Robot Report Reveals US in Top 10 While China Gets an Asterisk: So That Happened

Editor’s note: Welcome to So That Happened, our editors’ takes on things going on in the manufacturing world that deserve some extra attention. This will appear regularly in the Member’s Only section of the site.

Scaling AI Requires IT and OT at the Same Table

A new report released by Cisco on April 8, “State of Industrial AI,” argues that success with AI depends on modern networks, effective cybersecurity and IT/OT collaboration. 

According to the report, 61% of respondents said they are actively deploying AI at scale. 

• 41% indicated broad deployment across multiple sites. 
• Automated quality inspection (70% of respondents) and process automation (67%) were the top two use cases.
• Supply chain/logistics optimization, energy optimization/sustainability and worker safety monitoring all tied for third place at 64% of respondents with mature AI deployment.
• 63% of respondents originally adopted AI to improve productivity.
• 87% reported expecting AI to generate outcomes within two years.

Implementing AI strains existing network infrastructures, forcing companies to increase connectivity and reliability. A whopping 96% of respondents said wireless networks are an absolute must to enable AI. Other factors affecting success include edge compute capacity and bandwidth.

Cybersecurity concerns present challenges when adopting AI. Almost half of the respondents said security is their biggest network challenge and 85% expect that adopting AI will lead to better cybersecurity hygiene. 

Respondents also reported limited or no IT/OT cooperation in 43% of cases and the consequences are clear: 

• 90% of respondents said their IT and OT teams are siloed and the company suffers wireless instability. 
• 61% of respondents with collaborating teams report wireless instability.

Confidence in scaling AI also depends on cooperation between IT and OT. 

• 72% of companies with siloed teams said they weren’t confident about scaling AI
• 83% of companies with collaborating teams were confident.

You can download the entire report from Cisco here.

— Dennis Scimeca

Workers Strike at Extremely Busy Missouri Ammo Plant

Workers are on strike at Olin Winchester, the U.S. government’s largest producer of small-caliber ammunition. They are asking for higher wages, improved work-life balance and a reduction in mandatory overtime.

The Independence, Missouri, plant has 1,350 employees represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union (IAM).

According to IAM organizer Angela Colaizzi, Olin workers are in some cases working more than 20 hours per week of mandatory overtime. They receive points on their record for taking a sick day and do not receive sick leave except for two unpaid “emergency” days. 

Workers are asking for “some sort of personal leave” and a wage increase in negotiations for their four-year contact, Colaizzi said.

IndustryWeek has reached out to leadership at Olin Winchester and will update this item if we hear back from management.

—Laura Putre

North Carolina-based NN Takes Aim at Data Center Work

Let’s add NN Inc. to the ranks of manufacturing companies dedicating time, attention and money to the data center space: The Charlotte-based maker of components and assemblies already gets a fair bit of its sales—which totaled $422 million in 2025—from companies in the electrical grid space, and its fluid management products such as watertight couplings are a nice fit for a move into data centers and their growing need for liquid cooling. So the data centers initiative isn’t a big leap.

President and CEO Harold Bevis and his team a month ago got to tell investors and analysts that they’d won their first bit of business in the space. Soon after, they announced more successes with undisclosed customers that have led them to add 17 CNC machines to NN’s lineup of more than 100 in the Americas, Europe and China.

“The company’s capabilities are directly applicable to these customers and this market,” Bevis said in that news release. “‘Never leak, never fail.’ This is precisely the type of accretive, high-value business that we have been intentionally pursuing.”

In late March, NN executives announced they had acquired large-scale automated plating operations from a longtime customer in the electrical infrastructure space that’s outsourcing some if its manufacturing. That equipment to make silver-plated busbars and terminals will be folded into NN’s GMF unit.

Bevis and his lieutenants have been reshaping NN’s portfolio in recent years, looking to de-emphasize traditional automotive work (which was still 36% of sales last year) while moving into higher-margin markets. That process has included closing and selling some plants—NN finished 2025 with 27 facilities around the globe—and the accompanying financial impairments that have contributed to total net losses of more than $120 million since the beginning of 2023.

“Over the last two years, most of our operating cash flow was consumed by four plant closures and severing about 800 people, which was tough and brutal for those impacted but necessary for NN’s transition,” Bevis said in a statement. “We have turned the page onto a new chapter and have a balanced approach to our revenue growth and repositioning.”

— Geert De Lombaerde

AWS Celebrates #NWM2026

The American Welding Society (AWS) is marking three decades of National Welding Month this April with the theme “Celebrating Welding Since 1996.”  In honor of the 30th anniversary, AWS will host special events, giveaways, member promotions and social campaigns.

Each weekday, AWS will highlight stories from the community through its My Welding Story campaign on Instagram. For a chance to be featured on AWS’ Instagram Story, welders can follow @americanweldingsociety and submit their stories by filling out this survey.

Additional campaigns will include a special episode of the Weld Wednesday with AWS podcast airing on April 8, Thank-a-Mentor Day on April 16 and a video challenge to spread awareness of and promote welding careers. More information can be found on the National Welding Month page.

“Certified to build the world, welders power infrastructure, manufacturing and innovation across the globe,” says AWS Executive Director and CEO Carey Chen. “This National Welding Month, we celebrate the skilled professionals who make modern life possible.”

AWS is also offering special deals for new and renewing members, as well as discounts on learning materials. Participants can also enter giveaways for a chance to win AWS industry publications and a one-of-a-kind AWS welding helmet.

—Anna Smith

Robot Usage Surges in Korea, Austria, Netherlands, Grows More Slowly in the US

About three robots toiled alongside every 100 American workers in 2024, new data from the International Federation of Robotics show. That’s up about 4% from 2023, putting the U.S. at No. 8 worldwide for robotic automation per capita, up two spots from 2023’s report (more on that later).

Korea, however, extended its lead for robotics use with a whopping 12.2 robots per 100 workers, a 21% increase over its already dominant performance from 2023. From its semiconductor plants to appliance factories to car assembly operations, Korea has embraced robots more than any other country and continues to dominate that market. IFR estimates that Korea’s robotics use has grown 7% annually since 2019.

Singapore, another country with a thriving electronics industry, came in at No. 2 on the rankings, but at 6%, its growth rate is much slower than many of its peers. The Netherlands and Austria both grew robotics adoption by about 11% in 2024, though both of those countries remain behind the U.S. and other industrial leaders in adoption.

A big asterisk on this year’s report was China. The IFR bases its studies on self-reported numbers from the countries involved, and, well… China’s numbers were very wrong in the past. In 2023, IFR ranked China as No. 4 globally with an estimated 4.7 robots per 100 workers. In 2024, that fell to 1.7 robots per 100 workers, based on updated statistics from China.

However, as the report notes, that’s also a factor of China’s massive population, noting that China has the largest total number of robots in service of any country in the world. 

“The country counts around 2 million units — approximately 4.5 times more than Japan, which is in second place. The annual installation numbers are impressive too: 54% of all robots installed worldwide in 2024 were deployed in China (295,000 units),” the IFR reported. 

Top 10 (and No. 22) in Robotics:

Republic of Korea: 12.2 robots per 100 manufacturing workers

Singapore: 8.2

Germany: 4.5

Japan: 4.5

Sweden: 3.8

Denmark: 3.3

Slovenia: 3.2

United States: 3.1

Taiwan: 3

Switzerland: 2.9

China: 1.7

—Robert Schoenberger