This is an original article from NIST Manufacturing Innovation Blog.

While Fridays have always been a reason to celebrate, the first Friday of October is one that is near and dear to the MEP National Network^TM, as this year, Friday, October 1, is Manufacturing Day (MFG Day)!

Organizing your MFG Day events may have changed quite a bit in the last 18 months. Prioritizing safety, venue capacity constraints, and reduced corporate travel have presented real challenges for organizing manufacturing expos, conferences, factory tours, and other in-person traditional events.

Even in the 21st century when automation and digital disruption are all the rage, manufacturing productivity is still a people business. It’s not just about software, management theories, or even logic — people are a hybrid of reason and emotion and managing to optimize productivity and other metrics is as much about how people feel, as it is about what and how they think.

On the heels of the global pandemic comes yet another challenge for manufacturers to face: The coming of the “smart factory”. The factory that requires you to upskill your workers just to stay afloat and will leave you and your employees behind if you don’t start planning now. Right now.

This is an original article from JFF’s Center for Apprenticeship & Work-Based Learning.

What Is Work-Based Learning?

Work-based learning refers to meaningful training that takes place at work, usually under the direction of employer coaches and managers, and has been shown to produce high value for both companies and workers.

Cyber risk is a clear and present danger to manufacturers. The threat is real and the impact can be damaging to a manufacturer’s reputation, operations and finances. Is your company doing everything possible to prevent cyber attacks?

With more than 10,000 Baby Boomers entering retirement each day, organizations will spend more time contemplating how best to capture and retain departing talent. Combine this need with how quickly workforce, customer requirements, and buying behaviors are changing, you have a perfect talent retention storm.

If you don’t invest in risk management, it doesn’t matter what business you’re in, it’s a risky business. - Gary Cohn, American Business Leader IBM

2020 taught us two distinct things: organizations are capable of adapting to monumental change, and identifying and eliminating risks must be a central focus for survival. A risk management plan does not need to be extensive and complex. It does, however, need to be approached with a proactive mindset rather than a reactive one.

Part 8 of "The New Supply Chain" blog series by Mike Loquercio, Vice President of Supply Chain at Greenleaf Foods.

Like many of you, we see hope on the horizon with vaccines, schools moving back to in-person learning, restaurants beginning to see a path to success, and all the other “return to normal” practices! We can all envision getting back to the “blueprint” for 2021 – or should we?

Illinois machine shops are a critical component of the small and mid-sized manufacturing community and are the foundation of metal manufacturing supply chains. This sector is highly competitive, and success is dependent on understanding where you stand in comparison to your counterparts and identifying areas of improvement – a tool like benchmarking can provide powerful insights. IMEC is partnering with Gardner Intelligence and the Modern Machine Shop’s Top Shops Program to provide a fully-funded opportunity for forward-thinking machine shops to attain custom reports and benchmarking analysis of their current operations.