In Defense of Manufacturing Extension Partnerships; TE Connectivity Embraces AI Kaizens: IndustryWeek's Weekly Review
Key Highlights
- TE Connectivity successfully implemented AI kaizens, expanding leadership's technological toolbox and demonstrating tangible manufacturing gains.
- The Senate's 'Defend American Manufacturing Act' aims to protect vital Manufacturing Extension Partnerships from political and administrative threats.
- Organizations should be cautious of disconnects in their lean initiatives, as signs of shallow problem solving can indicate potential failure.
- Reshoring efforts face hurdles due to immigration policy bottlenecks, emphasizing the need for immigrant workers rather than work permit chaos.
Welcome back to the first "typical" IndustryWeek's Weekly Review in a while, and by "typical," we mean that it is the first edition in a few weeks to address the past seven days of popular content. Due to several holidays, we've recently had Weekly Reviews that addressed 14 days rather than the typical seven days.
Also typical is the breadth of content that snagged the attention of our IW manufacturing community over the past week, including TE Connectivity's deployment of AI kaizens, the continuing battle over Manufacturing Extension Partnerships, lean initiatives going off the rails and more. The Top 10 are:
AI Kaizens Broaden Leadership’s Toolbox at TE Connectivity: Three successful examples of AI-based manufacturing technology generating real gains.
Bipartisan ‘Defend American Manufacturing Act’ Aims to Protect Manufacturing Extension Partnerships: The Senate bill is a response to Trump administration attempts to erase the program geared to small and medium-sized manufacturers.
July 4th Quiz: Manufacturing Americana! Test your knowledge of baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and ... you know.
Has Your Lean Initiative Disconnected From Its Original Purpose? That's a Warning Sign: In this episode of Behind the Curtain: Adventures in Continuous Improvement, hosts John Dyer and Dr. Mohamed Saleh continue their exploration of symptoms that indicate an organization's continuous improvement efforts may be headed off the rails. Part 4 of the series.
Reshoring Needs Immigrant Workers, Not Work Permit Chaos: Immigrants with work authorizations no longer receive extensions during agency bottlenecks.
Toyota Ups US Assembly, AI Needs a New Pricing Model and MEP Awards Released: IndustryWeek's Weekly Review: The IndustryWeek manufacturing community turned its attention to those topics, as well as USMCA updates, AI in procurement, China's new production strategy and more.
When Problem Solving Is the Problem: Warning Signs That Your Lean Initiative Is Going Off the Rails, Part 3: In this episode of Behind the Curtain: Adventures in Continuous Improvement, hosts John Dyer and Dr. Mohamed Saleh continue their discussion of common signals of a lean initiative headed for failure, focusing on the symptoms of shallow problem solving and centralized continuous improvement teams.
Celebrating One of America's Oldest Manufacturing Companies: Revere Copper, founded by a Founding Father, supplied the first steamboats and the electric vehicles of today.
EV Notes: Lucid Hires Restructuring Specialists, Denies Considering Chapter 11: Also: California introduces rebate for first-time buyers and ChargePoint adds to its network.
Industrial AI Will Fail Without a New Pricing Model: Manufacturers offering AI services should be charging based on outcomes, not consumption.