Year-in-Review: Unlocking Human Potential to Empower Manufacturing

As I transition from Chief Workforce Officer to Chief Executive Officer of SME, I’ve been reflecting on the significant changes occurring in the manufacturing industry.

In 2025, I celebrate 25 years with SME, a journey that has allowed me to witness firsthand the evolution of this dynamic field. Many of you have experienced it too. Processes, materials, and technologies that did not even exist a quarter century ago are now commonplace, and we speak with a whole new vocabulary: IIoT, Smart Factories, digital twin, AI/ML, big data, cobots, and EV.

As much as our operations have been transformed, there is one aspect that has not changed: The importance of people. Finding and nurturing the right people with the right skills at the right time remains a priority as the industry faces a skills gap, a shrinking workforce, and increased demand for employees across all industries.

At SME, we firmly believe that unlocking human potential empowers manufacturing. This is the key to innovation, productivity, resilience, and prosperity.

SME Approach

As a nonprofit dedicated to advancing manufacturing, we are creating a diverse and qualified talent pool to meet workplace demand by stepping up our efforts and investments in launching innovative workforce solutions and partnering with manufacturers, educators, individuals and workforce development agencies.

We use our 90+ years of action on a broad and local scale to build a systematic, holistic approach to workforce development. We’re not just sharing information. We’re actively working to accelerate these initiatives by taking what’s working at the local level and scaling it nationally and beyond.

It all starts with collaboration. We are expanding on our own programs through involvement with like-minded organizations and educators to do more together, faster, to build our industry’s talent capacity and capabilities.

Tech & Talent

At the heart of manufacturing’s evolution is the relationship between technology and talent. Manufacturing is rich with cutting-edge technology but none of it works without a skilled workforce behind it. Our job is to help people develop the skills they need to operate, maintain and innovate using these new technologies, processes, and materials so that individuals and manufacturers thrive.

As I reflect on 2024 when leading SME’s workforce efforts, I want to express gratitude to our SME Board of Directors, members, staff and many partners across North America who recognize that investing in the talent is not an option; it’s an imperative. 

Here are just some of the exciting workforce programs and partnerships from this past year that help us address this national talent crisis—and propel us toward more innovation and impact in 2025.

Manufacturing Imperative — Workforce Pipeline Challenge

In 2024, SME’s Manufacturing Imperative Workforce Pipeline Challenge (MI-WPC) was in full swing. The program brings together 27 community college presidents across 17 states. This collaborative effort aims to break down barriers, streamline workforce training, and create a community of practice among educational institutions, with support from the White House, Blue Forge Alliance, the Department of Education, National Coalition of Advanced Technology Centers (NCATC) and other key partners. Over a three-year pilot period, MI-WPC aims to attract 1,000 individuals annually to each of the initial participating colleges. This ambitious goal is addressing the projected 2.7-million-person workforce shortage by 2030. You can read the 2024 Progress Report here.

SME PRIME® (Partnership Response In Manufacturing Education)

SME PRIME is the signature program of the SME Education Foundation. SME PRIME partners private industry with academia to build custom manufacturing and engineering programs in high schools across the country — providing equipment, curriculum, teacher training and student scholarships along with funding for manufacturing-related extracurricular activities and program sustainability. There was continued momentum in 2024. For instance, 17 new PRIME schools in Michigan were onboarded. In addition, 12 Georgia schools kicked off their curriculum and started their programs. 

SME & BlueForge Alliance Fills Gaps

SME and BlueForge Alliance are partnering to fill the critical gaps in the defense manufacturing workforce, bolstering our nation’s defense capabilities. By attracting and training talent through innovative programs like MI-WPC and SME PRIME, the partnership supports the Navy Submarine Industrial Base Program’s efforts to recruit, train and hire more than 140,000 skilled individuals for the workforce in the next decade to meet the Navy’s demand for building new submarines and sustaining the current fleet.

Reaching Early Talent with SkillsUSA

The industry needs to connect with early talent, and our partnership with SkillsUSA helps SME do that. We were proud to cosponsor the 2024 Additive Manufacturing Competition with Stratasys, part of the 60th annual SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference. The contest educates high school and post-secondary students about additive manufacturing technologies and design, plus provides them with real-world, hands-on experience that they can apply to a commercial product. This year, teams from one middle school, 35 high schools, and 12 post-secondary schools totaling 97 students from 36 states competed to win. Nearly 500 parts were printed during the three-day competition.

Record Attendance at Smartforce Student Summit 

This is the first time that SME has led the development of the Smartforce Student Summit in collaboration with AMT at IMTS. With an impressive attendance of 14,086—including K-12 and post-secondary students, teachers, administrators, and parent chaperones from a record-high 49 states plus Washington, D.C.—the summit was a vibrant showcase of opportunities in manufacturing and STEM careers. This year’s Smartforce Student Summit was 30 percent larger than ever before, spanning 30,000 square feet and featuring 70 exhibitors from leading manufacturing companies like FANUC America, Haas Automation, Mazak, Universal Robots and Siemens, alongside community organizations and educational institutions. This was a terrific opportunity to engage with the future of the manufacturing workforce and introduce them to exciting career pathways in manufacturing.

Ready to Hire Delivers Qualified Talent Pipeline

To strengthen the manufacturing supply chain with technically skilled, productive individuals, SME introduced “Ready to Hire,” in partnership with Cengage Group. The program builds sustainable talent pipelines by providing manufacturers with access to qualified, pre-screened, pre-trained, pre-market talent. Ready to Hire handles sourcing, screening, training and onboarding talent so employers can focus on building their team and boosting retention.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Workforce Development

SME has been testing and piloting the use of AI in supporting attracting and retaining staff, onboarding new employees, and identifying and assisting enrollment at academic institutions. We are seeing positive results from the early pilots and expect to see increased application of AI to productively and positively improve workforce efforts.

Preparing Current and Future Talent for EV

We have been encouraged by the spotlight on the critical need to prepare our workforce for the growing electric vehicle (EV) and battery industry. For instance, SME had the opportunity to participate in a pivotal roundtable discussion, "Building the Michigan Workforce for the EV Future," hosted by The White House, the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of Energy and the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. Also, at the 2024 Mackinac Center for Public Policy Conference on Developing Talent for Michigan’s Emerging EV Ecosystem, I was grateful to join Moderator Nolan Finley of the Detroit News, Congresswoman Haley Stevens and Ford’s Workforce Development Manager Ann Thompson to discuss essential strategies and innovative approaches to education and training that will empower individuals and drive Michigan’s EV sector.  We were also thrilled to announce our partnership with The White House, Argonne National Laboratory, and the State of Michigan on an innovative initiative to launch a new battery manufacturing career pathway deployed through the SME Education Foundation's SME PRIME program with Tooling U-SME. The battery manufacturing pathway will be integrated into SME PRIME programs starting in Michigan. We also see momentum from the strong response to SME’s Electric Vehicle Fundamentals (EVF) and Battery Assembly credentials and EV training.

Urgency of National Security

At the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) Manufacturing Division Meeting in Washington, DC earlier this year, I had the privilege of co-presenting on workforce opportunities with my colleague Keith DeVries, director of Manufacturing Technology (ManTech) at the Department of Defense. As Chair of NDIA's Manufacturing Workforce Committee, I’m grateful to collaborate with an incredible group whose ideas, insights, and recommendations have been instrumental in shaping today’s and tomorrow’s defense manufacturing landscape.

2024 Defense Manufacturing Technology Achievement Awards

We also proudly joined the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Joint Defense Manufacturing Technology Panel (JDMTP) in celebrating the 2024 Defense Manufacturing Technology Achievement Awards (DMTAA). The awards recognize remarkable technical accomplishments in projects that advance the vision of the DoD Manufacturing Technology (ManTech) Program—solutions that play a vital role in strengthening our national security. SME is honored to support the 2024 DMTAA and plans to continue to do so in 2025, due to importance of the achievements of awardees and the close alignment with our organization’s purpose to advance manufacturing to drive competitiveness, resiliency and national security. 

Introducing 2025 FUSION

SME launched FUSION happening April 2025—the next chapter of the event previously known as tuX. Over a decade ago, we began meeting with a group of like-minded individuals from the manufacturing industry to tackle common workforce and training challenges and share strategies. Over the years, after serving hundreds of manufacturing companies, the event has evolved and expanded beyond its original scope, growing to include a range of stakeholders and ideas. It’s now a collaborative hub where industry leaders, educators, government representatives, and workforce development experts come together to tackle the biggest challenges in building a future-ready workforce—while not losing sight of our original purpose of serving manufacturers.

New Interview Minicast Series

SME recently launched the minicast series "Manufacturing the Workforce of Tomorrow."  Created by SME’s Toni Neary, Director of Community Engagement and Workforce Innovation, each episode delivers quick, insightful interviews with industry leaders, success stories, event highlights, and resources—all focused on strengthening the future of the manufacturing workforce. We hope you will tune in!

Continuing the Momentum

It’s a pivotal time to be in manufacturing – and at SME.  I am excited about what lies ahead for this industry and our role in shaping its future. I look forward to working with you to do that.

Thank you for your ongoing support. Happy New Year!