Automation Alley: Gateway for Advanced Manufacturing Across the Globe

In October 2022, the White House launched its official National Strategy for Advanced

Manufacturing. This comprehensive strategy creates a vision for U.S. leadership in

Advanced Manufacturing to grow the economy, create high-quality jobs, enhance

sustainability, and strengthen supply chains. And when the U.S. leads, others will follow.

Therefore, it is critical to find innovators and disruptors who will lead the way and

provide a gateway for Advanced Manufacturing across the globe.

So, how exactly are these innovators and disruptors located and what is being done to

grow the advanced manufacturing industry in the U.S.?

Ron J. Stefanski knows where to locate those visionaries. One of his favorite go-to hubs

is Michigan’s Automation Alley, the nonprofit Industry 4.0 knowledge center and home

to the World Economic Forum’s US Centre for Advanced Manufacturing. Stefanski and

his co-host, Dr. Caesar, went straight to the top for this installment of

DisruptED, inviting Tom Kelly, Executive Director & CEO of Automation Alley, to share

his insights on the significant disruptions happening in the Advanced Automation space.

Even for someone with loads of experience like Kelly, keeping up with the fast-moving

changes can be daunting. Still, he sees advanced manufacturing as a golden

opportunity to jump-start the middle class in America.

“We need to recognize in America that if you make stuff, prosperity follows,” Kelly said.

“If you don’t make stuff, the rich get richer because the service economy allows the

knowledge to continue to grow, but we have to be a society for all people to have an

opportunity to be prosperous, and manufacturing is one path to that.”

Stefanski, Mickens, and Kelly’s conversation included:

• The evolution of Industry 4.0 and the ability to create value in manufacturing

• The U.S.’s position to be the global leader in advanced manufacturing

• How Automation Alley uses its platform to grow U.S. interests in advanced global

manufacturing

“Automation Alley’s mission is to change culture,” Kelly said. “We talk a lot about

technology, but that’s the false flag we put out there. Technology is interesting, and it is

how you affect the ability to be effective and efficient at small scales going forward, but

we really need to change culture—get people to recognize that I am not in

manufacturing for manufacturing’s sake.”

Tom Kelly is a globally recognized expert on Industry 4.0 and its impact on business. As

executive director and CEO of Automation Alley, Kelly oversees strategic planning and

all ongoing activities for the organization, including programs and services designed to

help businesses increase revenue, reduce costs, and make strategic decisions during

rapid technological change. Kelly joined Automation Alley in 2014. He chairs the boards

of the U.S. Centre for Advanced Manufacturing, a partnership between Automation

Alley and the World Economic Forum, and Project Diamond, an additive manufacturing

marketplace. In addition, Kelly has launched three startup companies of his own.