Throughout 2024, manufacturing seemed to struggle to find its way. Positive economic indicators didn’t lead to big factory orders, but there were few signs of calamity that would encourage drastic cost cutting.
That’s not to say that nothing happened during the year. Businesses struggled with talent issues, enjoyed some relief in the supply chain, adopted new technologies and tried to figure out what to do with generative AI tools. And, throughout the year, IndustryWeek editors discussed those stories with a variety of guests – some outside experts and some colleagues from our parent company Endeavor Business Media.
Here are some highlights from our regular Production Pulse video livestream series:
First Quarter: What to Do About Talent
In February, contributing editor Jennifer Ramsay discussed how some companies were using diversity, equity and inclusion programs as recruiting tools to overcome labor shortages in manufacturing. Joining her were Erica Swinney Staley, executive director of Manufacturing Renaissance in Chicago, an organization that promotes career-track manufacturing jobs to young people in low-income communities; Beth Dawson, director of the apprenticeship program at Manufacturing Works Cleveland where she connects manufacturers with Cleveland public schools students seeking career opportunities; Jordan Hooser, a recent graduate of Cleveland’s Max S. Hayes High School, who's working as an apprentice at WLS Stamping & Fabricating Co.; and Ryan Joseph, an industrial recruiter and regular contributor to SecurityInfoWatch.com and a recruiting at the Recruit Group.
A few weeks later, IndustryWeek News Editor Anna Smith discussed the challenges of women working in manufacturing engineering roles with Adrianna Swift, an engineer at instruments manufacturer Endress+Hauser, and Elizabeth Parra, then a process engineer at Subaru’s plant in Indiana.
Second Quarter: Collapsing Bridges and Regulatory Action
One of the biggest stories of the year happened at the tail end of the first quarter, and we discussed it in early April – a ship’s collision with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland. The resulting shutdown of Baltimore’s busy port snarled supply chains briefly. Discussing that topic were Ryan Curtiss, digital editor of Roads & Bridges; Anna Smith, news and supply chain editor of IndustryWeek; Rod Sutton, editor of Construction Equipment; Nicole Stempak, managing editor of EHS Today; Josh Fischer, editor-in-chief of FleetOwner.
In late April, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released several key rulings that could have long-lasting impacts on the chemical manufacturing industry. To discuss those issues, we gathered Lynn L. Bergeson with Bergeson & Campbell ; Jon Katz, executive editor of Chemical Processing; Andy Hanacek, senior editor of Food Processing; and Bob Crossen, editorial director for Water World and Endeavor Business Media's water group.
Third Quarter: What’s Up with AI and How’s the Economy Doing?
Generative AI was the tech story of 2024 with ChatGPT and others showing the mass market what manufacturers have known for decades – machine learning can transform operations. Despite many years of experience with other AI technologies, the growth of generative systems sparked new debate on how the industry would handle the latest systems. Discussing this were Scott Achelpohl, managing editor of IndustryWeek partner publication Smart Industry; Dale Tutt, vice president of Industry Strategy at Siemens; and Aaron Merkin, CTO of Fluke Corp.
As we edged closer to the election, much of the discussion of the U.S. economy had centered around large corporations and retail spending. Lost in that were the experiences of smaller manufacturers. Good thing that we know a bunch of those. IndustryWeek Senior Editor Laura Putre discussed the challenges facing smaller producers with Jack Schron, CEO of Jergens Inc., a maker of workholding equipment; and Blair Haas, CEO of Bud Industries, a maker of electrical enclosures for various pieces of equipment.
Fourth Quarter: A New President-Elect and Evaluating Which Technologies Produce Quick ROI
Donald J. Trump’s election in November spurred a giant, unanswerable question – what’s going to happen with global trade? Trump talked about enacting massive tariffs throughout the 2024 campaign, but the former and future president often uses those sorts of comments as public negotiating points – setting the parameters for trade negotiations that will likely take place over months or years. In this discussion, supply chain experts favored calm reflection, rather than immediate action, as we really still have no idea what impact Trump’s election will have on supply chains. Discussing this with IndustryWeek Executive Editor Jill Jusko were Jeremy Tancredi, partner in West Monroe's supply chain practice; Dan Swartz, international tax services principal, Crowe; and Gregory Husisian, partner at Foley & Lardner LLP.
IndustryWeek Senior Technology Editor Dennis Scimeca closed out the year with a radical question for a pair of manufacturing technology experts – which of the new production technologies discussed throughout 2024 really, you know, worked? Meaning, which ideas have the most potential to improve operations by cutting costs or boosting productivity. Joining Scimeca were Paul Miller, VP and principal analyst, Smart Manufacturing & Future Mobility, Forrester Research; and Ryan Martin, senior research director for Digital Transformation, ABI Research.
