Summary
Automation Alley is a World Economic Forum Advanced Manufacturing Hub (AMHUB) for North America and a nonprofit Industry 4.0 knowledge center with a global outlook and a regional focus. We facilitate public-private partnerships by connecting industry, education and government to fuel Michigan's economy.
The economy appears to be stable. But for manufacturers, the reality is more complex — and becoming more difficult to manage. There isn’t a single factor responsible for the current. It’s an accumulation of pressures driving up the overall cost of doing business....
In today’s manufacturing landscape, where data drives decisions and automation accelerates production, an uncomfortable truth remains: many organizations still don’t actually know whether the data they’re collecting is the right data. Sensors, quality stations, SPC...
In today’s automotive industry, cost pressure is a constant challenge cemented deep within the industry. Annual OEM price‑down expectations, volatile raw‑material markets, electrification investments, capacity constraints, and customer cost penalties for quality...
Rising costs continue to pressure manufacturers. Inflation, higher fuel prices driven by geopolitical uncertainty and ongoing tariff impacts are increasing the cost of materials, transportation and daily operations.
Manufacturing leaders argue that true ownership of GD&T (Geometric Dimensioning & Tolerancing) must extend beyond design to a shared, end-to-end responsibility across engineering, production, and quality teams to ensure functional intent is preserved throughout the product lifecycle.
Independent, third-party cost assessments consistently outperform internal reviews for automotive Tier 1 suppliers by uncovering structural inefficiencies, and enabling faster, more sustainable cost transformation.
