C EO SUMMI T
‘EMBRACE IT AND FACE IT’
Challenging times demand innovative approaches to leadership. Gathering in Detroit for Chief Executive’s annual Smart Manufacturing Summit, CEOs swapped notes on what’s working, what’s not—and what to do next. BY DALE BUSS
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etroit is the home of manufacturing brands as old and fabled as Henry Ford’s blue oval and as new and cutting-edge as Shinola, a haven for both the heaviest of metal-bending American manufacturing and for the nimblest of new-age additive fabrication. So there was no better place for hundreds of manufacturing leaders from around the country to assemble to talk shop, be inspired and learn helpful hacks at the recent 2022 Chief Executive Smart Manufacturing Summit, presented in partnership with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. The highlight of the two-day event was a tour of Ford’s Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in suburban Dearborn, as Summit attendees comprised one of the first groups to get a thorough behind-the-scenes look at the futuristic factory where the automak-
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er is assembling its revolutionary F-150 Lightning pickup truck. Those attending the event in person and virtually also learned why the future of their own manufacturing operations might lie in creating a “listening” culture, in forging their own brands, in staying steady with their supply-chain philosophy amid unprecedented disruptions or in harnessing the iterative power of 3D-printing collectives. “It’s an uncomfortable time for many of us,” said Debbie Manzano, Ford’s director of manufacturing, in a keynote that focused on how the automaking titan is pushing its transition to the era of electric-vehicle making. “But we need to challenge ourselves in being uncomfortable, which drives change and learning. We need to embrace it and face it. And we can’t help but be excited by it at the same time.” Here were some other highlights of what manufacturing leaders shared at the Summit:
Summit participants touring Ford’s Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in suburban Dearborn.
