Innovation BRT Innovation Summit: Revolutionizing Manufacturing


Washington – As part of today’s Business Roundtable CEO Innovation Summit, top leaders from business and government participated in a panel discussion on “Revolutionizing Manufacturing.” The conversation featured James Keane, President and CEO of Steelcase, Blake Moret, President and CEO of Rockwell Automation, and Mike Molnar, Founding Director of the Office of Advanced Manufacturing at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. CNBC’s Ylan Mui moderated the discussion.

Click the image above to watch the full “Revolutionizing Manufacturing” panel featuring James Keane, Blake Moret, Mike Molnar and CNBC’s Ylan Mui (moderator).

Highlights:

James Keane, President and CEO of Steelcase, on how advanced manufacturing technology will open new career paths:

"We use technology to do things that technology should have been doing all along, allowing people to do things that people are really good at. What I'm excited about is new kinds of jobs… Everything we're trying to create in society around diversity and inclusion can link back to also creating a different kind of employment expectation where people can actually be more human as the technology does more things we've asked people to do for 50 years."

Blake Moret, President and CEO of Rockwell Automation, on innovation driving productivity and efficiency:

"Now we're taking the data that's a byproduct of those manufacturing processes and turning it into useful information that unlocks a whole new level of productivity. So it helps these manufacturers become more efficient, get their products to market faster to be able to increase the yield in their operational processes... [Technology] also helps level the playing field between large and small companies... Scale is not as important as innovation."

Mike Molnar, Founding Director of the Office of Advanced Manufacturing at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, on bridging the skills gap for future manufacturing jobs:

 "It's not that we need more PhDs, but actually a greater need is skilled trades. The things that we're making today - it's not the way things were made before: it's a systems problem. And this is where the U.S. can really excel, because we're a nation of innovators, we're a nation of team-builders and so we need to teach collaboration like this."

More information about the Business Roundtable CEO Innovation Summit, including additional highlights and upcoming panels, can be found at BusinessRoundtable.org/InnovationSummit.

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