by Gary Mintchell | Jul 14, 2025 | Podcast
AI has generated more hype and obfuscation than all the words from ChatGPT. OK, maybe I exaggerate, but the amount of scare talk is endless. I try to take a more rational and down-to-earth look at the issue from the point-of-view of manufacturers. I argue that AI now and in the future should be viewed as a tool that will help humans work better and more productively. I use an example from an interview with Mike Payne, co-owner and president, of Hill Manufacturing–a production machine shop operation in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Mike was introduced to me by Hexagon. This podcast is sponsored by the Ignition Community Conference by Inductive Automation.
This podcast reflects some of my current thinking about AI hoopla.
by Gary Mintchell | Jul 11, 2025 | Networking, News
Up at my usual 5:30 am this morning. In place of my usual routine, I joined a Microsoft Teams conference at 6:00 (1300 CEST) for the announcement of two network associations from Germany, each promoting Single Pair Ethernet (SPE), have joined forces for joint marketing, PR, and most likely development.
Several of the major fieldbus associations joined forces recently as companies looked at the costs of overlap. This one appears to be a group begun by HARTING, TE Connectivity, HIROSE, Würth Elektronik, Bizlink, MURR Elektronik and Softing called SPE Industrial Partner Network and one headed by Phoenix Contact, Weidmüller, Sick called Single Pair Ethernet System Alliance.
The groups have been working separately for about six years for the development and promotion of SPE technology.
The SPE Industrial Partner Network e.V. and the Single Pair Ethernet System Alliance e.V., consisting of numerous well-known industrial companies, have been committed to the dissemination and further development of SPE since their inception. Until now, they have operated independently with their own members, working groups and areas of focus. With the growing awareness and relevance of SPE in the market, the networks have come closer together since the Hannover Messe 2025 and now plan to coordinate their activities in the future.
The aim is to bring the strengths and combined expertise of both networks even more effectively to bear in the market and to further accelerate the spread of SPE. The first joint activities are already planned for 2025: both networks will be represented with a joint stand at SPS Atlanta 2025 – Smart Production Solutions USA from 16 to 18 September. Both networks will also play a key role in shaping the SPE Forum on 22–23 October in Ludwigsburg, Germany, with coordinated presentations. The year will conclude with a joint exhibition stand at SPS – Smart Production Solutions from 25–27 November 2025 in Nuremberg.
Both networks have been committed to the development of international standards for SPE since the beginning. Together, they support the SPE connector standard IEC 63171-7 and are consistently driving forward its expansion to include a uniform IP20 SPE mating profile. This standard forms a connecting element for the world of automation and creates a uniform basis for future-proof industrial communication. Other existing connector solutions and the associated international standards remain unaffected and continue to be valid for the numerous fields of application of SPE.
A central focus of the collaboration is the further internationalisation of Single Pair Ethernet. The aim is to make the advantages of SPE visible worldwide and to give users around the globe access to a powerful, efficient and future-oriented network technology.
The numerous member companies of both networks are pooling their extensive expertise and innovative strength to create a strong and sustainable SPE ecosystem. This will enable users worldwide to benefit from practical solutions that pave the way for digitalisation.
by Gary Mintchell | Jul 9, 2025 | News
I have had a bunch of vacation travel (with another upcoming) so am a bit behind on some news. The Reshoring Initiative has had an admirable proselytizing activity for quite some time. I’ve met and talked with its President, Harry Moser, a couple of times.
Even before becoming an editor some 25 years ago, I pondered the necessity for a strong manufacturing base (in our country, but each other country, as well) as a strategic advantage. These thoughts married my career in manufacturing with my university studies in international politics and political philosophy. As I watched bean counters take control of companies and send manufacturing off-shore pursuing low wages (and evidently ignoring other ancillary costs), I pondered the effects on the country.
The news here is the Reshoring Initiative 2024 Annual Report. The concern I have about the report (which is the same with publicity about manufacturing investments and jobs announced by the Trump administration) centers on announcements rather than real numbers.
These reservations hold for the second news item below—that of GE Appliances reshoring some jobs it had previously shipped overseas.
The thought is welcome for the US, but we must watch for the reality.
The Reshoring Initiative 2024 Annual Report shows that 244,000 U.S. manufacturing jobs were announced in 2024 via reshoring and foreign direct investment (FDI), continuing the nation’s push to rebuild domestic production capacity. While early 2025 job announcements are trending lower, policy stability could quickly unlock another wave of reshoring-driven investment.
Since 2010, over 2 million jobs have been announced as U.S. companies and foreign investors bring manufacturing closer to U.S. customers, driven by rising geopolitical risk, supply chain vulnerabilities, and growing bipartisan support for American industrial competitiveness.
Key Findings from the Report:
- 244,000 jobs were announced in 2024; 1.7 million jobs have been filled since 2010.
- Reshoring by U.S. headquartered companies outpaced FDI by foreign headquartered companies by the largest margin on record in 2024.
- High-tech industries are driving growth: 88% of 2024 jobs were in high or medium-high tech sectors, rising to 90% in early 2025.
- Industries leading in 2024: Computer & Electronics, Electrical Equipment (including EV batteries and solar), and Transportation Equipment.
- Texas, South Carolina, and Mississippi are top 2025 states for reshoring and FDI.
- Asia remains the largest source of reshored + FDI jobs, while South Korea, China, and Germany led among individual countries.
- Tariffs are now a key motivator: Cited in 454% more cases in 2025 vs. 2024. Government incentives cited 49% less as previous subsidies phase out.
- Workforce constraints loom large: U.S. manufacturing apprenticeships rose 83% over the past decade, but far more skilled workers are needed to sustain reshoring growth.
Key risks:
- Policy uncertainty is delaying investment decisions.
- Potential retaliatory tariffs could dampen U.S. export opportunities.
- Low-tech industries remain under-reshored, leaving U.S. supply chains vulnerable for mass-market consumer goods.
- Without comprehensive reforms, U.S. manufacturing costs remain 10–50% higher than offshore competitors, driving most import decisions.
The Reshoring Initiative advocates for a true national industrial policy focused on:
- Massive investment in skilled workforce development (modeled after German apprenticeships).
- A 20% lower USD to improve global cost competitiveness.
- Retention of immediate expensing of capital investments.
- Smarter use of tariffs and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) analysis to drive lasting reshoring.
GE Appliances Reshoring Again!
On June 26, GE Appliances, a Haier Company, announced a $490 million investment to reshore production of washers and washer/dryers from China, creating 800 new full-time jobs in 2027. The Reshoring Initiative offered to highlight this announcement because of GE Appliance’s historic role launching, documenting and making credible U.S. reshoring.
The Reshoring initiative was founded in 2010. In 2012, despite my best efforts, reshoring was still a trickle that no one had heard of. Then I, and I believe hundreds of thousands of others, read Charles Fishman’s article “The Insourcing Boom” in the December 2012 issue of The Atlantic. In great detail, Charles described how GE Appliances reshored appliance production from China to Appliance Park, which employed “a tenth of the people in its heyday.” The article reviewed a broad range of benefits GE Appliances achieved by reshoring. Most memorable to me was the benefit of having manufacturing near engineering. The assembly team and engineering cooperated to simplify appliance design to reduce component cost and assembly time to make U.S. assembly competitive. Even though the Chinese manufacturing cost was still substantially lower, the U.S. total cost was lower due to inventory costs and delivery issues. For years, I quoted the article in my presentations. With this announcement and several earlier investments, Kevin Nolan, CEO GE Appliances, has walked his talk: “I’ve always said, this is just economics, people are going to realize that the savings they thought they had aren’t real, and it’s going to be better and cheaper to make them here.”
Harry Moser, President, Reshoring Initiative
by Gary Mintchell | Jul 8, 2025 | Asset Performance Management, Process Control
Process automation companies like sending press releases when they get a new project. This news in interesting on two fronts. One, it details the use of drones and robots for monitoring and maintenance. Two, this details Yokogawa and Shell working together on the project.
Yokogawa Electric Corp. announced that it has formalized a long-term agreement with Shell Global Solutions International B.V. (“Shell”) to integrate and further develop technologies for utilizing robots and drones in plant monitoring and maintenance. Under the agreement, Yokogawa will add an advanced machine vision tool called Operator Round by Exception (ORE), developed by Shell, into its own OpreX Robot Management Core. The enhanced software service will be made available by Yokogawa to customers in the energy, chemicals, and other industries.
ORE is a digital solution that uses machine vision and AI analytics to enable robots to autonomously perform a number of tasks in the operator round process, such as reading gauges and checking for leaks and machinery issues. It is the result of a two-year collaborative effort within Shell, which combined machine vision strategy with deep capabilities in the field of integrity management, remote site inspection, and corrosion management.
OpreX Robot Management Core is a key product in Yokogawa’s robot solutions. The software helps customers maintain their facilities in a safer and more efficient manner by integrating the management of various types of robots that perform plant maintenance tasks conventionally carried out by humans. When connected to a plant’s control and safety systems, the data acquired can be used to issue instructions to robots, thus enabling the first step to be taken toward autonomous plant operations. The addition of Shell’s ORE technology will significantly increase the number of use cases available to customers through OpreX Robot Management Core.
Moving forward, Yokogawa robotics operations will deploy at two Shell facilities as a pilot into how robotics and drones can deliver value through efficiencies in plant monitoring and maintenance.
This collaboration is the first key milestone for Yokogawa working alongside Shell in the collaboration space at the Energy Transition Campus Amsterdam, which was created by Shell in 2022 to provide a platform for collaboration between companies, societal organizations, governments, and universities to work on tomorrow’s energy solutions. Shell and Yokogawa have also agreed to collaborate on an aligned R&D roadmap to further develop and enhance the machine vision technology, ensuring continuous innovation and improvement. This collaboration underscores both companies’ commitment to providing cutting-edge solutions to the energy and industrial sectors.
by Gary Mintchell | Jul 8, 2025 | Commentary
There are two groups of people I’ve yet to see anything approaching intelligence about manufacturing—politicians and journalists.
M.G. Siegler writes in his latest newsletter about the new pressures from the Trump administration to get Apple to manufacture iPhones in the US. These politicians seem to think there is a magic wand that will immediately set up factories, find workers, build automation, establish supply chain, and start production at a competitive cost.
Now we know what the magic wand is—AI.
Siegler quotes:
White House trade advisor Peter Navarro criticized Apple CEO Tim Cook on Monday over the company’s response to pressure from the Trump administration to make more of its products outside China.
“Going back to the first Trump term, Tim Cook has continually asked for more time in order to move his factories out of China,” Navarro said in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.” “I mean it’s the longest-running soap opera in Silicon Valley.”
I first ran across Siegler when he wrote for Michael Arrington’s old TechCrunch website. He then became a VC for a while after Arrington sold TechCrunch. He’s on his own, now, writing about technology, especially Apple, and entertainment.
Siegler continues:
On one hand, it’s sort of wild that the administration has zeroed in on Apple here given not only all of Cook’s legwork over many years now to get into the President’s good graces, but also because the entire idea of manufacturing the iPhone in the US is just pure crazytown fantasy. Even if it were possible for Apple move such manufacturing, it would take years to get all the pieces up and running. And it would all-but destroy Apple’s business as we know it today because it would destroy the economics of their most-important device.
Siegler then offers advice to Tim Cook:
It’s not that complicated. Cook should just say they’re going to move iPhone manufacturing to the US – and then never actually follow through with it. Sure, this takes some amount of soul-selling to do, but honestly, we’re past that point already. How many other companies have promised things to give the President a good soundbite that simply are not going to happen? Undoubtedly a lot.
But then Navarro has a simple solution:
With all these new advanced manufacturing techniques and the way things are moving with AI and things like that, it’s inconceivable to me that Tim Cook could not produce his iPhones elsewhere around the world and in this country.
So, all of you manufacturing technology geeks who read my musings, what are you doing? Why haven’t you used AI yet to magically reduce manufacturing costs and smooth the supply chain and source materials?
Am I being sarcastic? Those are all questions (except the AI part) I wrestled with 50 years ago. I bet you are all wrestling with them today. Every day. As we used to say, it’s nontrivial.
