WIN’s First Event Is a Roaring Success
The inaugural “Empowering Women’s Leadership in Manufacturing” event was a smash hit.
What’s going on: The newly minted Women in National Association of Manufacturers—a group composed of women executives at NAM member companies—gathered for the first time last month at Johnson & Johnson’s World Headquarters in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
- Headlining the event were Johnson & Johnson Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Operations and Risk Officer (and NAM Board Chair) Kathy Wengel and Cornerstone Building Brands President and Chief Executive Officer (and NAM Executive Committee member) Rose Lee.
- NAM Executive Vice President of External Affairs Erin Streeter also spoke at the event, conducting a conversation with New Jersey State Senator Linda Greenstein, who is a co-chair of her state’s manufacturing caucus.
The background: WIN arose out of discussions among several women leaders on the NAM’s executive committee, including Wengel and Lee, who hosted introductory sessions at the NAM’s spring and fall board meetings. The goals of the new group include:
- Amplifying the voice of women leaders in manufacturing advocacy;
- Supporting professional growth for women in manufacturing; and
- Promoting the growth of women executives in NAM membership.
The word from Wengel: At the October event, the Johnson & Johnson leader paid homage to the women of J&J who led critical operations for the organization over 100 years ago.
- “During World War I, Edith H. led a team of 140 women—running J&J’s sterile suture manufacturing operation round-the-clock to meet demand for our products on the front lines,” Wengel said.
- “Yes, we’ve come a long, long way [since WWI],” she continued, “but all of us know there’s still so much more we want and need to accomplish.”
- “With WIN, we want to transform the industry as a whole—creating momentum for meaningful reforms to policy and corporate culture that support professional growth for all women in manufacturing.”
A conversation with Lee: After her speech kicking off the event and introducing WIN, Wengel conducted a dialogue with Cornerstone President and CEO Lee, who also stressed the importance of spotlighting women’s experiences in manufacturing.
- “For most of us it’s been a long and sometimes tough journey,” Lee said. “But once we get here, it can be easy for some of the hard realities of the journey to fade as we deal with day-to-day challenges of running our company, division, business or team.”
- “For WIN to be effective, we need to stay in touch with the front lines where we make our great products, and with what the customers want and need. We also need to support and lift up one another to be the most effective women in manufacturing today,” she added.
Why it’s important: “Our companies are better, our industry is better, the world is better when women are an equal part of the leadership team and decision-making process,” Wengel said. “Everybody wins when we have more women in manufacturing leadership positions.”
Get involved: If you are a female leader in manufacturing, WIN is eager to hear your perspective. Please take the survey here to tell us your views on supporting women throughout the industry.
Manufacturer Sentiment Declines
Manufacturer sentiment fell in the third quarter of this year, according to the NAM’s Q3 2024 Manufacturers’ Outlook Survey, out Wednesday.
What’s going on: Results of the survey, which was conducted Sept. 5–20, reflect “preelection uncertainty,” NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons said—but also larger economic concerns.
- “The good news is that there is something we can do about it,” said Timmons. “We will work with lawmakers from both parties to halt the looming tax increases in 2025; address the risk of higher tariffs; restore balance to regulations; achieve permitting and energy security; and ease labor shortages and supply chain disruptions.”
Key findings: Notable data points from the survey include the following:
- Some 62.9% of respondents reported feeling either somewhat or very positive about their business’s outlook, a decline from 71.9% in Q2.
- A weaker domestic economy was the top business challenge for those surveyed, with 68.4% of respondents citing it.
- Nearly nine out of 10 manufacturers surveyed agreed that Congress should act before the end of 2025 to prevent scheduled tax increases on manufacturers.
- The overwhelming majority—92.3%—said the corporate tax rate should remain at or below 21%, with more than 71% saying a higher rate would have a negative impact on their businesses.
- More than 72% said they support congressional action to lower health care costs through the reform of pharmacy benefit managers.
The last word: “When policymakers take action to create a more competitive business climate for manufacturers, we can sustain America’s manufacturing resurgence—and strengthen our can-do spirit,” Timmons said.
- “This administration and Congress—and the next administration and Congress—should take this to heart, put aside politics, personality and process and focus on the right policies to strengthen the foundation of the American economy.”
Solving the Talent Equation at the MI’s Workforce Summit
More than 300 leaders and experts gathered in Minneapolis last week to discuss the industry’s talent challenges, from hiring to training and retaining. The Manufacturing Institute’s annual Workforce Summit convened manufacturers, partners from education and training groups, philanthropy leaders and representatives from community-based organizations to share insights and brainstorm solutions.
The backdrop: With more than 500,000 open jobs in the industry, manufacturing leaders are intent on solving the talent equation.
- MI Chief Program Officer Gardner Carrick provided context for attendees. “For the last 7+ years, manufacturers have told the MI that the single biggest challenge they face is finding the right people to employ,” he said. “It is the crisis right in front of us.”
- Carrick urged attendees to “act now, because the system needs help.” However, he also noted that this crisis will take time to fix, saying that manufacturers should “be patient, but be committed.”
Quick insights: The participants brought many new ideas and fresh perspectives to the gathering. Here are some of the highlights:
- Recruitment and hiring: NTT DATA led a session on artificial intelligence technologies that can help with talent attraction, while other sessions focused on changing Americans’ perceptions of the industry and demonstrating that manufacturing is a “cool” field to work in.
- Retention: Mark Rayfield, CEO of Saint-Gobain North America and CertainTeed, highlighted the importance of culture as a retention tool, saying, “Culture is everything. Employees want to work for a place where they are respected.” In a separate session, Jill Wyant, president and CEO of Madison Air, shared why their cultural value of frontline obsession guides how they attract and retain their frontline employees.
- Training: One session focused on training frontline supervisors in methods that boost retention of frontline workers. Other sessions focused on using the FAME USA model (of combined accreditation and training) to cultivate talent for manufacturing facilities.
- Preparing the next generation: Ketchie Inc.’s Andy Silver spoke about the company’s Opportunity Knocks program, an unpaid internship program for high school students that offers real-world learning experience and mentorship. Programs like these can transform young people’s perceptions of the manufacturing industry and set them on rewarding career paths, as Silver noted.
Did you miss it? Don’t worry! There are plenty of ways to get involved in the solutions being driven by the MI, the NAM’s 501(c)3 workforce development and education affiliate.
- Check out the MI’s Solutions Center, a new initiative that will provide manufacturers innovative resources and opportunities to access solutions and best practices on how to tackle the challenges of recruiting, training and retaining talent in today’s competitive landscape. Attendees got a first look, but now we’re sharing it with everyone.
- Get updates directly from the MI on the latest workforce insights and receive information about registering for next year’s Workforce Summit in Charlotte, North Carolina, taking place Oct. 20–22, 2025.
- Want more labor data and insights? Sign up for the MI’s comprehensive Workforce in Focus newsletter to stay up to date on the latest workforce trends.
The last word: “The MI and manufacturers across the country are changing the narrative, raising awareness and finding new ways to get people in the door and retain them,” said MI President and Executive Director Carolyn Lee. “As we face workforce shortages and retention challenges, events like the MI’s Workforce Summit are necessary to help the industry share important insights and ensure the readiness of the future manufacturing workforce.”
AO Smith’s Water Heaters Drive Building Efficiency
At AO Smith, the name of the game is efficiency. Though the company produces an array of water heaters, boilers, storage tanks and water treatment and filtration equipment, one goal is the same for every product: It should do more with less. This is especially true for hydronic and water heating appliances as these are energy intensive.
“On average, water heating loads are 25–30% of a home or building’s carbon profile,” said AO Smith Corporate Vice President of Government, Regulatory and Industry Affairs Joshua Greene.
- “After space heating and cooling, water heating is the next largest energy load in a home or commercial building. If you’re concerned about your energy spend, using heat pump technology is the most efficient way in which to reduce the overall spend on those heating loads.”
Efficiency in action: Recently, one of the Milwaukee, Wisconsin–based company’s water heating products—the CHP-120 fully integrated heat pump water heater—was installed in a Hilton property in New Haven, Connecticut, the all-electric Hotel Marcel, which opened in 2022 in the former headquarters of the Armstrong Rubber Company. Unlike conventional water heaters, which generate heat directly, heat pumps use electricity to move heat around.
- Hotel Marcel is the sole U.S. hotel to earn the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Platinum status in a decade.
The differentiator: The CHP-120 is the only unitary (one-piece) commercial heat pump water heater on the market. Comparable items use a split system in which one part, the compressor, sits outside of the building.
- The design enables Hotel Marcel and other customers to put the entire unit inside in a single room and “get the benefit of taking moisture out of the air in that room, then get to use the hot water that’s in the tank afterward, for laundry and other uses,” Greene told us.
- “So, it’s essentially free hot water—and you’re bringing down the ambient air temperature and humidity, which helps offset energy that would have been needed to cool that area.”
Gaining popularity: Current heat pump water heater customers are mostly residential homeowners, but in the commercial market, the technology has been growing at a rapid pace, Greene continued, because the energy savings “go straight to companies’ bottom line.”
- “Many states now offer rebates to help offset the higher upfront costs of the technology. As a result, we’re starting to install commercial heat pump water heaters in restaurants, schools, [more] hotels, multifamily housing” and more.
- A single CHP-120 installed in an apartment building, for example, can support several apartments depending upon on-site conditions, Greene said.
Overcoming barriers: Of the millions of water heaters (gas and electric) sold each year by manufacturers in the U.S., fewer than 3% are heat pump water heaters, Greene said. The main reason: price.
- “The average all-in project cost of a heat pump water heater is from $3,000 to $6,000” in the residential market, he went on. From a residential standpoint, “the average all-in cost of a 45-gallon gas or electric unit is about $800. It’s that cost delta that’s been the main impediment—but they’re 300 to 400 times more efficient, so one will save you 70% on your bill every month.”
- In the commercial market, heat pump water heating project costs are much higher due to size and other variables, but the energy savings can be exponentially larger, Greene added.
Regulation changes: With state and federal regulations and rebates, incentivizing high-efficiency technologies, heat pump water heater adoption—which is already on the uptick—will likely rise in many states in the coming years, according to Greene.
- “Now with robust federal tax credits and home energy rebates, coupled with utility rebates, they’re slicing that $3,000 to $6,000 [price tag] in half, and in places like California, you can get 80% or more of the cost covered.”
- AO Smith expects to stay busy, Greene said with a laugh.
Coming up: What’s next for a company that, in its 150-year history, has been at least three different businesses—having gone from automotive-frame maker to energy sector steel product manufacturer to leading global water technology company?
- “You can certainly expect to see continued innovation,” said Greene. “Our company has transformed a few times over the past century, and we will continue to evolve, with a focus on water technology, while adhering to the guiding principles and values that the Smith family established 150 years ago.”
New DOD Loan to Fund “Critical Technologies” Manufacturing
The Defense Department’s Office of Strategic Capital is now accepting applications for flexible direct loans to build, expand and/or modernize “critical technologies” facilities (Federal Register).
- It’s also seeking input from companies and trade associations on the Defense Department’s loan program, via a Request for Information open through Oct. 22 (Federal Register).
What’s going on: The OSC’s credit program, launched Sept. 30, aims “to attract and scale private capital in industries and technologies that are critical to America’s national and economic security,” according to the Defense Department. This is part one of the application process.
- The financing is geared toward manufacturers that must spend significantly on industrial or specialty equipment to create new assembly lines in existing facilities.
- The money is also intended to help them cover “soft” expenses, such as factory preparation and installation, associated with critical technology projects.
Why it’s important: “The funding from this program could benefit manufacturers of all sizes that are working to expand their businesses and product lines in critical areas of the economy,” said NAM Director of Energy and Natural Resources Policy Mike Davin.
- The OSC loans offer flexible terms, a U.S. Treasury-comparable interest rate, long repayment periods and deferred payments.
Who’s eligible: Manufacturers within the 31 “Covered Technology Categories”— which include advanced manufacturing, cybersecurity, battery storage and spacecraft—are encouraged to apply.
- There is no company-size or employee-number threshold or limit, and manufacturers with existing federal grants are eligible.
Manufacturers Help Those Affected by Hurricane Helene
Within days of Hurricane Helene’s landfall, manufacturers were reaching out to help those who had been affected.
What’s going on: Companies from an array of industries are volunteering their resources, time and energy to getting storm victims essential items. Helene, which made landfall in Florida last Thursday, has killed at least 189 people and left more than 1.2 million customers without power (ABC News).
- Toyota is matching donation contributions made by its U.S.-based employees to the American Red Cross, disaster relief organization SBP and other nonprofits. The auto manufacturer is also offering payment relief options to those affected.
- Norfolk Southern Corp. has donated $100,000 to the American Red Cross, which is undertaking relief work across multiple states, including North Carolina, Florida, Georgia and Tennessee. The company’s Employee Disaster Relief Program is also giving employees affected by the storm grants for qualified expenses and losses.
- DENSO North America Foundation, the philanthropic group of global automotive components manufacturer DENSO, is donating $200,000 to the American Red Cross in support of disaster relief across southeastern states.
- Procter & Gamble’s Disaster Relief is partnering with Walmart and Matthew 25: Ministries, an international aid organization, in their recovery efforts in the hard-hit Florida cities of Perry and St. Petersburg. P&G resources will go toward a Tide Loads of Hope Mobile Laundry Unit, powered by Matthew 25: Ministries, to offer free, full-service laundry to responders and affected residents. Shower trailers with hot water will also be provided.
Additional resources: SBP and Good360 offer manufacturers disaster preparedness resources and training when natural disasters hit.
- “Hurricane Helene has been devastating, leaving many without access to power and vital resources,” NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons wrote in a social post Wednesday. “Manufacturers looking for recovery resources or looking to provide supplies can connect with SBP via sbpusa.org and Good360 via good360.org.”
Share your stories: Are you helping those affected by Helene? Tell us how by emailing [email protected].
Mapping the Impact of a Port Strike
Pharmaceuticals manufacturers are increasingly turning to radioactive drugs in their battle against cancers (CNBC). What’s going on: Eli Lily, Bristol Myers Squibb and others “have spent some $10 billion on deals to acquire or work with radiopharmaceuticals makers,” which produce drugs containing radioactive isotopes, predicting that the technology will be effective in treating multiple cancer types. How it works: Radiopharmaceutical “drugs work by attaching radioactive material to a targeting molecule that searches for and attaches to a specific marker on cancer cells. The trick is finding markers that exist on cancer cells but not healthy cells. That can allow the treatment to deliver radiation to cancer cells and spare the rest of the body from the level of damage that comes with many cancer drugs.” More interest: Though radiopharmaceuticals have been around since the 1940s, they’ve only begun drawing big interest in recent years. In-house production: Among the key criteria in Lilly’s search for a firm to acquire: “whether companies were prepared to manufacture the drugs,” according to Eli Lilly Executive Vice President and President of Lilly Oncology Jacob Van Naarden. Safety and speed are everything: Each dose of Novartis’ Pluvicto has a GPS tracker to make sure it goes to the correct patient at the correct time, said Victor Bulto, president of the U.S. unit for Novartis. That’s because the therapies are only good for a few days once made. Special considerations: Radiopharmaceuticals come with unique challenges. Big opportunity: Though full understanding of radiopharmaceuticals’ potential may be years away, “[i]f we can be successful in expanding the target and tumor type repertoire, this could be a very big class of medicines,” Van Naarden said. The search for alternatives to chemicals called PFAS has been going on for years. Recently, materials design company Techmer PM created one—a new chemical for use in polymer processing. The new solution: Last year, the Clinton, Tennessee–based manufacturer introduced the HiTerra T5—a polymer processing aid that helps maintain film surface smoothness and die-lip buildup—which replaces traditional chemistry based on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. Why it’s critical: In March, the EPA issued the first federal reporting limits and guidelines for tracking the use of PFAS in manufacturing, along with other PFAS-related regulations. Individual states are also imposing their own restrictions on PFAS chemicals. More replacement efforts: Techmer PM is working closely with its customers to come up with additional PFAS alternatives, McHenry said. Unrealistic timelines: While the firm is hard at work developing potential replacements, the stringent deadlines that the EPA has set for the reporting and potential elimination is damaging, McHenry told us. The long view: For many applications, dependable alternatives will likely be found at some point, McHenry concluded. Generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney have grabbed headlines, but artificial intelligence–driven innovations like digital twins, computer vision and robotics are also transforming manufacturing in America. Last week, the NAM briefed congressional staff from the House Task Force on AI to help educate policymakers on the role manufacturers are playing as both developers and deployers of AI technologies. The briefing follows the publication of the NAM’s first-of-its-kind white paper on the ways manufacturers are using AI. The briefing featured a panel discussion among AI experts from major manufacturers, as well as the AI leads from the NAM and the Manufacturing Leadership Council. Faster breakthroughs: AI is accelerating research and development at manufacturing companies, the panelists reported, allowing them to create or improve products in record time. Increased safety: AI is helping to prevent accidental collisions on the shop floor and enhancing equipment that makes tasks safer, such as robotic exoskeletons that collect and learn from data on the wearers’ movements and environment. Augmenting human labor: Manufacturers often use AI technology to complement and augment the work of humans, according to the panelists. Policy recommendations: Panelists discussed what Congress can do to support AI-driven growth in the manufacturing sector, including: The last word: “The future of manufacturing is inseparable from the future of AI,” said NAM Senior Director of Technology Policy Franck Journoud.Drug Makers Invest in Radiopharmaceuticals
Techmer PM Offers Safe Alternatives to PFAS for Manufacturers
The NAM Briefs Congress on AI