Research, Innovation and Technology

Businesses “that provide tools, chemicals and other supplies for the semiconductor industry” may now apply for a piece of the funds set aside in last year’s CHIPS and Science Act, according to The Wall Street Journal (subscription).

What’s going on: Late last week, the Biden administration announced broadened eligibility for companies capable of using federal subsidies to increase chip production in the U.S.

• Last year’s legislation, which the NAM championed, earmarked $39 billion for the purpose.
• In February, the Commerce Department’s CHIPS Program Office began “accept[ing] applications for the construction, expansion, or modernization of semiconductor materials and manufacturing equipment facilities for which the total capital investment equals or exceeds $300 million,” according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which is part of Commerce.

Why it’s important: “‘We can have as many fabs [chip plants] as we want, but the reality is, we also need the supply chain—the chemicals, the material, the tools that go into those fabs,’ Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said at a briefing,” according to the Journal.

Lots of interest: Nearly 400 businesses across 37 states have signaled their interest in receiving funds under this latest phase.

• “The department is already accepting full applications for the C[HIPS] Act funding from companies with plans to build facilities for leading-edge semiconductors, and will soon accept submissions from companies that plan to build chips that are currently state-of-the-art or older.”
• Suppliers may begin submitting applications this fall, but the administration has not yet said when the funds will be disbursed.

When Mary Andringa arrived at NAM headquarters on Wednesday, she expected a tour of the renovated office. Instead, the former NAM Board chair was surprised by an applauding crowd who gathered for the ribbon-cutting for one of the NAM’s meeting rooms, now named the Mary Andringa Room in commemoration of her decades-long service to manufacturers in the U.S. The NAM’s conference rooms are named for many luminaries of manufacturing, including Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison, the Wright Brothers, Jonas Salk and Marie Curie.

“I was absolutely overwhelmed, humbled and honored,” Andringa said.

A longtime supporter: Now chair emeritus of Vermeer Corporation—a family-owned, midsized manufacturer of industrial and agricultural machines in Pella, Iowa—Andringa served as NAM Board chair from 2011 to 2013 and has been an active participant on the NAM Board since the early 2000s.

• Andringa found her experience as NAM Board chair deeply meaningful, remarking on the close relationship she developed with NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons, who was also newly appointed in 2011.
• “It was a really great experience because I had a few years under my belt as CEO [of Vermeer],” Andringa said, “and I could share best practices with Jay. It was great to see how he took initiative and dug into some areas that needed more cooperation, like the NAM’s partnerships with state associations.”

Visiting the Hill: Andringa said she “enjoyed being a voice for manufacturing” in meetings on the Hill and with several administrations.

• Whether advocating against compliance regulations that created needless hardship for manufacturers, or for removing trade barriers impeding U.S. exports, Andringa stressed that she always made her case to policymakers on both sides of the aisle.
• “The NAM tries to be the voice of reason. … It has done a good job connecting with both parties and whoever is in the White House,” she said.

Read the full story here.

Artificial intelligence is transforming manufacturing, and federal policies shouldn’t get in the way, NAM Director of Human Resources and Innovation Policy Julia Bogue told the Department of Commerce last week.

Four key areas: Manufacturers are chiefly concerned about AI in four areas.

• Safety: “AI is broadly used in the factory setting to prevent injury by making tasks safer,” Bogue pointed out. “AI is also used to prevent future injury by studying repetitive movement that could lead to torn rotator cuffs, wear on knee cartilage and other injuries caused over time.”
• Training: AI is also revolutionizing training for workers, teaching them how to complete tasks and learn new procedures while on the job.
• Efficiency: AI aids efficiency in a number of ways, including through predictive maintenance for manufacturing equipment. It can predict when a part will need to be replaced, so that maintenance can be scheduled at the least disruptive time. “An example of this is utilizing AI to monitor fan vibration to calculate when the fan will need to be replaced,” Bogue noted.
• Product design and development: “AI can be used to make products safer, improve quality and improve efficiency,” Bogue said.

Regulations: “Regulation should not restrict innovation or competitiveness, as the NAM believes the growth of AI represents an opportunity for manufacturers,” said Bogue. Manufacturers understand the need for careful, smart regulation, she added.

• In a recent survey by the Manufacturing Leadership Council (the NAM’s digital transformation arm), 75.9% of survey respondents said that “manufacturers should adopt a code of ethics or conduct” for the use of AI.

How to do it: The federal government should tailor its regulations to different sectors, evaluating the risks of particular use cases instead of applying a single standard, said Bogue.

• As the agency conducts its analysis, it should also consider that “our present understanding of risks, costs and benefits may be limited because technology lends itself to future unanticipated breakthroughs and applications.” 

Further reading: Interested in learning how manufacturers can apply AI technologies to their operations? Connect with the MLC to learn more—and consider signing up for its annual conference, Rethink, coming up soon on June 26–28 in Marco Island, Florida. Virtual attendance is also an option!

Artificial intelligence is transforming manufacturing, and federal policies shouldn’t get in the way, NAM Director of Human Resources and Innovation Policy Julia Bogue told the Department of Commerce last week.

Four key areas: Manufacturers are chiefly concerned about AI in four areas.

• Safety: “AI is broadly used in the factory setting to prevent injury by making tasks safer,” Bogue pointed out. “AI is also used to prevent future injury by studying repetitive movement that could lead to torn rotator cuffs, wear on knee cartilage and other injuries caused over time.”
• Training: AI is also revolutionizing training for workers, teaching them how to complete tasks and learn new procedures while on the job
• Efficiency: AI aids efficiency in a number of ways, including through predictive maintenance for manufacturing equipment. It can predict when a part will need to be replaced, so that maintenance can be scheduled at the least disruptive time. “An example of this is utilizing AI to monitor fan vibration to calculate when the fan will need to be replaced,” Bogue noted.
• Product design and development: “AI can be used to make products safer, improve quality and improve efficiency,” Bogue said.

Regulations: “Regulation should not restrict innovation or competitiveness, as the NAM believes the growth of AI represents an opportunity for manufacturers,” said Bogue. Manufacturers understand the need for careful, smart regulation, she added.

• In a recent survey by the Manufacturing Leadership Council (the NAM’s digital transformation arm), 75.9% of survey respondents said that “manufacturers should adopt a code of ethics or conduct” for the use of AI.

How to do it: The federal government should tailor its regulations to different sectors, evaluating the risks of particular use cases instead of applying a single standard, said Bogue.

• As the agency conducts its analysis, it should also consider that “our present understanding of risks, costs and benefits may be limited because technology lends itself to future unanticipated breakthroughs and applications.”

Further reading: Interested in learning how manufacturers can apply AI technologies to their operations? Connect with the MLC to learn more—and consider signing up for its annual conference, Rethink, coming up soon on June 26–28 in Marco Island, Florida. Virtual attendance is also an option!

In an interview with Nick Pinchuk, you will start with JFK, meander through Ralph Waldo Emerson and the New Testament, meet Mother Teresa along the way and find out only at the end that he helped send the Viking probe to Mars. And let’s not forget another achievement: he delivered his own child in the backseat of the family car.

The Snap-on chairman and CEO, an executive committee member and stalwart supporter of the NAM, sat down for a very wide-ranging interview with NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons at the NAM’s recent board meeting, at which he received the Manufacturing Icon Award. Here are some of the highlights.

Starting with Kennedy: When asked how he got into manufacturing, Pinchuk cites Kennedy’s 1961 speech promising that the U.S. would put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Pinchuk was one of the “millions of young people” who pursued STEM careers because Kennedy inspired them, he said.

• He then found himself shipped to Vietnam after a stint in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. His experience in the army later helped launch him into management at Ford, when the company was looking for someone who could “run something 24 hours a day”—just as he had in Vietnam.
• He “parlayed” that experience into a business degree, then rose fast in two other organizations—United Technologies and Carrier. His experience in Vietnam helped a second time, leading Carrier to choose him to run its Asia operations.
• Finally, Snap-on came calling, looking for someone with international experience. “On a day in which the board of directors likely had too much wine,” Pinchuk joked, “they decided to give me the CEO job.” 

The life lesson? “I probably am sitting here because I went to Vietnam. It could never have been planned.” Pinchuk said. “I’ve made friends in many countries. I’ve opened factories. I’ve met two canonized saints of the Catholic Church and actually a lot of presidents. They weren’t part of a life plan. They were opportunities that arose in which I was prepared and privileged to participate.”

• And here’s another thing he didn’t exactly plan: while driving his wife to the hospital at 4:30 a.m. after she went into labor, he found himself forced to “pull into an empty parking lot and run around, open the door and play catch.” 

Purpose: Timmons and Pinchuk discussed the necessity of upskilling the workforce, and in the course of explaining why a sense of purpose is so important to workers, Pinchuk mentioned the time he met Mother Teresa.

• “I talked to her, and she said a bunch of things to me that changed my life. She said, here’s an example that might be useful to you. I was walking down a street with some of my sisters and a beggar got up from the curb.”
• “This was someone I would usually consider to be the subject or focus of my mission to help. The beggar walked over and gave me a coin of little value. And she said, you know why? It’s because he could find respect in the fact that he helped Mother Teresa. Purpose. Purpose is everything.”

On strategy: When asked about his successful 20 years at Snap-on, Pinchuk said, “I believe that an organization’s strategy best emanates from what actually works for it. And so if you understand what works for you, what’s inherent in the DNA and the capabilities of the people, then you say to yourself, ‘Well, that should be my strategy.’”

• “We have people who send me pictures of small Snap-on toolboxes with ashes of their loved ones in them because the loved ones believed that among the most important things in their lives were Snap-on tools,” he continued. “We cannot break that faith.”
• “Therefore, we have to know who we are. And, that is, we are those who give working men and women the means, through the use of Snap-on tools, to declare they’re doing something special and to signify the pride they have in their profession. Making Snap-on worthy of that belief is the core of our strategy.”

The last word: Timmons concluded the conversation by thanking Pinchuk for his support of the NAM and the Manufacturing Institute, saying, “We’re so grateful for your unwavering service to the NAM and your industry. You’re a true model for business leaders in America.”

Yesterday, NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons announced recent changes to the organization’s leadership team.

Newhouse to senior advisor: Last month, NAM Senior Vice President Aric Newhouse announced he would step back from his day-to-day management responsibilities of the policy and government relations teams on July 1. Newhouse will now serve the NAM as a senior advisor.

Aligning advocacy: Managing Vice Presidents Chris Netram and Jordan Stoick, respectively, will lead the NAM’s best-in-class policy team and government relations team. To further combine the strengths of the NAM’s government relations, public affairs and communications operations, Stoick and Netram will report to NAM Executive Vice President Erin Streeter.

• Over the past few years, Streeter has led engagement with all of the NAM’s external stakeholders, overseeing advocacy campaigns and key relationships with the White House and members of Congress, while continuing her leadership of communications, marketing and brand reputation.
• “I’m excited about what this means to further integrating our advocacy efforts,” said Timmons following the announcement. “These changes will elevate the leadership and expertise of our best-in-class policy professionals.”

Membership:  NAM Chief of Staff Alyssa Shooshan will take on the role of senior vice president of membership in addition to her current roles of overseeing the executive office and the board initiatives teams. Jeff Pierce will increase his focus on sponsorships, issue advocacy development and new member growth as the senior vice president of strategic development. Pierce’s leadership has been instrumental in the rapid growth of sponsorships and other new revenue streams, and he will continue to lead their expansion.

• These changes bring the membership and board initiatives teams into closer alignment. They also recognize the demand from NAM members to grow operational and thought leadership programming.

The last word: “As Aric steps back after 16 years, he leaves a record of accomplishment widely recognized by his peers in the association community,” said Timmons. “From being named CEO Update’s Association Lobbyist of the Year in 2016, to The Hill naming him a ‘top lobbyist’ for many years, to his most recent inclusion in Washingtonian Magazine’s Top 500 Influential list, his wisdom, influence and bipartisan approach are legendary.”

• “There are two things any high-performing organization looks to achieve in these moments of change: continuity and improvement. And that’s what this leadership will deliver—to continue advancing the competitiveness of manufacturers in the United States.”

Yesterday, NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons announced recent changes to the organization’s leadership team.

Newhouse to senior advisor: Last month, NAM Senior Vice President Aric Newhouse announced he would step back from his day-to-day management responsibilities of the policy and government relations teams on July 1. Newhouse will now serve the NAM as a senior advisor.

Aligning advocacy: Managing Vice Presidents Chris Netram and Jordan Stoick, respectively, will lead the NAM’s best-in-class policy team and government relations team. To further combine the strengths of the NAM’s government relations, public affairs and communications operations, Stoick and Netram will report to NAM Executive Vice President Erin Streeter.

• Over the past few years, Streeter has led engagement with all of the NAM’s external stakeholders, overseeing advocacy campaigns and key relationships with the White House and members of Congress, while continuing her leadership of communications, marketing and brand reputation.
• “I’m excited about what this means to further integrating our advocacy efforts,” said Timmons following the announcement. “These changes will elevate the leadership and expertise of our best-in-class policy professionals.”

Membership:  NAM Chief of Staff Alyssa Shooshan will take on the role of senior vice president of membership in addition to her current roles of overseeing the executive office and the board initiatives teams. Jeff Pierce will increase his focus on sponsorships, issue advocacy development and new member growth as the senior vice president of strategic development. Pierce’s leadership has been instrumental in the rapid growth of sponsorships and other new revenue streams, and he will continue to lead their expansion.

• These changes bring the membership and board initiatives teams into closer alignment. They also recognize the demand from NAM members to grow operational and thought leadership programming.

The last word: “As Aric steps back after 16 years, he leaves a record of accomplishment widely recognized by his peers in the association community,” said Timmons. “From being named CEO Update’s Association Lobbyist of the Year in 2016, to The Hill naming him a ‘top lobbyist’ for many years, to his most recent inclusion in Washingtonian Magazine’s Top 500 Influential list, his wisdom, influence and bipartisan approach are legendary.”

• “There are two things any high-performing organization looks to achieve in these moments of change: continuity and improvement. And that’s what this leadership will deliver—to continue advancing the competitiveness of manufacturers in the United States.”

UL Solutions broke ground on its North America Advanced Battery Laboratory in Auburn Hills, Michigan, yesterday—with the NAM in attendance! The new facility will offer testing and certification for EVs and industrial batteries, a crucial step in establishing EV-ecosystem hubs.

How will AI change the work you and your employees do? The Manufacturing Leadership Council—the digital transformation arm of the NAM—is helping manufacturing leaders figure out the opportunities created by new generative AI technologies, including ChatGPT.

Recently, the MLC held a Decision Compass discussion to help manufacturers learn how to take advantage of these new tools safely and effectively.

The participants: The conversation was led by two members of West Monroe’s Center of Excellence for AI: Ryan Elmore and David McGraw. Elmore and McGraw shared their expertise and addressed questions from manufacturers throughout the call.

The use cases: AI is a diverse and complex tool that is likely to have a lasting impact on manufacturers across the United States. According to McGraw and Elmore, there are a range of applications for the technology, from supply chain optimization and production planning to predictive maintenance issues. 

The workforce impact: According to Elmore, AI will also transform the manufacturing workforce.

• Some roles that involve repetitive tasks like data processing could be adjusted or eliminated, while some new jobs will be created around tasks like prompt engineering, which ensures AI programs deliver the most useful and accurate results. Most importantly, however, existing jobs will likely be modified to account for new tools.
• “Some are going to go away, some are going to be created, but the vast majority is going to change mentality, change infrastructure, change the way we work,” said Elmore.

Prompting success: Elmore and McGraw emphasized that the key to using generative AI effectively is developing useful prompts. How you ask AI programs for information, and what data you provide, will determine the quality of the output. They provided a few broad guidelines:

• Keep it simple: Your prompts should be detailed, precise and as succinct as possible.
• Data matters: The better and more detailed your data, the better your output will be.
• Keep it human: Generative AI still requires a human to determine the reliability of the output. Manufacturers shouldn’t plan to use outputs blindly without keeping a human in the loop.
• Share safely: Assume anything you put into AI that is not behind a paywall is not private. Only use data that you’re comfortable with others viewing.
• Follow up: If you receive outputs that don’t make sense, or that indicate some sort of failure, ask the program for more context and problem solving to assess whether the output is accurate or beneficial.

Safety first: AI can also be used in negative ways—for example, by cyber attackers attempting to gain private information from you using software that mimics the voice of someone you know.

• Elmore and McGraw emphasized that manufacturers using AI should consider providing trainings so employees can recognize and guard against safety issues.

The last word: “I think most importantly, you’re only limited to your imagination,” said McGraw. “There’s really a lot of use cases that can be solved with this technology.”

Learn more: Want to find out more about how digital tools are changing manufacturing? The MLC will delve deeper into these issues at this year’s Rethink Summit, taking place June 26–28 in Marco Island, Florida. Learn more and register here.

How will AI change the work you and your employees do? The Manufacturing Leadership Council—the digital transformation arm of the NAM—is helping manufacturing leaders figure out the opportunities created by new generative AI technologies, including ChatGPT.

Recently, the MLC held a Decision Compass discussion to help manufacturers learn how to take advantage of these new tools safely and effectively.

The participants: The conversation was led by two members of West Monroe’s Center of Excellence for AI: Ryan Elmore and David McGraw. Elmore and McGraw shared their expertise and addressed questions from manufacturers throughout the call.

The use cases: AI is a diverse and complex tool that is likely to have a lasting impact on manufacturers across the United States. According to McGraw and Elmore, there are a range of applications for the technology, from supply chain optimization and production planning to predictive maintenance issues.

The workforce impact: According to Elmore, AI will also transform the manufacturing workforce.

• Some roles that involve repetitive tasks like data processing could be adjusted or eliminated, while some new jobs will be created around tasks like prompt engineering, which ensures AI programs deliver the most useful and accurate results. Most importantly, however, existing jobs will likely be modified to account for new tools.
• “Some are going to go away, some are going to be created, but the vast majority is going to change mentality, change infrastructure, change the way we work,” said Elmore.

Learn more: Want to find out more about how digital tools are changing manufacturing? The MLC will delve deeper into these issues at this year’s Rethink Summit, taking place June 26–28 in Marco Island, Florida. Learn more and register here.

Read the full story here.