It’s manufacturing month and I’m feeling inspired. I was at the ElevateHer quarterly meeting on Tuesday, the CT Manufacturing Summit on Wednesday, and will be at the Women in Manufacturing (WIM) national summit next week. There’s so much going on that it’s hard to keep up. For that reason, I thought, why not share what I’ve learned? Here are some interesting articles. Take a look and let me know what you think.
Company Culture
https://industrytoday.com/us-manufacturing-is-facing-a-once-in-a-generation-change/
Manufacturing’s facing a once in a generation change. With this change come several challenges from workforce issues and rising wages to reconfigured supply chains and AI. This article offers three ways to help offset this problem. The first is – to put organizational health front and center, the second is to make skills development a core part of the transformation, and lastly to communicate with capital markets and shareholders.
Implementing AI
AI can make manufacturing jobs faster, and safer. This article references the national association of manufacturers who believe that AI can be a useful tool to make their jobs much easier. They also discuss adoption of a code of conduct and ethics when using AI.
Workforce Tips
https://industrytoday.com/driving-employee-retention-in-2024/
Workforce recruitment and retention are critical for today’s manufacturers. In some cases, benefits can outweigh wages. The key is to know where your employees stand. This article discusses ways to focus on this.
Industry Focus
Steel
The steel and labor industries want the commerce department program to track steel imports due to the new and evolving trade programs. This article addresses the importance of accurate import data. One proposal is to expand steel import and monitoring analysis (SIMA) to downstream products so countries can’t evade U.S. trade enforcement.
Plastics
https://industrytoday.com/what-will-2025-bring-to-the-plastics-sector
Plastic manufacturers will experience big changes in the next year. This article highlights five major trends driving the industry. From the circular economy and regulatory issues to biodegradable and anti-microbial plastics, it’s important to stay on top of these trends.
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