From AI, to cybersecurity, to decentralizing utility grids, Smart Industry's Scott Achelpohl breaks down highlights from the monthlong web series that SI debuted to start the new year.

Rosemary Coates is the executive director of the Reshoring Institute, as well as the President of Blue Silk Consulting. She has more than 30 years of experience in supply chain, reshoring, and nearshoring, and is the author of several books including 42 Rules for Sourcing and Manufacturing in China, and the Reshoring Guidebook.

Rosemary appeared on the podcast in 2024 to talk about the general impact that reshoring initiatives were having in North America, and in this new episode she unpacks some of the ripple effects on reshoring that might occur as a result of new 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico curretly being proposed by the Trump administration.

U.S. troops are not likely to invade Panama to retake the Panama Canal, but U.S. influence over the trade zone could expand greatly in the next few years, says Andrew Thomas, a professor at the University of Akron and author of books about the Canal and the shale gas boom making the canal more influential.

In a wide-ranging interview with IndustryWeek Editor-in-Chief Robert Schoenberger, Thomas explains why the Canal is relevant again after decades of being something that the United States wanted to divest, how China became a dominant player in the region and how Trump's new insistence that the U.S. retake control of the canal could play out.

The conversation builds on a series of stories that Thomas wrote for the publication:

• China Saw Opportunity in the Panama Canal as US Interest Dwindled
• Trump, China and Shale: What's Next for the Panama Canal?

Many modern manufacturing plants generate some amount of electricity, either from solar panels on the roof or diesel generators or natural gas turbines. Some are trying to meet sustainability goals, others are working to ensure they'll have the power they need to run production.

Great power not only comes with great responsibility (my apologies to Stan Lee), it comes with managment challenges. Making use of on-site power typically demands a microgrid to cycle betwen power from utilities and the electricity generated by other resources.

As part of IndustryWeek's regular Production Pulse livestream series, we invited several experts to discuss what microgrids are, why they're growing and what to expect in the near term.

Speakers were:

• Jana Gerber, president of Schneider Electric's North American microgrid business
• Rod Walton, managing editor of Microgrid Knowledge, part of IndustryWeek's parent company Endeavor Business Media
• David Paganie, content director for the upcoming Microgrid Knowledge Conference

Phillip Russell, a partner with Ogletree Deakins, offers his insights into what OSHA under a new Trump administration will be like, and offers suggestions on how companies can best work with OSHA.

About the Article

What Will OSHA Look Like Under New Administration? “I think we will see innovation from Trump 47 like we’ve never seen before,” says Phillip Russell, Ogletree Deakins. Read the article

Joe Kuhn, CMRP, former plant manager, engineer, and global reliability consultant, is now president of Lean Driven Reliability LLC. He is the author of the book “Zero to Hero: How to Jumpstart Your Reliability Journey Given Today’s Business Challenges” and the creator of the Joe Kuhn YouTube Channel, which offers content on starting your reliability journey and achieving financial independence. In our monthly podcast miniseries, Ask a Plant Manager, Joe considers a commonplace scenario facing the industry and offers his advice, as well as actions that you can take to get on track tomorrow. This episode offers insight into process management and avoiding the drift away from standards.

Get an inside look at four game-changing technological developments poised to change multiple industries.

2024 was been a year of remarkable growth and innovation for the manufacturing sector, with global supply chain challenges and innovations in smart manufacturing pushing companies to adapt and rethink their strategies. But what's in store for 2025? In this podcast, the editors from Endeavor Business Media’s Manufacturing Group look forward at the trends they will be keeping their eyes on in the new year.