open manufacturing jobs and then a grimmer outlook too when you’re thinking about the end of the decade when a projected more than 2 million unfilled manufacturing jobs are expected to be lost due to a skills gap and due to retirement but also not being able to build up that talent pipeline. And we can’t keep thinking about if we, perhaps, have a vision of what an ideal worker in manufacturing looks like that doesn’t include untapped or under-engaged talent including individuals with disabilities, black and brown communities, veterans, women – these are all talent groups that really have not been engaged as much as they should be within manufacturing. As a result, we don’t have that talent pipeline to build up.
Some really great organizations including MxD, including other Manufacturing Innovation Institutes (MIIs) and other community-based organizations have seen that this is really an opportunity for manufacturers to think outside the box of what their traditional thought process is behind an ideal individual to work in manufacturing. But that also requires manufacturers to have to do the work to make sure that they’re creating workplaces that are incredibly accessible and inclusive because we’ve heard time and time again employees say, “I did the work, I went through the training, I dedicated my time to get a certificate in what my employer said, but at the end of the day I didn’t feel comfortable working there because I didn’t see myself there, I didn’t feel that I had the infrastructure there to support me, whether that be time off to leave early and pick up my kids from school or take time off for leave or at the very basic level there wasn’t a ramp for me to be able to enter the building if I use a wheelchair.”
There’s certainly a lot of individuals who understand what a great career at manufacturing can be but we need manufacturers to really understand they have to do the work to make it a great place to work.
“We need manufacturers to really understand they have to do the work to make it a great place to work.”
PB: Let’s talk a little bit about your career background. Before you came to MxD, you were working on strategic programs at YWCA, which is obviously a much different organization than heavy industry or manufacturing. How did that experience inform what you’re working to accomplish in manufacturing now?
AA: Yeah, you’re totally right. It was a completely different industry in that I came to MxD without a whole lot of technical background on manufacturing, but I certainly knew what a great economic opportunity it could be to have a manufacturing job. And the programming that I led at YWCA Chicago was aligned mostly toward their mission to eliminate racism and empower women. We had a number of different programs to do that including economic empowerment programming – programs to help women and black and brown communities get into trades jobs. That could include electricians, it could include manufacturing, but we had a number of programs to get folks into the trades and we saw individuals have just the most incredible success stories. Going from working $12 an hour to going through a 12-week training program at YWCA Chicago and graduating after that 3 months making $65,000 starting salary and with benefits. That is huge, huge, huge and it speaks to the potential of a manufacturing career. When we think about manufacturing jobs I think they can be a catalyst to rebuild the American middle class, can be a source of financial sustainability, and really making sure that folks who have not had access to those job opportunities or those career opportunities it really is a game changer for economic and financial sustainability.
These are really strong family sustaining wages that have been very strong for a really long time and is one of the really wonderful perks that manufacturing offers and a lot of what I saw at YWCA Chicago has guided the design of our MxD programming as well.
So how do we engage the under-engaged including women, minorities, veterans, individuals with disabilities and you-name-it, but also how do we get the word out about what I think is just a really great kept secret – and I don’t want it to be a great kept secret anymore: American manufacturing jobs are really, really strong and they can be such a source for economic vitality within the United States.
PB: In your nomination for the Manufacturing Leadership Awards last year, a theme that kept getting repeated over and over again was your ability to really create collaborations, especially across organizations. What do you think are keys to creating a successful collaboration?
AA: As much as I would like to say that MxD, alone, is going to close that 2 million worker gap, it’s just not feasible. No single organization is going to be able to do this alone. When you find those right partners that have that shared mission, that vision and goal are really going to be key to a strong collaboration. Often we get bogged down in the day-to-day and think that we’re the only ones focused on this work, but in reality there are a lot of really great organizations that are so aligned and so eager to partner. It could be a community college that is really ingrained in their community and really understands what their community needs and it has tapped into high schools and employers needs as well. And then perhaps how can we support them in getting great content? Or how can we be thought leaders about American manufacturing jobs and the importance of an inclusive workforce? And there is also an employer that says “I’m on it. I absolutely believe what you’re putting down and now I’m going to go out there and hire more individuals with disabilities, but I do need your support in helping me do the work.”
That’s how we can support and help with our training courses. So I think that mission alignment and goal alignment and the shared values are going to be key to really setting up any collaboration for success.
PB: Well, all of this is incredibly important and shows why you are one of our top Next-Generation Leadership winners last year. You have some tremendous insights on all of this. Thank you so much for your time today and for sharing all of this with us and we’re really excited to see what you do in the future.
AA: Thank you very much. It’s been a pleasure and an honor to be a part of this process.
PB: Thanks, Angela.
AA: Thank you. M
About the Interviewer:
Penelope Brown is Senior Content Director for the NAM’s Manufacturing Leadership Council
MLC in 2024: Photo Gallery
MLC events bring opportunities for networking, learning, and innovation for leaders on the M4.0 journey.
The Manufacturing Leadership Council, a division of the National Association of Manufacturers, welcomed its members and other leaders from the manufacturing community to several events in 2024, including plant tours and Rethink, the Council’s signature event. These images represent a sample of this year’s in-person events.
All images copyright of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM).
Rethink: Accelerating Digital Transformation in Manufacturing
June 2-5, 2024 / Marco Island, FL
The MLC welcomed a record number of attendees at its flagship event in 2024, with more than 900 manufacturing leaders joining either in person or virtually for the 20th anniversary edition in Marco Island, FL. The event kicked off with an economic panel discussion over breakfast, a first-ever Women in M4.0 luncheon, and the MLC’s Annual Council Meeting. It was followed by two days of main stage content and breakout sessions to help manufacturers accelerate their digital journey.
Manufacturing Leadership Awards Gala 2024
June 5, 2024 / Marco Island, FL
The 20th anniversary Manufacturing Leadership Awards Gala was a black-tie celebration of manufacturing’s world-class manufacturing innovation leaders. More than 150 digital manufacturing projects and high-performing individual leaders were recognized at the gala.
Plant Tour: Amazon Fulfillment Center
July 23-24, 2024 / Seattle, WA
Exploring how a culture of innovation feeds into business success at Amazon, attendees at MLC’s sold-out plant tour got a look at the company’s approach to data, supply chain and procurement and a deep dive into its progression from its earliest beginnings. The tour concluded with a session on Amazon’s pillars for manufacturing’s future: data as a foundation, AWS supply chain, and strategic procurement.
Plant Tour: Enersys
October 8-9, 2024 / Richmond, KY
How does a century-old operation evolve into a benchmark for modern lean manufacturing, assembly and distribution? MLC members found out at a plant tour at Enersys, a producer of batteries and battery chargers, seeing first-hand a playbook for how lean principles join with digital tools and employee-led initiatives to enable fast and flexible responses to customer needs.
About the author:
Penelope Brown is Senior Content Director for the NAM’s Manufacturing Leadership Council
Get Ready for the Best of Manufacturing Leadership
As 2024 winds down, the Manufacturing Leadership Journal is capping off the year with a special “Best of” issue that celebrates the most impactful moments, insights, and innovations from the Manufacturing Leadership Council. Launching in December, this edition is a treasure trove of highlights showcasing the best content we’ve produced this year — and it’s not to be missed!
Here’s what’s inside:
- Best of MLC Research: Unlock the top takeaways from our groundbreaking research surveys that shaped conversations around Manufacturing 4.0 in 2024.
- Best of Rethink: Relive the energy of our premier event with video highlights from thought-provoking sessions, dynamic panels, and more.
- Best of the Future of Manufacturing Project: Discover insights from this year’s flagship initiative, including highlights from virtual events, Future of Manufacturing Project Crystal Ball articles, and the pivotal survey report, Data Mastery: A Key to Industrial Competitiveness.
- Best of the Manufacturing Leadership Journal: Revisit this year’s standout articles, which are packed with ideas and insights sure to move your Manufacturing 4.0 journey forward.
- Best of Decision Compass Calls: Access this year’s standout Decision Compass calls and hear discussions that provided actionable strategies and inspiration for manufacturing leaders.
Plus, dive into a photo retrospective celebrating the 20th anniversary of Rethink and the Manufacturing Leadership Awards Gala, and exclusive plant tours at EnerSys and Amazon.
In addition to the “Best of” features, this issue includes brand-new content including an introduction to the MLC’s newest members, a Future of Manufacturing Project article by EY, and an exclusive Executive Dialogue interview with Angela Accurso, co-winner of the Manufacturing Leadership Award for Next-Generation Leadership.
This “Best of” edition is your chance to reflect on the strides made in manufacturing leadership this year and gear up for the opportunities ahead. Be sure to check it out this December to celebrate and learn from the best of 2024!
Nominations Open for the 2025 Manufacturing Leadership Awards
Nominations for the Manufacturing Leadership Council’s flagship awards are now open.
What’s going on: The Manufacturing Leadership Awards—given annually by the MLC, the NAM’s digital transformation arm—honor manufacturing companies and leaders for the groundbreaking use of digital manufacturing. Those interested in submitting company and/or individual names for consideration for the 2025 awards can do so through Jan. 17, 2025.
- Awards will be given in nine project categories and three individual categories. New for 2025 are Business Model Transformation (for projects) and Women in Manufacturing 4.0 (for individuals).
How they’re evaluated: For the individual categories, the judges—a panel of established digital manufacturing experts from outside the MLC—assess whether nominees have advanced digital transformation at their companies and whether they meet the criteria for being role models to other manufacturing leaders.
- For the project categories, judges evaluate how each undertaking improved manufacturing processes, furthered business goals and advanced company strategy.
What happens next: Finalists will be notified in March 2025 and announced shortly afterward. Winners will be announced at the Manufacturing Leadership Awards Gala next June.
- “The Manufacturing Leadership Awards give the MLC the chance each year to honor some of the remarkable people and endeavors in manufacturing today,” said MLC Senior Content Director Penelope Brown. “We look forward to reviewing the nominations and learning more about the incredible innovation taking place in our industry.”
Get involved: Have a person or project in mind for the 2025 Manufacturing Leadership Awards? Submit their names here.
- MLC members receive one complimentary project entry and one complimentary individual entry.