The labor shortage is one the of greatest challenges facing the industry. To solve it will require a sustained effort from leaders across all sectors of the manufacturing industry and beyond. In this session, Mark Rayfield, CEO of Saint-Gobain North America, will discuss today’s manufacturing labor shortage and how companies can address this challenge by tapping into the next-generation workforce. He will offer insight from Saint-Gobain’s own workforce development programs and discuss how manufacturers can truly propel the next generation of talent into skilled jobs in the industry.

Built with mettle, focused on family, filled with lifelong resilience, Lodge Cast Iron has a lot in common with the popular cookware it manufactures. From humble beginnings in South Pittsburg, Tennessee, Lodge Cast Iron has thrived for 125 years all while maintaining its reputation for quality products and innovation. Today, a total of 556 people are employed in the Lodge family. 

As the oldest manufacturer of cast iron cookware in America, Lodge doesn’t just make cast iron; they make heirlooms that bring people together for generations. From classic skillets and a new bakeware line to Blacklock triple seasoned™cookware and enameled cast iron, each individual piece of cookware is handled with careful care and attention as it represents a gift from our family’s table to yours. 

Branch Technology is a prefabrication and technology compnay that specializes in large-scale 3D printing. They offer a patented 3D printing process called Cellular Fabrication, C-Fab®. This unique printing method allows material to solidify in open space, creating a matrix of polymer in virtually any shape. We bring unprecedented design freedom and resource stewardship to next-generation wall systems.  

The ultimate goal for smart manufacturing is an autonomously controlled factory. 5G can finally deliver this by allowing tens of thousands of machines, robots and products to be connected to the same network at higher speeds than ever before.

According to McKinsey & Company, the GDP impact of connectivity in manufacturing could reach $400 billion to $650 billion by the decade’s end. But what about the challenges enterprises will face as they look to build out these networks? Are 5G networks really going to transform IIoT, or are they only going to offer revenue opportunities for the operators?

In this session, Qualcomm’s Dr. Xiaoxia Zhang will discuss what today’s manufacturers need to know about 5G deployment and how to prepare for the changes it will bring to their industry in the coming years. Among other topics, attendees will learn about the key role 5G will play in eliminating the cumbersome bundles of Ethernet cables that litter their factory floors and connect the machines wirelessly to the cloud, and how to decide whether now is the time to invest in 5G.

Ford Motor Company is leveraging over 115 years of continuous improvement practices, built on a foundation of standardized work, to transform into a globally scaled digital operations ecosystem. Mike Mikula, global chief engineer, will discuss how Ford is pursuing new ways to use advanced technology to maintain Ford’s position as an industry leader in lean manufacturing.

The COVID-19 crisis taught the manufacturing industry many lessons—it demonstrated the power and importance of communication across the business and across the supply chain, it tested the ability of automation and IoT systems to maintain output and stability in unstable times, and it revealed just how essential the industry truly is.

The challenge now is to identify how these lessons will guide manufacturers into 2021 and into the post-COVID future.

To do this, we have assembled a panel of manufacturing leaders from across the industry who will discuss the short- and long-term impacts this pandemic will have on the people, processes, and technologies central to manufacturing recovery and success.