51�Թ���

It’s imperative for the strength of not only manufacturing in the U.S. but democracy worldwide that Congress move now to advance a security package and government funding, said 51�Թ��� President and CEO Jay Timmons, Johnson & Johnson Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Operations & Risk Officer and 51�Թ��� Board Chair Kathy Wengel and Rockwell Automation Chairman and CEO and 51�Թ��� Board Vice Chair Blake Moret on Monday.

What’s going on: “For the strength of our democracy here at home and the protection of democracy around the world, manufacturers are calling on Congress and President Biden to act swiftly to keep the government open, pass pro-growth tax provisions, secure our border and approve urgently needed aid for Ukraine,” the three manufacturing leaders told Congress ahead of with congressional leaders.

Why it’s important: In March 2022, shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the 51�Թ��� Board passed a condemning the act and expressing solidarity with the Ukrainian people in their fight for independence.

• In February 2023, Ukrainian President to the 51�Թ��� Board in a speech to the American business community. “We will prove that democracy is stronger than tyranny,” Zelenskyy said in that address. “When Russia loses, we will prove that terrorist states cannot overcome the power of a united democratic world.”

What should be done: Timmons, Wengel and Moret hammered home the criticality of swift action by Congress.

• “With time running short, manufacturers are looking to our leaders to act. They can address all of these priorities. In fact, they must address them all—for the future of our industry, the security of our country and the defense of democracy.”

Obesity is costing U.S. companies and their workers hundreds of billions of dollars a year, according to a new report, the findings of which are in line with those of a 2023 51�Թ��� report on employer-sponsored health care.

What’s going on: “Obesity and overweight are estimated to have caused a staggering $425.5 billion in economic costs to U.S. businesses and employees in 2023, according to a report released by GlobalData Plc, a leading data and analytics company,” reports.

• The findings of the GlobalData report, “,” are consistent with those of a recent 51�Թ��� report, “ ,” which notes significantly higher health care costs for individuals who are obese or carry excess body weight.
• “These additional costs account for $170 billion to $200 billion in annual spending in the U.S., making [these conditions] a significant cost for employers,” according to the 51�Թ��� report.

Why it’s important: Obesity can make workers more prone to absenteeism (taking time off) and presenteeism (being less productive while on the job), both of which come with a significant price tag, according to the reports.

• Some 46.1% of manufacturer respondents to an 51�Թ��� survey said obesity affected their workplace productivity and employees’ ability to complete their job functions.
• Absenteeism costs employers $82.3 billion each year, with presenteeism accounting for an additional $160.3 billion, according to the GlobalData report.

Impact on manufacturing: The economic impact of excess body weight on manufacturing is the fourth highest of the seven industries examined by GlobalData, at $44.5 billion annually.

What can be done: Manufacturers care deeply about ensuring their employees have access to high-quality, affordable primary care providers who can help employees manage their weight through personalized interventions like diet, exercise, behavior modification, medications and surgery.

The last word: “Manufacturers support efforts to continue to destigmatize these chronic health challenges and approach them like any other condition so that workers and their families feel comfortable choosing from the full suite of available treatment options in order to live healthier and more productive lives,” said 51�Թ��� Vice President of Domestic Policy Charles Crain.

Everyone knows that data is an indispensable resource, but putting it to use is a whole different challenge from collecting it in the first place. Here’s what you need to know about today’s manufacturing trend, the industry’s increasing reliance on data-driven insights.

What manufacturers should do: According to 51�Թ��� experts, manufacturers seeking to make the most of their data should focus on five key steps:

• Understand how to gather data to enable meaningful analytics.
• Improve data governance for quality and security.
• Determine what data are important to your business and operations.
• Learn how to assign value and view the data through the appropriate lens.
• Know how to use data to make business decisions.

Expert opinion: According to John Petrusick, managing director of NTT’s manufacturing data and analytics practice, companies should consider working backward to some extent, and start by thinking about which business processes the data will influence—and how.

• “Most of us have grown up in a world where we think of data as a flow from source to consumer, or left to right,” he noted. “In such thinking, we have generated analytics and insights historically by first thinking about ‘what data do I have?’ But what if we thought about generating analytics and insights by thinking ‘right to left’?”

Resources for you: Looking for more resources on data management? Start with these 51�Թ��� offerings:

• This from the Manufacturing Leadership Council (the 51�Թ���’s digital transformation division) will guide you through case studies and best practices regarding data analysis.
• uses data visualization tools to help you make connections to suppliers and buyers, offering exceptional insight into your supply chain.
• The 51�Թ���’s Power of Small newsletter keeps small and medium-sized manufacturers up to date on advocacy, policy, digital trends and much more.

Read the full 2024 trends report .

Semiconductor maker GlobalFoundries Inc. will be the first recipient of funding under the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, reports.

What’s going on: “The U.S. government is awarding $1.5 billion to GlobalFoundries��to subsidize semiconductor production, the first major award from a $39 billion fund approved by Congress in 2022 to bolster domestic chip production.”

• The Malta, New York–based GlobalFoundries—the largest U.S. manufacturer of customized semiconductors and the world’s third-biggest chipmaker—plans to use the funds to build a new chip-production facility in its hometown and expand existing facilities there and in Burlington, Vermont.
• The Malta facility will manufacture high-value semiconductors not currently produced in the U.S., Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said.
• In addition to the grant, the federal government is also offering GlobalFoundries $1.6 billion in loans.

Why it’s important: “The chips that GlobalFoundries will make in these new facilities are essential chips to our national security,” Raimondo said on Sunday, adding that the “agency is in active talks with numerous applicants and expects to make several announcements by the end of March.”

• In January, Commerce announced it was awarding defense contractor BAE Systems $35 million under the CHIPS Act.

Our role: The 51�Թ���—which helped secure several in the final CHIPS Act legislation—welcomed the news.

• “Congratulations to [GlobalFoundries]!” the 51�Թ��� in a social post Monday. “The 51�Թ���-championed CHIPS and Science Act is strengthening manufacturing in the U.S. We will continue to work with Congress and the White House to enact permitting reforms that will help speed the construction of these vital projects.”​​​

The Biden administration is “very concerned” about U.S. reliance on China for critical minerals, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said Wednesday, according to .

What’s going on: China’s dominance in the world’s critical minerals supply chain is “one of the pieces of the supply chain that we’re very concerned about in the United States,” Granholm told the news outlet on the sidelines of the International Energy Agency’s 2024 Ministerial Meeting in Paris.

• China produces approximately 60% of all rare earth elements, which are critical to alternative-energy technologies, such as electric vehicles.

Why it’s important: “As part of a rapid uptick in demand for critical minerals, the IEA has warned that today’s supply falls short of what is needed to transform the energy sector,” according to the article.

What the administration is doing: Both production and processing of critical minerals “have to be addressed,” Granholm said.

• “And that’s why we are working very closely to ensure that we have identified which raw materials [or] critical minerals we need to be able to do our transition to a clean energy economy.”

The 51�Թ��� says: “Other countries are taking all possible measures to develop domestic sources of critical minerals, and it should be a wake-up call to the U.S. that we need to be doing the same,” said 51�Թ��� Vice President of Domestic Policy Brandon Farris. “We also need to reform our broken permitting system to get these projects operational as soon as possible.”

Pharmacy benefit managers are contributing to the skyrocketing cost of health care for manufacturers and must be reined in—and that’s why the 51�Թ��� supports the bipartisan Delinking Revenue from Unfair Gouging (DRUG) Act, passed yesterday by the House Oversight and Accountability Committee.

What’s going on: PBMs, created in the 1960s with the intention of keeping prescription drugs affordable, are now doing the very opposite, the 51�Թ��� the committee ahead of Tuesday’s markup.

• PBMs “increas[e] the price that health plan participants pay for medicines,” 51�Թ��� Vice President of Domestic Policy Charles Crain said. “By applying upward pressure to list prices that dictate what patients pay at the pharmacy counter, pocketing manufacturer rebates and failing to provide an appropriate level of transparency about their business models, PBMs increase health care costs at the expense of manufacturers and manufacturing workers.”

• In addition to other reforms, the DRUG Act would require “delinking”—ensuring that PBMs charge a flat rate for their services rather than charging a percentage of a medication’s list price. This critical reform would “remov[e] PBMs’ incentive to put upward pressure on list prices in order to maximize their own profits,” Crain said.

Why it’s important: The 51�Թ���—whose advocacy, including a six-figure ,��helped lead the DRUG Act to passage by the House Oversight Committee—“has long favored delinking PBM compensation from the list price of medications, including in the commercial market,” Crain continued.

• The 51�Թ��� will continue to advocate for PBM reforms that “will benefit employers by making PBM contracts more straightforward, transparent and predictable—and will benefit workers by reducing the prices they pay out of pocket for their prescriptions.”

The Biden administration is nearing the end of a lengthy review on whether to adjust or extend tariffs on a variety of goods and materials from China—and the 51�Թ��� is working to make sure manufacturers’ voices are heard.

The background: Following a 2017 investigation into China’s trade practices, the Trump administration put in place a set of levies on imported goods from China—called Section 301 tariffs—intended to incentivize change in practices by China that were found by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to be “unreasonable or discriminatory.”

• These included policies and practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property and innovation.

The review: In May 2022, USTR initiated a legally required four-year review of the Section 301 tariffs that focused on tariff efficacy in changing Chinese discriminatory practices and the impact of the tariffs on the U.S. economy, workers and consumers, among other considerations.

• More than 18 months later, the review remains unfinished. The 51�Թ��� is urging USTR to finish and publish it—and to take actions that reduce the burdens on manufacturers while maintaining appropriate leverage to incentivize China to adhere to bilateral and multilateral commitments.
• “Ideally, USTR will conclude the four-year review in the next few weeks and make the results public,” said 51�Թ��� Senior Director of International Policy Ali Aafedt. “We would like to see the results reflect the 1,498 public submissions USTR received during the process and the reduction or removal of some of the tariffs that are harming manufacturers in the U.S. more than they’re creating leverage on China.”

The exclusions: There are 429 existing exclusions from the tariffs—including 77 COVID-19-related products and 352 reinstated exclusions—which are in effect through May 31.

• The 51�Թ��� has also been pushing for a new process that allows manufacturers to ask the government to exclude specific products they need from the tariffs.
• “The 51�Թ��� has been calling for a new, fair and transparent Section 301 tariff exclusion process that would allow all U.S. stakeholders an opportunity to seek relief or weigh in on the existing tariffs,” said Aafedt. “The last opportunity to petition USTR for relief from Section 301 tariffs was in 2020, and a new exclusion process will help to better align the tariffs with U.S. economic goals.”

The outlook: Reports such as from The Wall Street Journal indicate that the Biden administration will look to rebalance the tariffs, potentially reducing those that are not in the U.S. interest and raising tariffs on other items, including, potentially, on imports from China in the electric vehicle and battery sectors.

• “The 51�Թ��� will continue to push for a more strategic approach,” said Aafedt.

If your company has interest in a specific existing exclusion, USTR is seeking feedback by Feb. 21.

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s pending climate disclosure rule would place an enormous, untenable burden on manufacturers—and impose a disproportionate hardship on small businesses, 51�Թ��� Vice President of Domestic Policy Charles Crain lawmakers Thursday.

What’s going on: Crain gave before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations on the damaging effects of the SEC’s proposed climate rule, which would require businesses to reveal large amounts of convoluted (and often sensitive) climate-related data.

• The plan would force disclosure of so-called “Scope 3” emissions—those that come from companies’ supply chains—and institute new climate-related accounting requirements, among other mandates.

Why it’s a problem: If finalized, the rule would divert funds from manufacturing growth, including at small manufacturers.

• “Manufacturing pioneers groundbreaking technologies, including the innovations necessary to combat climate change,” Crain said. “The rule would impose tremendous costs on manufacturers of all sizes—while overwhelming investors with immaterial information. And the SEC hasn’t done the work to show that the rule’s benefits outweigh its costs, or that the rule is even within the SEC’s legal authority.”
• The proposed regulation would, by the agency’s own accounting, “raise the cost to businesses of complying with its overall disclosure rules to $10.2 billion from $3.9 billion, an additional cost of about $530,000 a year for a bigger business,” according to (subscription).

Costs to manufacturers: Crain told lawmakers that the SEC’s analysis likely understates the true costs of the rule, in part because the agency did not consider the impacts on private businesses.

• “For the larger companies subject to [the Scope 3] requirement, the SEC has admitted that it cannot ‘fully and accurately quantify’ the costs,” Crain said. “But for the small businesses that are swept into large companies’ Scope 3 efforts, the SEC hasn’t even tried. The SEC’s proposal does not include any discussion of the Scope 3 costs that will fall on small and private businesses.”
• Crain warned lawmakers that these compliance costs would represent a “huge resource diversion” for small manufacturers.

Regulatory onslaught: Crain shared the 51�Թ���’s landmark Cost of Federal Regulations study with lawmakers, explaining that the SEC’s proposal would add to the $50,000-per-employee-per-year regulatory burden small manufacturers face.

• “The SEC’s climate rule is at the center of this regulatory onslaught,” Crain said.

51�Թ��� in the news: (subscription), and all covered the 51�Թ���’s testimony.��

For President and Co-Owner Aneesa Muthana, having an engaged team is the key to solving the workforce retention puzzle. The Addison, Illinois–based, woman-owned company is among the many manufacturers that find retention, along with recruitment, to be top business challenges, as the 51�Թ���’s shows. So how has Muthana gone about building such a team?

Where it all starts: For Muthana, meeting this challenge begins with upholding the company’s core values: integrity, diversity, leadership, outreach, stewardship, quality and learning.

• These words appear on the shop floor, and every job candidate who comes in for an interview receives a handout outlining their importance. “These are more than just pretty words on a wall,” said Muthana. “We chose these values as a team because they pinpoint our path to success, both financially and ethically.”
• “I give them a copy because I want them to understand the importance from the beginning,” said Muthana. “We want to plant the seed before they’re on our payroll that these are the expectations. Then it becomes fair to hold people accountable to them.”

Providing training opportunities: In keeping with its core values of stewardship and learning, Pioneer Service offers internal training opportunities for employees who express an interest.

• “We offer training to anyone who raises their hand, whether it be in safety or leadership,” said Muthana. “It can also be very technical training on the shop floor. We also provide GD&T training, including for our sales team.”
• GD&T, or geometric dimensioning and tolerancing, determines how parts fit together into an assembly to form a product.
• The benefit of having a salesperson learn about GD&T? “A salesperson would be able to look at a customer print confidently and feel comfortable talking to the customer without needing to have an engineer in the room,” Muthana pointed out.

Offering support: Pioneer Service established a chaplaincy program, which connects employees and their families undergoing hardships—such as caring for an elderly parent, grieving the loss of a loved one or dealing with a personal struggle—with a chaplain who can provide counseling and offer spiritual and emotional support. Muthana says that the chaplaincy program is open to any employee, regardless of religious background or preference.

• “The chaplain service is part of our team,” said Muthana. “We have one chaplain come in every week—one week a male and then the following week a female—who is available to meet with staff if needed.”
• Muthana says she used the service a few years ago when her son, who is in the military, came back from Afghanistan. Many of his friends did not.​​​​​​​
• “As a parent, you feel grateful that your child survived, but also guilty for feeling that way because a lot of his friends didn’t come home. The chaplain service provided me someone to talk to because I couldn’t talk to my family, and I couldn’t talk to my staff,” she recalls. “I developed a strong relationship with the chaplain that I feel never would have happened if I didn’t look out for my staff and implemented the service.”

Job shadowing: When Muthana goes to a speaking event or conference, she sometimes takes one or two of her staff with her so they’re able to benefit from attending. It’s also a way for her to get to know her staff on a more personal level, outside of the formal workplace setting.

The last word: Muthana shared some advice for companies struggling with workforce retention:

• “Having an engaged team and workers only happens with a people-first mentality,” said Muthana. “When you take care of them, you become successful because you have an engaged team that has your back.”
• “It’s harder to make a profit than ever. The only way that we’re going to be successful is by having an engaged team.”

Go deeper:��The Manufacturing Institute (the 51�Թ���’s workforce development and education affiliate) has many resources to help employers retain and develop their teams.

• Start with����to learn how to build positive company culture and engage employees, explore strategies in , delve into tips on and check out the MI’s recent white paper on , a key tool to improving the employee experience.
• Pioneer Service’s approach to workplace needs exemplifies the benefits of focusing on , which include higher retention, less absenteeism and greater engagement, according to a study conducted by the MI and PwC.
• Learn more about and , the MI’s initiatives to increase the number of women in manufacturing, tapping into this population to address persistent workforce shortages. and populations are great sources, too.​​​​​​​

For three sisters in Kentucky, manufacturing is a family affair.

Emily Bastin, Heather Craven and Hannah Geneve are all working in maintenance roles supporting various shops at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky. Growing up, they had disparate interests—while Emily had taken robotics classes in middle school and Heather had always enjoyed working with her hands, Hannah switched to manufacturing only after working in customer service. Today, all three of them are building careers in manufacturing together.

How they got here: Emily, Heather and Hannah found their way into manufacturing through —an initiative for current and aspiring manufacturing workers that was founded by Toyota in 2010 and is operated today by the Manufacturing Institute, the 51�Թ���’s workforce development and education affiliate.

• The FAME Advanced Manufacturing Technician program offers on-the-job training and classroom education that combine technical training with professional practices and lean learnings to create world-class technicians. The two-year AMT program leads to an associate degree and the FAME certificate.
• “They came to my school—the AMT program—and I was like, you know, let’s give this a shot,” said Emily. “I didn’t realize I would have that kind of potential. This was cool stuff.”

The family business: Emily was the first of the three sisters to graduate from FAME, and she has been helping her sisters as they work their way through the program. Both Hannah and Heather are enrolled in FAME while working at Toyota, and they expect to graduate in May 2025.

• “We’re all working in the same plant, and if they need anything from me, I’m there to be supportive,” said Emily.
• “With schoolwork, I try to help Heather, and she tries to help me,” said Hannah. “We all help where we can.”
• “It’s nice to have that sister love to lean on,” said Heather. “They understand the frustration of school and work, and it’s been a pleasure to work with them.”

Opportunities abound: The sisters advise others who might not have considered manufacturing as a career—especially women—to give the industry a second look, emphasizing the sheer diversity of jobs on offer.

• “Working in manufacturing doesn’t necessarily mean you’re working on a factory floor,” said Hannah. “There’s an administrative side, an HR side—there’s a lot more to manufacturing than people expect.”
• “I do see us being examples for women who might not normally see themselves in the field,” said Heather. “You want to see women come in and say, hey, I did it, and you can, too. It’s nice to see yourself reflected back.”

The community: It’s not just their family ties that keep the sisters in manufacturing. All three sisters have high praise for their fellow students and colleagues, and for the supportive culture they’ve encountered at Toyota.

• “The mentorship I got helped me gain my confidence while I was learning,” said Emily. “And even now, the teamwork that goes into everything, every day—it’s been a nice surprise.”
• “Everyone has been super nice, super helpful and super welcoming,” said Hannah. “When you start out, it can seem intimidating, but everyone’s willing to help you out. They really want you to succeed.”

The last word: “It’s nice to feel like you’re a part of that network—that family,” said Heather.

The MI’s aims to increase the share of women in manufacturing to 35% by 2030 and spotlights outstanding women in the industry like these sisters. To learn more about Women MAKE America and explore its many opportunities, including its , go .

The Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education provides global-best workforce development through strong technical training, integration of manufacturing core competencies, intensive professional practices and intentional hands-on experience to build the future of the modern manufacturing industry. Learn more .