When people and information connect 鈥� such as the 390+ manufacturing industry leaders at the event in Phoenix, Arizona, this April 鈥� it moves industry forward. Tom Sheridan, president of , summed up the event succinctly when he said, 鈥淲e come here for the content and the networking. The networking is phenomenal. You couldn't ask for a better group of people. The sharing of ideas is just incredible.鈥�
Produced by AMT 鈥� The Association For Manufacturing 都灵体育直播, in collaboration with The National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA), The MFG Meeting featured three days of presentations and events that delivered actionable information on the current economic, political, demographic, social, educational, and technological climate.
Newly elected AMT Chairman Daniel Janka, president of , noted that,鈥�淢anufacturers face many challenges today, including disrupted supply chains, a shortage of skilled labor, high inflation, and high interest rates, but with any challenge there comes opportunity, and AMT continues to provide its members with outstanding resources.鈥�
Addressing The MFG 2023 audience during welcome remarks, Roger Atkins, president of , said that 鈥淲hen I look out over this group, this is the backbone of U.S. manufacturing. What better group than the builders and the users in one room collaborating and looking forward to push manufacturing ahead.鈥�
AMT will provide in-depth reports from all MFG Meeting presentations in the coming weeks (see for a full listing). In the meantime, here are highlights of the event.
Day 1 Plant Tours
Wednesday, the first day of the three-day MFG Meeting, offered tours of , , and . Benjamin Moses, AMT senior director 鈥� technology, toured the Genuine Machine plant and commented that the tour provided 鈥渁 transparent look of aerospace and defense manufacturing. Company President Nate Ankrom was open about quality, on-time delivery, and growth. It was refreshing to see him note the challenges, then discuss a path and solution to improve productivity, both within operations and through technology 鈥� and he's willing to invest in both.鈥�
The Warm-Up Event
The Phoenix weather cooperated perfectly for a new MFG Meeting event held on the lush grounds of the Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass. 鈥淭he Warm-Up Show鈥� was hosted by鈥�,鈥�, and鈥�,鈥�.
Ziemba stated that, 鈥淟ittle things lead to massive movements,鈥� and proved her point with the power of a simple connection. In this case,鈥痩iterally two simple connection cables for a technical college鈥檚 robot that got damaged and rendered the robot unusable 鈥� and also literally a simple social media post about the problem that reached a representative who provided the school with the parts it needed.
Crowe coined one of the event鈥檚 more memorable phrases when he spoke about self-care, saying, 鈥淢ost conferences are just regular hotels, and there鈥檚 so much opportunity this week to give ourselves a break. We鈥檙e really hard on ourselves when fighting our industry鈥檚 workforce issues. But if we take a quick breather, we can look at problems as things that we can conquer. The location of this conference really sets the tone for finding different solutions.鈥�
Population Matters
Demographer and author delivered Thursday鈥檚 keynote address, emphasizing the value of using demography data to project the future.
鈥淵our interests are joined at the hip with populations. What do you need to know to dispel an anxiety? You need to know how big your end user markets are,鈥� Gronbach said. He noted Harley-Davidson鈥檚 business declined because it failed to look ahead. 鈥淏aby boomers aged out of their demographics because they couldn鈥檛 hold [1,000-lb. bikes] up at the lights anymore.鈥�
He cites one cause of the current workforce challenge as a combination of huge numbers of Baby Boomers (1946 鈥� 1964) retiring and Generation X (1965 鈥� 1980) being so small. But relax, says Gronbach, because the combination of Millennials and Generation Z is huge. 鈥淒o you realize that in 2024, we will have 170 million people under 40 years old? They鈥檙e going to move out of their parents鈥� homes. They鈥檙e going to throw away all those trophies they didn鈥檛 deserve. They鈥檙e going to start households and families, and yes, they will consume products.鈥�
Recession?
Economist Alan Beaulieu, president of , delivered Friday鈥檚 keynote address and braced the audience with the word recession straight away.
鈥淏eginning late this year, we鈥檙e going to slip into recession,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t will be milder than normal, but it will impact a lot of industries. [It] will last until late 2024, and then we鈥檒l be back on the upswing in 2025.鈥�
Beaulieu advised listeners to dismiss upcoming mainstream media reports on GDP 鈥渂ecause next year is a presidential election year, the media is going to go crazy when the economy looks like it is cratering. Both parties are going to blame each other. There鈥檚 going to be all kinds of vitriolic speeches. It鈥檚 just going to be madness, and I鈥檒l show you why [the recession is] going to be very mild and measured.鈥�
During the slowdown, 鈥淚t will be a good time to look at yourself and say, 鈥淲hat do we need to change? And if you don鈥檛 know what needs to be changed, then ask the Millennials working for you, because they鈥檙e more than happy to tell you what you're doing wrong.鈥�
To be prepared for the 2025 upswing, he advises those involved with consumer goods to automate, noting that, 鈥淐onsumers are in fundamentally good shape.鈥�
Next, 鈥淵ou want to look at what technology do you need? Are there things that are holding you back because you don鈥檛 want to spend money? This is a perfect time to spend money, because anything you鈥檙e going to do to make your business better is only going to cost more鈥� after 2025.
Al Moore Award
The MFG Meeting culminated with a dinner dance event and the presentation of the to Rick Kline Sr., chairman and CEO of . He has been at the helm for more than 40 years, growing the company into a preeminent provider of manufacturing technology magazines and digital content leaders.
鈥淎s part of this role [as publisher], I have learned that I shine the brightest when it is the reflected light of those who I work with,鈥� Kline Sr says. (). 鈥淢any of you are members of AMT. You are always in our minds as an important part of our audience. You are at the heart of American manufacturing and are critical for our country鈥檚 future. We hope we are helping you be more competitive, more sustainable, and more profitable.鈥�
Stride and Swing The MFG Meeting provides attendees with opportunities to connect during several fun events, including the Miles for Manufacturing 5K run on Friday morning, which had 67 registered runners and two virtual runners. The event raised $17,570 ($15,500 in , $2,190 in runner registration fees and fees from four participants in the Miles for Manufacturing mountain bike adventure in the afternoon). Winner Brooke Willis finished the 5K in 25:12, with her husband Ty Willis crossing in third place at 26:12. AMT鈥檚 Customer Engagement Manager Jordan Marks finished second at 25:22.
Since the Miles for Manufacturing event started at IMTS 2014, the event has raised $194,206.91, and every dollar has gone to STEM schools, FIRST Robotics and VEX Robotics teams, and community-based organizations that champion under-served students.
The Friday afternoon golf event had 74 players sign up for 18 holes at the Whirlwind Golf Club at Wild Horse Pass. The event鈥檚 primary sponsors were and , as well as , , , , and .
Playing best ball rules (or perhaps sneaking Master鈥檚 winner Jon Rahm into their foursome), the first place team of Steve Lesnewich, Rick Bauer, Matt Lindgren, and Mark Smith finished with 62. Second place with 65 were Dave Smith, Brad Haas, Lee Morris, and Eric Hagopian; third place with 66 were AJ Schaeper, John Dalrymple, Scott Karmer, and Daniel Jacobs.
Networking
Following each day鈥檚 business events, evenings during the MFG Meeting featured dinner and social events that encouraged attendees to connect with new people.
鈥淭he diversity of everybody that contributes to the manufacturing field is awesome,鈥� says Ty Willis, business development manager . 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 know what seat you鈥檙e going to sit in and be in front of somebody of influence within the manufacturing community, and it鈥檚 really cool because that keeps it exciting. You just don鈥檛 know what kind of conversations you鈥檙e going to have, but you have to be open for them. I've had some valuable conversations and am hopeful of making some deep relationships.鈥�
First-time attendee Shri Muthu, co-founder and CTO of , agreed. 鈥淚t feels like a very tight knit group,鈥� he says. His start-up firm is a San Francisco-based B2B digital marketplace re-imagining how small- and medium-sized businesses source equipment. 鈥淚 have a really good impression of The MFG meeting. We met so many great people from machine tool builders, distributors, media communities, and people building some cool software products.鈥�
