The National Association of Manufacturers’ Manufacturing Leadership Council recognizes these world-class manufacturing companies and individual leaders for their outstanding efforts.

Manufacturers of the Year

Small/Medium Enterprise: Protolabs

Large Enterprise: Anheuser-Busch InBev

Manufacturing Leader of the Year

Dr. Albert Bourla, CEO, Pfizer Inc.

Project Winners

(* – Denotes High Achiever, or highest scoring project in each category)

AI and Machine Learning

  • A.O. Smith Corporation
  • Albemarle Corporation
  • Anheuser Busch InBev (AB InBev) – Utilities Consumption Reduction with AI Engine (SORBA)*
  • AUO Corporation – AU Optronics Smart Factory – L5C Case Factory
  • Corning Incorporated – Product Quality through Automated Vision and Deep Learning
  • Corning Incorporated – Finishing Process Data Analytic Platform Based on Sheet Resume Traceability Data System
  • Corteva Agriscience – Agricultural Product Manufacturing Improvement via Advanced Analytics
  • Ford Motor Company – AI Applied to E-Connectors Not Fully Home Detection
  • Genentech, A Member of the Roche Group – SmartSearch
  • General Electric Renewable Energy
  • Hino Motors Manufacturing, USA
  • Lexmark – Lexmark Optra Edge AI Offering to Streamline Lexmark Printer Manufacturing Complexity
  • Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.
  • Repsol
  • Seagate Technology
  • Shell – Chemicals and Products

Collaborative Ecosystems

  • Advanced Manufacturing International (AMI)
  • BAE Systems
  • Dunlop Protective Footwear
  • Genentech, A Member of the Roche Group – Transforming IT and OT at Roche and Genentech to Accelerate the Journey Towards a Digital Manufacturing Network
  • Hitachi Energy
  • Lexmark – Expanding Lexmark’s Circular Economy Opportunities
  • Lockheed Martin – The “Voice of the Machine” at Lockheed Martin
  • MxD – Digital Twins for Process Manufacturing: Open Architecture
  • Protolabs*
  • Schneider Electric – EcoStruxure Automation Expert
  • Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.

Digital Network Connectivity

  • Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) – Structured Analysis of Downtime and Asset Performance Management Tool (AODS)*
  • AUO Corporation – Whisper from the Robots – How AUO Finds Opportunities with AIoT
  • CertainTeed LLC – CertainTeed FaCTory+ Program
  • Johnson & Johnson – E2E Supply Chain Control Tower
  • Merck & Co., Inc. – Utilities Analytics at Merck & Co. – Unlocking the Potential of our BAS Data
  • Nexteer Automotive – Nexteer Traceability MES

Digital Supply Chains

  • Cisco Systems, Inc.
  • Dow Inc. – Global Digital Trade Facilitation Program*
  • General Motors – General Motors’ Build Shy Initiative to Protect Our Customers
  • IBM Corporation – Agility During Disruption – Managing Supplier and Inbound Activity
  • Johnson & Johnson – Advance Case Management Digital Case Coordination
  • Lexmark – Lexmark ShortStop: A Supply Chain Digital Twin for Navigating Crisis
  • Merck & Co., Inc. – Merck Digital Logistics
  • Pfizer

Engineering and Production Technology

  • Applied Medical – In-House Metal Injection Molding
  • Chart Industries, Inc. – Chart Industries China ISO Capability Expansion
  • CNH Industrial
  • Ford Motor Company – High Complexity Line Troubleshooting Simplification Using Visualization Concept
  • General Motors – Factory ZERO: GM’s Launchpad to an All-Electric Future*
  • Maxion Wheels – Maxion Wheels Uses Industry 4.0 Tools to Reduce Manufacturing Cycle Time and Scrap
  • Kenworth Truck Company – Henrob Error Proofing – Chillicothe
  • Kenworth Truck Company – Kenworth Paint Facility
  • Kenworth Truck Company – Electrostatic Paint Gun Touch Up Facility
  • Lockheed Martin Aeronautics – Visual Verification for Aircraft Assembly
  • Lockheed Martin Aeronautics – Automated Fastener Fill System
  • MxD – Pathfinder Phase I: Securing 3D Printers in Manufacturing
  • National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining – Low Cost Reduced Range Practice Rockets – LCRRPR
  • National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining – High Performance Additive Manufacturing Thermoplastics
  • Peterbilt Motors Company – Structural Fastening Equipment Modernization
  • VIRTEX
  • Webasto Americas

Enterprise Integration and Technology

  • Bergin Fruit & Nut Company Inc.
  • Clarios
  • Corning Incorporated – M4.0 Framework
  • Flex – Facilitating the Production of the World’s Most Complex Product with the Evolution of a Smart Factory*
  • Ford Motor Company – Machine Event Cycletime Monitoring (MECM)
  • Intertape Polymer Group
  • Johnson & Johnson – Johnson & Johnson Supply Chain SMART Factory*
  • Merck & Co., Inc. – Merck Animal Health Presents: The Next Generation of Biopharmaceutical Data Analytics
  • Nexteer Automotive – Nexteer Digital Process Data Monitor
  • Spice World, LLC
  • The Hershey Company
  • Whirlpool Corporation – Project Tracking System (PET)
  • Worthington Industries
  • Zebra Technologies Corporation

Operational Excellence

  • ACP Solutions Inc.
  • Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) – AI Digital Workforce and Knowledge Share Platform (Acadia + DeepHow)*
  • Applied Medical – Custom Electronic Device History Record (eDHR) Application with Iris Scanning Technology
  • Big Ass Fans
  • Chart Industries, Inc. – Chart Industries Teddy Trailer Revamp
  • Chart Industries, Inc. – Tulsa Flex Facility
  • Cooley Group – Cooley Creates Digital Thread to Optimize Manufacturing Performance in Real Time
  • Corteva Agriscience – Isoclast™ Capacity Expansion and Yield Improvement Project
  • Flex – The LISA Line Stop Assistant: Putting Employees at the Center of Efficient Operations
  • Genentech, A Member of the Roche Group – Genentech Vacaville Facility Programming
  • GM Defense, LLC
  • Maxion Wheels – Maxion Wheels Improves Fallout with Track and Trace Digitalization System
  • Peterbilt Motors Company – Peterbilt Offline Priority Dashboard
  • Procter & Gamble – Integrated Work System 5.0
  • Smithfield Foods, Inc. – Innovation Effort at Smithfield’s Cudahy Facility Achieves Operational Excellence
  • Starkey
  • Synthomer
  • The Raymond Corporation
  • Whirlpool Corporation – Global Kaizen Power Pitch

Sustainability and the Circular Economy

  • AUO Corporation – Meet the Water Drop for 27 Times in AUO*
  • CertainTeed, LLC – Leveraging Operational Efficiency to Solve for Sustainability and Circular Economy
  • Cooley Group – Cooley’s Energy Conservation Projects Drive to Net Zero Waste
  • Corteva Agriscience – Advanced Technology for Successful Reklemel™ Active Ingredient Product Manufacture
  • Dow Inc. – Dow St. Charles Operations Hydrogen Optimization and Carbon Reduction
  • Flex – Advancing Sustainability with Ambitious Goals and Across Value Chain Partnerships
  • Hologic Inc.
  • IBM Corporation – Empowering Sustainability, One Supply Chain at a Time … from Development to Fulfillment to Services
  • Ingersoll Rand
  • Maxion Wheels – Maxion Wheels Reduces Carbon Footprint with Online Utilities Monitoring
  • Morgan Advanced Materials
  • Procter & Gamble – P&G SKII Manufacturing to Net Zero
  • Pure & Gentle, Inc.
  • Saudi Aramco – Energy Intensity Reduction at Multiple Gas-Oil Separation Plants through Innovative Patents and Energy Management Program
  • Saudi Aramco – Zero-Flaring Invention to Boost Production from Low-Pressure Oil Wells and Revival of Dead Wells
  • Schneider Electric – Leveraging Energy Efficiency and Circular Economy to Enhance Sustainability
  • Smithfield Foods, Inc. – How Smithfield Foods’ Renewables Projects are Achieving its Net Zero Goals

Transformational Cultures

  • Aerojet Rocketdyne
  • ALOM Technologies*
  • Benchmark
  • Cooley Group – Cooley Breaks Down Traditional Power Structures to Empower All Employees to Create Change
  • General Mills, Inc.
  • General Motors – Factory ZERO: Driving EVolution on the AVenue of Engagement
  • Greene Tweed
  • IBM Corporation – Citizen Data Scientist: Next Gen Drivers of Transformation
  • MxD –  Advantages and Barriers to Smart Manufacturing for Medical Products
  • Oracle
  • Peterbilt Motors Company – Safety Program Improvements
  • WCCO Belting, Inc.

Editor’s Choice Award

Flex – LISA Line Stop Assistant

Individual Winners

Digital Transformation Leadership

  • Catherine Briley, Cooley Group
  • Cornelia Coles, Johnson & Johnson
  • Michael Everly, Renfro Brands
  • Matthew Fabrizio, Greene Tweed
  • Mike Gerlach, 3M
  • Ethan Hill, Greene Tweed
  • Brent Railey, Chevron Phillips Chemical
  • Jeff Skarda, Kimberly-Clark North America
  • Jessica Spurlock, Rubberlite, Inc.
  • Jeffrey R. Tazelaar, Dow Inc.
  • Bharatbhushan Virmani, Schneider Electric
  • Brian White, BAE Systems
  • Jon Wilk, CompoSecure, L.L.C.
  • Joan Yeo Lay Him, IBM Corporation

Next-Generation Leadership

  • Blaise Nugent, Ford Motor Company
  • Daniel Shrives, Saint-Gobain
  • Danielle Renham, WCCO Belting, Inc.
  • Gorashi Gorashi, Genentech, Inc.
  • Hayley Dwight, Cooley Group
  • Katelyn Kelsey, Dow Inc.
  • Martin Daniel Jimenez Rodriguez, IBM Corporation
  • Nate Aguilar, Starkey
  • Sarah Walworth, Webasto Americas
  • Wildaline Serin, MxD

Partner Winners

  • Advanced Technology Services
  • AVEVA
  • Dassault Systèmes
  • ECI Software
  • FORCAM
  • IoTco
  • L2L
  • NTT DATA, Inc.
  • Oro, Inc.
  • Predictronics
  • Seeq
  • Ultra Consultants