Patricia Panchak

Editor-in-Chief
IndustryWeek

 

Focus: Competitiveness & Public Policy

Email: ppanchak@industryweek.com

Follow on Twitter: @PPanchakIW

Call 216-931-9252

In her commentary and reporting for IndustryWeek, Editor-in-Chief Patricia Panchak covers world-class manufacturing industry strategies, best practices and public policy issues that affect manufacturers’ competitiveness. She delivers news and analysis—and reports the trends--in tax, trade and labor policy; federal, state and local government agencies and programs; and judicial, executive and legislative actions. As well, she shares case studies about how manufacturing executives can capitalize on the latest best practices to cut costs, boost productivity and increase profits.

As editor, she directs the strategic development of all IW editorial products, including the magazine, IndustryWeek.com, research and information products, and executive conferences.

An award-winning editor, Panchak received the 2004 Jesse H. Neal Business Journalism Award for Signed Commentary and helped her staff earn the 2004 Neal Award for Subject-Related Series. She also has earned the American Business Media’s Midwest Award for Editorial Courage and Integrity.

Patricia holds bachelor’s degrees in Journalism and English from Bowling Green State University and a master’s degree in Journalism from Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. She lives in Cleveland Hts., Ohio, with her family.  

Articles by Patricia Panchak
The Manufacturer's Agenda: Building a Robust Industrial Ecosystem
IndustryWeek has long asserted that manufacturing production is a source of competitiveness for companies and the countries in which they reside.
The Manufacturer's Agenda: The First -- and Most Important -- Step to Solving Any Problem 1
The more I research the problems that bedevil U.S. manufacturers and try to find and share the stories of companies that are solving them, the more I appreciate lean management principles.
The Manufacturer's Agenda: How to Improve Plant Productivity, Profitability, Innovation and Growth
Just in time for our annual announcement of the 2012 IndustryWeek Best Plants Award winners, the United States Census Bureau released the findings of its first-ever survey of American management practices.
Manufacturing Hall of Fame: Meet the Class of 2012 Gallery
Discover what it takes to achieve manufacturing leadership excellence. Read about the accomplishments of the IndustryWeek Manufacturing Hall of Fame Honorees -- and learn the skills and characteristics that drove their success: integrity, innovation, customer focus, leadership and strategy, and continuous improvement.
The Manufacturer's Agenda: When IW Talks about Manufacturing, We Mean Business
Read this to get the true definition of manufacturing.
The Manufacturer's Agenda: Why We Need a Better Definition of 'Advanced Manufacturing'
We can’t afford to allow underinvestment in manufacturing to continue—and properly defining and measuring “advanced manufacturing” is a critical step in setting the right course for the future.
The Manufacturer's Agenda: Debating the Merits of a National Manufacturing Strategy
As a follow-up to my last column on strategic planning and execution (oversimplifying strategy to the point that planning and execution is shortchanged), I'm going to tread, gingerly, into a discussion about the merits of implementing a national manufacturing strategy. In doing so, I’ll highlight another area where manufacturers' strategic initiatives can go awry.
The Manufacturer's Agenda: In Leading Change, There are No Easy Solutions
Watching the coverage of the political conventions and presidential campaigns, I'm struck by the duality of the messages. Not the stark difference between the candidates' proposals, or that the two parties can look at the same fact and derive divergent meaning. But by the idea that even as they acknowledge there are no simple solutions, they both propose what often seems like, well, very simplistic solutions.
Of Manufacturing and NASA's Mars Curiosity Mission 2

Many people view the Curiosity’s successful landing on Mars as a scientific breakthrough, but I view it as a manufacturing marvel. Without a strong manufacturing sector, the United States would never have been able to land the SUV-sized, robotic laboratory on the distant planet.

Manufacturing by the Numbers

If you had any doubts about the size, strength and diversity of U.S. manufacturing, take a look at our coverage of the 2012 IndustryWeek U.S. 500 online at www.industryweek.com/iw500-2012. There you'll find IW's ranking, by revenue, of America's largest public manufacturers -- a who's who of companies that in 2011 generated $556.9 billion of profit, on $6.01 trillion in revenue -- an increase of 17.2% over 2010.

Not bad for an economic sector that's often cited as dead or dying.

Manufacturing's Muddled Message on the Skilled Worker Shortage
We've struggled for years to close the skills gap. Could it be that we don't fully understand the problem?
Solving the Root Cause of Manufacturing's Skilled Worker Shortage
Industry executives must change how they view and lead production workers.
Deliver Higher Productivity with Smarter Workforce Practices
With the effective cost of labor evening out between China and the U.S., manufacturers must find other ways to improve productivity and reduce costs. One way: leverage production personnel.
C-Level Executives Deploy Continuous Improvement as a Growth Strategy
Long thought to be the province of the plant floor, lean and Six Sigma have moved to the executive suite.
Lessons from Decades of Global Competition
Learning to live with -- and compete against -- state-supported industry.

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