The Monthly Newsletter of the Council of Industry
June 26, 2025
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Council of Industry Updates
What's Happening in Your Association
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SUNY’s New Free Community College Program, Reconnect, Could Help Build Manufacturing Workforce Pipeline
- by Ciara McEneany, Member Services Coordinator
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The State University of New York (SUNY) recently announced a new program that those without a college degree will be able to take advantage of, with hopes of reinvigorating the state’s manufacturing workforce.
SUNY Reconnect provides New York residents, ages 25-55, that have not pursued or finished higher education with free tuition, books and supplies, using the New York State Opportunity Promise scholarship.
Programs of study include Advanced Manufacturing, Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Engineering, Renewable Energy, and Technology, among others, at community colleges across the state.
Read the Full Article
Want to learn more? Check out the SUNY Reconnect website to get more information on your local community college’s program offerings, enrollment requirements, upcoming information sessions and more!
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2025 Certificate in Manufacturing Leadership
In person courses begin August 13th!
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The Council of Industry's Certificate in Manufacturing Leadership program offers attendees a range of leadership skills through concentrations of courses. Participants who complete the required courses are presented with the Certificate in Manufacturing Leadership by the Council of Industry.
All courses are interactive full day sessions (8:30 am to 4:00 pm) with lunch, scheduled breaks, networking, and group discussions.
"The Council of Industry’s Certificate in Manufacturing Leadership has been helping supervisors and team leaders grow through practical, hands-on courses for over 25 years," said Emma Olivet, the Council's Program Coordinator. "This year, we’re hosting the sessions at Fair-Rite Corporation, a longtime Council member with a great training space. Hosting the program there makes it easier for members in Ulster and Orange Counties to attend."
Location
The Classes will be held at Fair-Rite Products Corp., located at 1 Commercial Row, Wallkill NY 12589.
Though participants are encouraged to complete the course series for the most comprehensive supervisory education, the Council welcomes individual course registration as well.
Summer 2025 Certificate in Manufacturing Leadership Schedule:
August 13th & 20th - Fundamentals of Leadership (2 Sessions)
August 27th - Making a Profit in Manufacturing
September 10th - Human Resources Management Issues
September 17th - Risk Management: Environmental Health & Safety Issues
October 8th - Effective Business Communication
October 29th - Lean Overview & Simulation
November 5th - Motivation, Coaching, and Managing Difficult People
Full Program Cost:
Individual Attendee: $1,975
Two or More Attendees: $1,875
Reach out to Emma Olivet for more information!
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Insight Exchange, Season 1 Episode 8: Navigating IT and OT: Strategies for Secure and Compliant Factory Networks - Presented by Trout Software
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NOTE: Insight Exchange along with other Council of Industry programs and services will soon require members to log into their Member Compass account.
In this episode of Insight Exchange, Florian Doumenc from Trout Software delves into the growing complexities and security challenges at the intersection of IT and OT in modern factories. Florian shares practical insights on creating secure, compliant, and efficient networks tailored for today's interconnected industrial environment. Key topics include network segmentation, zero trust architecture, and best practices for managing and protecting operational technology.
About Trout
Trout is an innovative software platform designed to simplify and streamline workforce management for manufacturers. With tools that automate apprenticeship tracking, compliance, and reporting, Trout helps organizations save time, stay organized, and focus on growing their workforce.
Learn More
Trout: https://trout.software/
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Insight Exchange Playlist:
If you are interested in sharing your knowledge and expertise, please reach out to Johnnieanne Hansen at info@councilofindustry.org.
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Golf Outing Set For August 25th at the Powelton Club - Tee Sign Sponsorships Still Available.
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The Council of Industry will hold its Annual Golf Outing on the last Monday in August at the Powelton Club in Newburgh. Registration and lunch will begin at 11:30 followed by a shotgun start at 12:30. Cocktails and a light dinner will follow at approximately 5:00 p.m.
The event is sold out - but a few soponsrships- especially tee sponsors - are still avialble.
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Thank You Sponsors!
Shirt Sponsor - Thank you NRG
Best Ball Prize Sponsor - 1,250
Closest to the Pin Prize Sponsor - Thank you Fisch Solutions
Hole In One - 1,050 - Thank you Elna Magnetics
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Tee Sign Sponsors:
More Tee Signs Available - Click Here to learn more
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Manufactuirng Industry News
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Manufacturers Optimistic About Tech, Industry 4.0
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Engineers closest to digital manufacturing and smart factories report they are optimistic as organizations look ahead to Industry 4.0 and digital transformation.
Earlier this year Revalize—provided a unique insight on what producers are prioritizing, their challenges, and the future of manufacturing. The company whose offerings allows manufacturers to design, model, develop, and sell their products, surveyed 500 CPQ, PLM, and engineering modeling or simulation professionals in the United States and Germany.
“Smart Manufacturing 2025: Trends Shaping the Digital-First Era and Beyond,” reported that 57 percent of those they surveyed indicated that their organizations had increased the headcount of their teams over the last 12 months.
Further, 36 percent said they were adopting new technologies, 29 percent reported that they were developing new products, and 26 percent were working to improve data security and data protection. “Optimism is evident,” summed up Michael Umbach, chief product officer at Revalize. According to Umbach, both sustainability and artificial intelligence (AI) are crucial to manufacturing now and in the future. He pointed out that the current administration has placed “significant emphasis on AI as a cornerstone for America’s economic and national security.”
Read more at ASME
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Auto Execs Say Flexibility Key In Tariff Turmoil
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A chaotic global business environment fueled by tariffs between the U.S. and its major trading partners has inspired a quick-thinking mindset among automakers, according to representatives from Rivian and Toyota Motor North America.
During a panel discussion at AutoTech2025, Chris Nevers, senior director of global policy development for Rivian, stressed the importance of being nimble as long as trade policies remain in flux. He said it’s important to be ready to respond but also not overreact and stay on course as much as possible.
For Toyota, the automaker has streamlined its coordination and communication process companywide, said Adam Farris, director for international trade and supply chains for Toyota Motor North America. “Our ability to more quickly share that information with the right people within our company and with our stakeholders in different equities, get feedback, analyses, has really quickened,” Farris said. It has become a necessity as tariffs “are certainly a cost to our industry,” he added.
Read more at Automotive Dive
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The Five X-Factors That Distinguish Real Leaders
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Leadership isn’t just about making decisions and steering the ship anymore. It’s about being the kind of person others will follow into uncertainty — especially in the world of new ventures, where uncertainty is guaranteed. And yet, even the most intelligent, well-prepared leaders often fail. Why? Not because they lack drive or knowledge. But because they underestimate the invisible forces that shape how leadership actually works. These forces — call them X-Factors — operate in the margins: between vision and execution, between public wins and private choices. Most leadership breakdowns aren’t dramatic implosions. They happen slowly.
1. Timing Is Everything (and You Don’t Control It).
2. It’s Not Just Business — It’s Always Personal.
3. Know How You’re Built (DNA v. Destiny).
4. If Everyone Thought Like You, You’d Have No Employees.
5. Build Your Own Core Leadership Team (Not Just a Company).
These five X-Factors won’t show up in an MBA course. But they are the difference between short-term control and long-term trust. Between burnout and balance. Between leading a company—and becoming the kind of leader others will choose to follow.
Read more at Chief Executive
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Does Technology’s Role In Manufacturing Need A Rethink?
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In the 1950s, a group of engineers at Toyota revolutionised car manufacturing with the concept of ‘kaizen’ – also known as continuous improvement. Its focus was not centred on buying new machinery or groundbreaking technology. Instead, it prioritised streamlining how work was done, making small, incremental changes to processes that delivered outsized results, and kick-starting the modern use of technology and AI in manufacturing. Infor’s Andrew Kinder explains.
Today, manufacturers are once again chasing transformation. But the approach has changed. This time, it’s about AI, automation and digital tools. With an underlying, yet immense pressure to adopt, implement and reap the benefits as quickly as possible. Despite ongoing global disruption, the attraction of new technology remains strong as 76% of manufacturers expect significant productivity gains in the next three years if they invest in new technology. Yet many are left asking the same question; if more is being spent on tech, when will this convert into value?
Read more The Manufacturer (UK)
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Rewriting the Rules of Industrial Automation
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Xaba.ai is a Toronto-based company building synthetic brains for industrial robots. Comprised of a team of engineers who have worked with some of the biggest names in automotive and aerospace assembly, Xaba is on a mission to change automation from simple mechanization to a connected, intelligent ecosystem, enabling factory machines to self-program, self-optimize, and run without a single line of code.
In April the company secured a $6 million seed extension led by Hitachi Ventures.
According to CEO of Xaba, Massimiliano Moruzzi, industrial automation today remains highly inefficient, relying on outdated controllers, rigid programming, and extensive manual intervention. Programming and deploying industrial robots alone cost the industry $7 billion annually, with 80 percent of automation costs stemming from manually developing logic for industrial controllers. Xaba’s Generative Industrial AI equips machines with cognitive intelligence, allowing them to autonomously adapt, optimize, and execute tasks with precision.
At its core is xCognition, which acts as an open AI for industrial automation: fully automating industrial robotics and machine programming for any task while automatically generating both part programs and all the programmable logic controller (PLC) code required to bring any machine to life. In essence, this is automation driven by self-programming robots that can easily transition from text to action.
Read more, Listen at Assembly
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IndustryWeek U.S. 500: Manufacturing Revenues, Profits Plunged in 2024:
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2024 was a rough year for the largest manufacturers in the United States, but It’s not as bad as it looks. The 2025 IndustryWeek U.S. 500 list of the largest publicly held manufacturing companies in the country is heavily skewed by a handful of special cases that posted massive losses and dragged down the entire industry. Results reflect corporate performance for 2024, and while last year was a great one for manufacturing, it was probably better than the index numbers indicate. With those warnings, let’s get the numbers out of the way.
- Revenues: $6.37 trillion, up 0.86% from 2023
- Net income: $496 billion, down 12.8% from 2023
Taking out some of the big outliers, 2024’s results were very mildly positive. More than half of companies (55%) had higher sales last year than in 2023, and 53% had higher profits. As noted above, sales for the overall group grew slightly. That increase came mainly from raising prices on goods, but some industries had higher volumes of sales as well.
Read more at IndustryWeek
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Two Financial Planning Tools That Can Help Manufacturers Weather Uncertainty
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Manufacturers are facing uncertainty on a variety of fronts. Rapidly shifting tariff policies, supply chain disruptions, fluctuating demand and rising raw material costs are likely among the factors creating shaky ground for your business. But two proven financial planning tools can help you better navigate the instability: rolling forecasts and financial modeling.
1. Rolling Forecasts - Many manufacturers rely on traditional static budgets. These budgets are typically created toward the end of the preceding fiscal year, based on the company’s current data. They’re often regarded as “set it and forget it.” That may be all that’s required for smaller, more stable businesses; however, manufacturers often fare better with rolling forecasts, which facilitate greater ongoing control over finances. Grounded in current information, rolling forecasts take a continuous and more reliable approach. The figures are regularly revised as new conditions come into play, enabling more agile responses.
2. Financial Modeling — also known as scenario planning — can provide valuable guidance amid evolving circumstances by testing how various assumptions are likely to unfold. It’s particularly useful when weighing upcoming initiatives, such as capital asset purchases, new projects or business expansion, that require a hefty investment and affect cash flow. To model the impact of different tariff policies, for example, first identify all the countries that are part of your supply chains, whether you deal with those countries directly or indirectly through your suppliers, and the applicable tariffs. With this information, you can develop a financial model to project how various sourcing scenarios would affect your finances.
Read more at Dannible & McKee
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Survey: Firms see ‘smart’ manufacturing investments paying off in productivity, capacity gains
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“Smart” manufacturing’s value is very much being realized, according to the newly released results of a late summer/early fall 2024 Deloitte survey, with respondents reporting up to 20% improvement in production output, a 20% gain in employee productivity, and 15% more in unlocked capacity.
The respondents—600 executives from U.S.-based or operated companies with annual revenue of $500 million or more and with over 1,000 employees—also reported that they had prioritized investment over the next two years in data, with 40% investing in data analytics, 29% in cloud computing, 29% in AI and 27% in IIoT, according to the Deloitte smart manufacturing and operations study, titled “Navigating Challenges to Implementation.”
While the study showed the C-suite is realizing value from the past several years of smart manufacturing investments, many are still facing significant challenges in managing complex digital transformations as they contend with operational risks, talent shortfalls and cybersecurity preparedness, according to Deloitte.
“The smart manufacturing journey is still emerging, but its value is undeniable. Our survey shows that most responding manufacturers agree with the need to invest in smart manufacturing but require help navigating operational complexities to see meaningful results,” Tim Gaus, Deloitte’s smart manufacturing business leader and principal, said in a Deloitte release.
Read more at Smart Industry
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Unlocking Super Performance Through Gemba Walks
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"Gemba" is a Japanese term meaning "the real place," specifically where value is created and challenges are most clearly observed. Unlike the superficial 1990s management practice "management by walking around" (MBWA), a genuine gemba walk is purposeful, involving active engagement and focused inquiry.
It emphasizes discovering and replicating the root causes of success, turning isolated high-performance moments into sustained excellence.
During a recent gemba walk, an operator revealed that frequent, brief equipment stoppages of just one or two minutes weren't recorded as downtime. Management’s data only included interruptions lasting over five minutes, leaving critical gaps in their understanding. As a result, leadership had inadvertently been trying to solve the wrong problem. Leadership had focused on the largest visible problem from the data, a mechanical failure.
The larger, real problem, however, was a material feed issue that required more direct experience to understand. Gemba provided the complete picture that enables leaders and operators to address the real loss. This experience underscored a crucial insight: True clarity comes from directly engaging with the shop floor—where value creation and real challenges coexist—not from remote dashboards or meetings. Only through firsthand observation and genuine interaction can leaders uncover insights essential for unlocking their operation’s full potential—their “super performance.”
Read more at IndustryWeek
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In-Wheel EV Hub Motors Could Be A Game-Changer. Why Aren't They Here Yet?
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In-wheel hub motors, first used by Ferdinand Porsche in 1900, offer advantages such as direct power transmission, increased space and reduced drivetrain losses, but have yet to become mainstream in electric vehicles. Renault plans to use them in the upcoming 5 Turbo 3e for better responsiveness, while Hyundai's Uni Wheel project aims to incorporate hub motors across various vehicle types. Challenges include increased unsprung mass and exposure to harsh conditions.
Having the motors in the wheels seems like a great way to make more room in the vehicle. This can either allow for a bigger battery to be used, or it can simply be a way to increase the level of cargo or passenger room in the cabin. Hub motors would also simplify EV platforms and make subframe designs considerably simpler, too. This lower complexity would make them cheaper to manufacture and also facilitate platform modularity by making it easier to vary the wheelbase and track width without requiring modifications to many other components. In other words, if you don't have to make room for motors somewhere in the middle or body of the car, you get a lot more freedom in terms of design.
Read more at Inside EVs
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Nvidia, Foxconn In Talks To Deploy Humanoid Robots At Houston AI Server Making Plant
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Taiwan's Foxconn and U.S. artificial intelligence chips maker Nvidia are in talks to deploy humanoid robots at a new Foxconn factory in Houston that will produce Nvidia AI servers, two sources familiar with the matter said. This would be the first time that an Nvidia product will be made with the assistance of humanoid robots and would be Foxconn's first AI server factory to use them on a production line, the sources said.
A deployment, expected to be finalised in the coming months, would mark a milestone in the adoption of the human-like robots that promises to transform manufacturing processes.
Foxconn is developing its own humanoid robots with Nvidia and has also trialed humanoids made by China's UBTech. The sources said it was not clear what type of humanoid robots are being planned for use in the Houston factory, what they will look like or how many will be deployed initially.
They said the two companies are aiming to have the humanoid robots at work by the first quarter of next year when Foxconn's new Houston factory will begin production of Nvidia's GB300 AI servers.
Read more at Reuters
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Chemical Industry Shifting To Lower-Carbon Solutions
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The chemical industry has seen significant developments in efforts to decarbonize, such as the opening of the first commercial e-methanol plant by European Energy in Denmark and the launch of the first large-scale electric steam cracker by BASF, SABIC and Linde.
The industry also provides many key components for the energy transition and could become a lower-carbon powerhouse enabling circularity, according to a report from Systemiq and the Center for Global Commons.
But these are rare examples of disruptive green innovation in an industry that remains heavily reliant on fossil fuels. The sector accounts for 5-6% of global greenhouse gas emissions – running a close third behind steel and cement. The $3.5 trillion industry produces primary chemicals such as ammonia, methanol and ethylene, which are omnipresent in our daily lives: they are in 96% of manufactured goods in sectors ranging across healthcare and agriculture to construction, transportation and textiles.
Read more at Reuters
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See Spot Dance: Boston Dynamics’ Spot Robots Rock America’s Got Talent Stage With “Don’t Stop Me Now” Performance
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Robots today are multitasking powerhouses. They can handle mind-numbing repetition with laser precision, brave environments too dangerous for humans, and process mountains of data in the blink of an eye. They don’t need rest, snacks, or even motivation. But despite all that, there’s one thing that never fails to win us over: robots that dance. And no one knows that better than Boston Dynamics.
The trailblazing tech company has racked up millions of views with its choreographed robot routines that are part performance, part product demo, and 100% mesmerizing. Most recently, Boston Dynamics turned heads again when a team of Spot robot dogs strutted onto the America’s Got Talent stage, proving once more that when robots dance, the world watches.
Read more at Plant Services
Watch at YouTube
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Forward curves show a strong majority of bullish trends.
These four tables utilize Three Exponential Moving Averages (TEMA) methodology for 2026-2029 RTC strips.
TEMA is a popular indicator used to analyze the direction of a trend. TEMA looks to eliminate market noise, smooth price fluctuations and eliminate lag. TEMA identifies trends (uptrend, neutral, downtrend) based on the position of the short Exponential Moving Average (EMA) versus the two longer EMAs. In this case, a 10-day EMA versus a 20-day EMA and a 50-day EMA. This table illustrates trends for RTC power calendar strip curves from 2026 through 2029, derived from proprietary data.
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Reach out to the Council of Industry and NRG today to develop an energy strategy tailored to your business needs.
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