Manufacturing Leadership’s New “Critical Issues” Focus on Manufacturing 4.0

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Frost & Sullivan’s Manufacturing Leadership Council (MLC), a member-driven global business network for senior industrial executives, identified six new critical issues facing the manufacturing industry for the year ahead.

This year, the MLC’s Critical Issues Agenda is organized around the key theme, “The Journey to Manufacturing 4.0”.

“The MLC’s decision to embrace Manufacturing 4.0 as its direction for the future reflects a powerful ambition to use advanced technologies to take manufacturing to a new, game-changing level,”  said Co-founder, Global Vice President and Editorial Director of the Manufacturing Leadership Council, David R. Brousell. “The opportunity to use information to speed and tailor production, engage more intimately with customers, and create new products and services previously unimagined, is almost limitless. Now, the challenge for manufacturing executives is to lead their companies into this brighter future.”

Theme: The Journey to Manufacturing 4.0

The global manufacturing industry is entering an era of radical change. Driven by new transformative cyber-physical technologies, manufacturing companies around the world now envision a future state for the manufacturing industry that will change the rules of competition, how work will be performed, how companies will be organized, and how leadership must lead.

Characterized by highly intelligent, agile, information-driven factories able to respond rapidly to change, connected sensor networks and advanced data analytics, and entirely new, customized smart products and services, Manufacturing 4.0 promises to touch every function and aspect of the manufacturing enterprise – from the plant floor, to leadership roles and business models.

The MLC’s new Critical Issues Agenda is designed to help manufacturers align their thinking and practices for a successful journey to Manufacturing 4.0.

The six critical issues for 2015/2016, and their key areas of focus, are the following.

Factories of the Future

• Migration paths towards Manufacturing 4.0, from current production models to future state
• End-to-end digitization of manufacturing processes
• Agile and sustainable production models for Manufacturing 4.0

 Transformative Technologies in Manufacturing

• New developments in intelligent machines, the Internet of Things, Big Data, plant floor analytics, modelling and simulation, mobile, cloud and 3D printing technologies
• Transitional models for transformative new technologies
• The impact of transformative technologies on performance and the creation of new business models

The Innovative Manufacturing Enterprise

• Using design for manufacturing and product lifecycle management approaches to help drive innovation
• Managing collaborative innovation with employees, suppliers, external partners, customers and ‘the crowd’
• Integrating the role of manufacturing in business model innovations to deliver a successful customer experience

Cybersecurity in Manufacturing

• Cyber vulnerabilities, detection methodologies and security technologies in manufacturing operations
• Bridging the gap between IT and operations to improve manufacturing cybersecurity
• Cybersecurity best practice policies, training, behaviors and education in manufacturing

 Next Generation Manufacturing Leadership

• Future-focused leadership behaviors and mind sets
• Leadership planning and development at all levels
• Pioneering leadership role models for Manufacturing 4.0

 The Changing Manufacturing Workforce

• Attracting tomorrow’s workforce through advocacy and promoting manufacturing’s image
• Developing employee engagement strategies for a multi-generational, multi-cultural and multi-national workforce
• Reducing the skills gap, and identifying new skills for the future of manufacturing through education, apprenticeships and industry partnerships

The Manufacturing Leadership Council’s annual Critical Issues Agenda is the result of a unique member-driven process that identifies the most urgent and important issues facing the global manufacturing industry in the year ahead. It is based on extensive consultation with more than 200 senior executives and associate members of the Manufacturing Leadership Council and Board of Governors.

The new Critical Issues Agenda also establishes the Manufacturing Leadership Council’s strategic plan for the year, directly influencing all major elements of the Council’s research, content, events and services portfolio.

About The Manufacturing Leadership Council

The Manufacturing Leadership Council (MLC), part of Frost and Sullivan, is the world’s foremost member-driven, global business leadership network dedicated to senior executives in the manufacturing industry. The Council’s vision is to enable manufacturers to realize a better future by focusing on the intersection of critical business and technology issues that will drive growth for themselves, their organizations, and the industry at large. The MLC produces an extensive portfolio of leadership networking, information and professional development products, programs, and services   including the Manufacturing Leadership Community Website, an online global business network with over 7,400 members around the world; the Manufacturing Leadership Council, an invitation-only executive organization of over 200 members; the annual Manufacturing Leadership Summit; the annual Manufacturing Leadership Awards celebrating industry achievement and innovation; the thought-leading industry publication, the Manufacturing Leadership Journal; plus extensive social media communities reaching more than 30,000 industry professionals.

About Frost & Sullivan  

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants. Frost & Sullivan’s “Growth Partnership” supports clients by addressing these opportunities and incorporating two key elements driving visionary innovation: The Integrated Value Proposition and The Partnership Infrastructure.