MA NUFACTU R I NG
CHIEF EXECUTIVE’ S MAKER 20
FORGING A FUTURE FOR From reshoring to robotics, these CEOs are mastering the hard stuff with innovation and ingenuity. Want to see where U.S. factories are going? Watch them. BY DALE BUSS
T
HE FUTURE OF AMERICAN manufacturing isn’t only “Made in America.” Accelerating the rebound in U.S. factories depends on what they make and how they make it, not just where. And so Chief Executive is initiating our list of 20 Makers for American Manufacturing. We wanted to identify a core group of leaders making a significant difference to American manufacturing on their own or that represent dynamics providing vigor to this crucial sector of the economy. By definition, they’re faring well. “There’s new construction in nearly every major market,” says Andrew Philipp, president of Clarus Glassboards, which supplies the office market. “We see cranes, and we see opportunity. ” Despite the rising economy, plenty of challenges remain for our 20 Makers and for American manufacturing in general. Will growth raise commodity prices so high that some of our Makers will be crimped? How will changes in trade policy impact access to growth markets? And how will U.S. manufacturers possibly fill the estimated 2.5 million jobs that are expected to go begging by 2025? The Makers are working on the answers.
40
/
CHIEFEXECUTIVE.NET
/
MARCH/APRIL 2018
MEET THE MAKERS
DAN ARIENS / ARIENS BRILLION, WI The mid-market lawn equipment competitor to Toro and Honda has leveraged outsized R&D investments to come up with innovations such as a zero-turn mower that muscled its way late into the market and has chomped up a big share. Ariens recently put up a $10 million R&D center and design studio and has tried to fill out its vital pipeline of new skilled workers by funding a technology center at a local high school, an elementary school STEM education center that engages kids as early as the third grade and a new Ariens Academy at the front of its original factory. “Education is a journey in itself,” Ariens says. “Learning continuously in the plant with our employees, developing leadership and teaching our principles to people who come out of high school and technical colleges are now just extensions of the business we are in.” MARY BARRA / GENERAL MOTORS DETROIT, MI First, she handled the faulty ignition debacle with determination and elan, putting to rest any doubts about a woman running a carmaker. The former manufacturing chief is taking an aggressive approach to transforming the company, as the industry faces the rise of electrification and autonomous driving. She has made GM a surprising leader in each. Meanwhile, Barra streamlined the company by shedding its money-losing European plants, favoring profits over scope.