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Manufacturing Leadership Journal content and MLC resources are exclusively available to MLC members. Please sign up for an account or log in to view this content.

Manufacturing Leadership Journal content and MLC resources are exclusively available to MLC members. Please sign up for an account or log in to view this content.

Manufacturing Leadership Journal content and MLC resources are exclusively available to MLC members. Please sign up for an account or log in to view this content.

Supply chain disruption could continue for more than another year, according to the newest Resilient M4.0 Supply Chain survey conducted by the NAM’s Manufacturing Leadership Council. The MLC is the digital transformation arm of the NAM.

What’s the holdup? A combination of factors is causing fundamental shifts in supply chain approaches across the industry. These include pandemic lockdowns, blocked shipping lanes, container scarcity, material and component shortages, extreme weather events, rising prices and military conflict.

What manufacturers are doing about it: Supply chain organizations are reassessing traditional supply chain strategies, reducing network complexity and integrating key functions.

• They are also redesigning processes and harnessing the power of digital tools to transform their supply chain ecosystems.

Universal disruption: Even supply chain structures with some local or regional networks have been affected by recent events, according to the MLC’s survey.

• Ninety percent of respondents reported suffering either significant (52.5%) or partial (39%) disruption in the past two years. Just 0.5% said they had seen no disruption. 

Improving resilience: While many manufacturers have taken action to reduce supply vulnerabilities, 73% of companies said their current supply chains are not fully protected, and 12% said they believe their supply chains lack resilience.

Integrated supply chains: While today just 19% of companies said their supply chain structures are fully integrated, this proportion is set to more than double (to 47%) within the next two years.

• The number of companies that remain dependent on siloed operations is set to fall from 14% to 4% over the same period.

Digital opportunities: The race to fully digitize more supply chain operations is picking up speed.

• In nearly every supply chain function, companies said they are planning significant increases in digital adoption in the next two years to streamline their supply chain organizations.

Obstacles to progress: Many obstacles to future supply chain development involve issues with industry partners. Among the challenges cited by manufacturers in the survey were the following:

• Differences in digital maturity among partners (54%)
• A lack of common data platforms (53%)
• Problems transforming traditional supply chain processes (29%)
• Upgrading legacy equipment (26%)
• A lack of skilled employees (22%)

Review the data: Click here to review the data in detail and read manufacturer responses to survey questions.

Manufacturing Leadership Journal content and MLC resources are exclusively available to MLC members. Please sign up for an account or log in to view this content.

Manufacturing Leadership Journal content and MLC resources are exclusively available to MLC members. Please sign up for an account or log in to view this content.

On a recent tour of Intertape Polymer Group’s Tremonton, Utah, plant, manufacturers saw disruptive technology in action. From employing 3D printing to slashing parts-making time to programming floor equipment to identify and fix problems quickly, the Manufacturing 4.0 processes and technologies were on full display. The NAM’s Manufacturing Leadership Council hosted the tour and brought 70 MLC members to the paper- and film-based packaging maker.

Growth: IPG, a Montreal-based manufacturer whose products include the cling film StretchFlex, has seen its revenue double in the past six years, from $750 million to $1.5 billion.

• The company now has approximately 4,000 employees across 34 locations, including 22 manufacturing facilities in North America.

What they saw: In addition to 3D printing and problem-solving floor equipment, tour participants got to see how IPG:

• Manages parts more effectively with an automated storage system; and
• Uses “hackathons” and employs a data-driven, digital-first mindset to find solutions to challenges.

Digital journey: In a briefing before the tour, IPG Vice President of Business Transformation Jai Sundararaman described why and how IPG undertook its digital transformation journey.

• First, the manufacturer conducted an in-depth investigation. This included studying 20 different technologies, attending more than 10 industry conferences, hosting technology summits with vendors and engaging in more than 25 networking sessions with fellow members of the MLC.

Phased transformation: IPG’s phased approach to digital transformation focused on delivering business value. The company undertook the following schedule:

• Phase 1: Align strategy and execution and “homogenize” operating culture. Upskill and retain talent with digital and process knowledge.
• Phase 2: Drive revenue and margin growth by applying digital technologies at scale in other functions, such as customer engagement.
• Phase 3: Leverage digital technologies for business model innovation.

M4.0 discussion: At the end of the IPG plant event, participants joined a panel discussion on data standards and analysis. Panelists discussed how to measure the return manufacturers get from implementing M4.0 technologies and how to get buy-in from employees and leadership.

Upcoming plant tour: Join the MLC’s next plant tour right from your desk on July 27. Participants will take a virtual look inside Accuray’s Global Manufacturing Center in Madison, Wisconsin. This virtual plant tour will highlight the challenges of a low-volume, high-complexity manufacturing and supply chain model. Register today to reserve your place.

With increased pressure from customers, regulators and even shareholders, sustainable business practices are no longer optional for manufacturers. From reduced energy and materials consumption to lower emissions and ethical sourcing, manufacturers are expected to meet ambitious new goals. Luckily, the Manufacturing Leadership Council has established a new member working group devoted to helping manufacturers reach these objectives.

Support set-up: With five virtual meetings each year, the M4.0 Sustainability and Net Zero Decision Compass Group will explore key issues, best practices and challenges related to creating sustainable, compliant and environmentally friendly operating strategies.

• At the first meeting, “Next Steps in Manufacturing 4.0 Sustainability,” on March 10, attendees heard from 3M Senior Vice President of Environmental Strategies and Fluorochemical Stewardship Dr. Rebecca Teeters and Lexmark International Chief Sustainability Officer John Gagel. Both speakers are also MLC board members.

Why the new group: The MLC decided to create the group after a survey of their more than 3,300 members revealed sustainability was a top member business concern.

• “We decided that given the intensity of interest in sustainability and related subjects, such as net-zero and the circular economy, this was an opportunity to dedicate a whole new group to the topic,” said MLC Co-Founder, Executive Director and Vice President David Brousell.

Good for business, too: While manufacturers have been discussing and working toward sustainability for decades, recent growing concerns about climate change and other environmental issues are making the matter increasingly urgent.

• Manufacturers that take on sustainable business practices are seeing competitive advantages ranging from cost savings to higher product quality to increased shareholder and employee satisfaction.

Lessons from manufacturing peers: The new Decision Compass group will share sustainability strategies, the real-world achievements of manufacturing companies, knowledge about the use and application of advanced technologies and timelines for implementation.

• Participants will also be able to see how they stack up against other manufacturing companies.

Get involved: The MLC offers resources to help manufacturers improve their operations and learn about digital manufacturing. To learn more about the sustainability group or find out about MLC membership, email [email protected].

Manufacturing Leadership Journal content and MLC resources are exclusively available to MLC members. Please sign up for an account or log in to view this content.

Washington, D.C. – The Manufacturing Leadership Council (MLC), the digital transformation arm of the National Association of Manufacturers, has announced the election of six leading figures from industry and academia to the MLC’s Board of Governors. The MLC is the nation’s foremost executive leadership organization dedicated to helping manufacturing companies transition to the digital model of manufacturing by focusing on the technological, organizational, and leadership dimensions of change.

The six new MLC Board members include:

Denise DeLaune, Global Director of Operational Excellence and Leveraged Services at Dow Inc. She is also responsible for Dow’s Strategic Project “Operations 2025”, designing and driving the implementation of an updated future Operations organizational model meeting the needs of digital, sustainability, and other expected market changes.

Will Bonifant, Vice President, U.S. and Canada Supply Chain at The Hershey Company. He is responsible for leading Hershey’s supply chain planning, distribution, transportation, commercialization, packaging development, continuous improvement, and manufacturing alliance functions supporting the U.S. and Canada businesses.

Jai Sundararaman, Vice President of Business Transformation at Intertape Polymer Group. He is responsible for building capabilities to deliver strategic growth outcomes. He leads capital planning, acquisition integration, operational excellence, digital transformation & innovation. He has successfully scaled multiple Digital Transformation M4.0 initiatives across IPG which have won IndustryWeek Best Plants Awards for digital transformation.

Dr. Jill O’Sullivan, Professor and Chair of the Computer Systems Department at Farmingdale State College in Long Island, New York, where she has taught for more than 20 years. She is also a former President of APICS NYC/LI and Regional Industry Council Aerospace Manufacturing.

Dr. Thomas R. Kurfess, HUSCO Ramirez Distinguished Chair in Fluid Power and Motion Control at the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He has also recently concluded a three-year term as Chief Manufacturing Officer and Senior Distinguished Staff Member at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Dr. Julie Shah, Professor, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and Lead, Interactive Robotics Group, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, at MIT. She is also Associate Dean for Social and Ethical Responsibility of Computing in the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing.

“We at MLC are proud to welcome to our Board such a notable group of industrial and academic leaders in the advancement of digital manufacturing,” said Mike Packer, chairman of the MLC Board of Governors.

“The MLC’s goal has always been to bring great minds and rich expertise to the Board to reflect the depth, scope, and diversity of the manufacturing industry,” added David R. Brousell, MLC Co-Founder and Board member. “These six new Board members advance those goals immeasurably.”

As an advisory body, the MLC Board of Governors provides guidance to the MLC on its “Critical Issues” agenda, research studies and its programs and services for the MLC membership.

With these appointments, the MLC Board of Governors now consists of 21 industry thought leaders who represent the full ecosystem of the manufacturing industry, including large global enterprises, small and medium-sized manufacturers, leading academic institutions and influential industry analysts.

(Photos available on request)

-MLC-

Founded in 2008, and now the digital transformation arm of the National Association of Manufacturers, the Manufacturing Leadership Council’s mission is to help manufacturing companies transition to the digital model of manufacturing by focusing on the technological, organizational, and leadership dimensions of change. With more than 3,300 senior-level members from many of the world’s leading manufacturing companies, the MLC focuses on the intersection of advanced digital technologies and the business, identifying growth and improvement opportunities in the operation, organization, and leadership of manufacturing enterprises as they pursue their journeys to Manufacturing 4.0.

-MLC Board of Governors-

The Manufacturing Leadership Board of Governors comprises senior executives and industry experts at leading manufacturing, academic and research organizations around the world, including Lockheed Martin, Procter & Gamble, Dow Chemical, 3M, IBM, Hershey, IPG, Europe’s SmartFactory EU Technology Initiative, Lexmark International, Premio Foods, Virtex Enterprises, Graphicast, the Cooley Group, UCLA, MIT, Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Cincinnati, Farmingdale State College, the U.S. Manufacturing Technology Deployment Group, consultants Frost & Sullivan, and the MLC.

For more information and MLC membership details, please visit www.manufacturingleadershipcouncil.com

-NAM-

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) is the largest manufacturing association in the United States, representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states. Manufacturing employs more than 12 million men and women, contributes $2.25 trillion to the U.S. economy annually, has the largest economic impact of any major sector and accounts for more than three-quarters of private-sector research and development. The NAM is the powerful voice of the manufacturing community and the leading advocate for a policy agenda that helps manufacturers compete in the global economy and create jobs across the United States. For more information about the Manufacturers or to follow us on Shopfloor, Twitter and Facebook, please visit www.nam.org.