Explore the Agenda
8:00 am Registration & Refreshments
8:40 am What it Takes to Make a LEAP a Reality
8:50 am Chair’s Opening Remarks
Removing Barriers to Workforce Participation Through Family & Health Support Strategies
9:00 am Discover: Empowering Manufacturing Families: How The Manufacturing Institute Is Helping Employers Remove Childcare Barriers
- Addressing one of the most significant workforce challenges by creating a comprehensive guide for manufacturers that outlines childcare solutions, from on-site facilities to stipends and resource navigation, tailored to different levels of investment and operational complexity
- Equipping employers with practical strategies to support working parents, including leveraging government programs, building partnerships with local providers, and designing flexible benefits that align with shift-based work environments
- Driving measurable impact by improving retention, reducing absenteeism, and strengthening talent pipelines, positioning childcare support as a critical lever for workforce participation and competitiveness in manufacturing.
9:20 am Discover: Unlocking Hidden Health Benefits to Build Trust & Retention in Manufacturing Workforces
- Navigating rising healthcare costs and economic uncertainty by aligning benefits strategies with the evolving reproductive health needs of workers, from family formation to postpartum care, and menopause support
- Identifying low-cost, high-impact benefit enhancements and policy updates that already exist within most organizations, helping employers build trust, satisfaction, and long-term loyalty
- Leveraging real-world examples from a leading manufacturer to uncover hidden value in existing benefits investments and drive measurable improvements in retention and employee engagement
9:40 am Develop: How Can Manufacturers Address Family & Health Needs to Strengthen Retention & Workforce Engagement?
- What practical strategies help employers overcome childcare challenges in shift-based environments without excessive cost or complexity?
- How can organizations uncover hidden value in existing health benefits to build trust and loyalty among employees?
- What role do partnerships with local providers, government programs, and flexible benefits play in creating inclusive workforce support?
- How can manufacturers measure the ROI of family and health initiatives beyond retention, such as engagement, absenteeism, and productivity?
10:00 am Action: What Practical Steps Can You Take to Integrate Childcare & Health Support Into Your Talent Strategy?
- Where in your current benefits and workforce programs are gaps creating barriers for working parents or employees with evolving health needs?
- How can you leverage existing resources, partnerships, and low-cost enhancements to deliver high-impact solutions quickly?
- What governance mechanisms (e.g. retention KPIs, absenteeism rates, engagement scores) can track the success of family and health initiatives?
- How can you position childcare and health benefits as strategic levers for talent attraction and competitiveness in manufacturing?
10:20 am Innovate: Recognition: The Fuel That Powers a Thriving Workforce
- Employee recognition fuels engagement by making people feel valued, motivated, and connected to their work
- Recognition strengthens retention and loyalty, helping organizations keep top talent in a competitive workforce
- What gets recognized gets repeated—reinforcing positive behaviors, strong performance, and organizational values
- Consistent, genuine recognition builds a thriving culture where employees feel respected, energized, and committed
10:30 am Speed Networking Break
Track A: Talent Acquisition
Reclaiming Speed & Strategic Control in Plant Hiring Through Automation & TA Transformation
11:10 am Brace for the Greenfield Talent Crunch: How TA Leaders Can Build an Agile, Skills-First Model to Protect Capacity Ahead of a 12-18 Month Demand Surge
- Analyzing national Greenfield build activity to forecast a coming “talent crunch,” modelling how hundreds of new facilities will intensify competition for both hourly manufacturing talent and critical salaried roles such as maintenance managers, supervisors, and plant leaders
- Designing a flexible 70/30 TA team structure, 70% perm, 30% contractor, creating the ability to ramp capacity up or down within 30-60 days, reducing surge‑hiring costs by up to 25% while maintaining continuity through demand shocks
- Implementing a skills‑based recruiting approach to expand beyond the traditional competitor set, increasing accessible talent pools by 40%+ and reducing time‑to‑fill risk as Greenfield demand spikes across pharma, semiconductors, automotive, and advanced manufacturing
11:30 am Discover: Reclaiming Hiring Control & Speed: How Johnson Controls Is Replacing RPO with Automation to Cut Time-to-Fill by 50% & Optimize Plant Hiring ROI
- Reclaiming ownership of plant hiring by replacing a fragmented, HR-led model and underperforming RPO with an internally led TA function, reducing vendor spend, regaining control over recruiter resourcing, and cutting time-to-fill from 50–60 days to 20
- Designing a scalable automation-first strategy that uses chatbot-driven applications, dynamic interview routing based on candidate responses, and visual assessments to evaluate plant-readiness, enabling faster, smarter hiring decisions while preserving human touchpoints
- Targeting a further 50% reduction in time-to-fill and unlocking measurable productivity gains, by aligning recruiter bandwidth with operational needs, minimizing vacancy-driven downtime, and positioning TA as a strategic lever for cost-effective workforce planning
11:50 am Develop: How Can Manufacturers Harness Automation & TA Redesign to Accelerate Hiring Without Losing Human Touch?
- What are the most effective ways to diagnose inefficiencies in current TA processes and translate insights into scalable solutions?
- How can automation-first strategies (AI screening, chatbots, dynamic interview routing) improve speed while maintaining candidate experience?
- What governance and structural changes help organizations reclaim control from vendors and embed TA into workforce planning?
- How can organizations measure the ROI of TA transformation beyond cost savings, such as productivity, engagement, and operational continuity?
12:10 pm Action: What Practical Steps Can You Take to Build an Automation-Enabled TA Model That Drives Speed & Strategic Impact?
- Where in your current hiring process are bottlenecks slowing time-to-fill, and what quick-win automation pilots could address them?
- How can you restructure TA teams and embed technology to reduce vendor dependency and improve recruiter bandwidth?
- What metrics, beyond time-to-fill, can track success, such as vacancy-driven downtime, candidate experience scores, and cost-per-hire?
- How can you align TA transformation with plant-level operational priorities to ensure scalability and measurable business impact?
Track B: Learning & Development
Embedding Leadership & Learning Into Daily Operations for Consistent Performance
11:10 am Discover: Delivering AI-Powered, Bilingual Leadership Tools to Equip Frontline Managers & Drive Consistent Team Performance
- Rolling out bilingual, just-in-time leadership tools designed for ease of use in fast-paced manufacturing environments, helping frontline leaders apply key behaviors like recognition, accountability, and communication with minimal training
- Leveraging lightweight AI-driven technology to provide clear expectations, reinforce consistent leadership practices, and ensure the program could be sustained at the site level, even with limited organizational development support
- Combining digital tools with peer-led learning sessions to create a scalable, collaborative structure that builds confidence, encourages knowledge sharing, and improves team performance across diverse leadership levels
11:30 am Discover: Embedding Learning into Daily Operations to Build Skills, Strengthen Leadership & Sustain Production in a Lean Manufacturing Environment
- Addressing talent development challenges in manufacturing by narrowing the experience gap between tenured and new employees without compromising output or labor budgets
- Developing frontline leaders through in-the-moment people skills training that leverages daily touchpoints to build trust, reinforce expectations, and drive accountability
- Demonstrating how O-I is building a two-track development model, using microlearning for specialized technical roles and daily leadership coaching to close the skill gap while tracking impact through defect reduction, engagement quality, and long-term trends in absenteeism, injury, and safety event rate
11:50 am Develop: How Can Manufacturers Integrate Leadership Development & Learning Into the Flow of Work Without Disrupting Production?
- What strategies help frontline leaders apply consistent behaviors in fast-paced environments with minimal training?
- How can AI-driven tools and microlearning be leveraged to reinforce leadership and technical skills in real time?
- What role do bilingual resources and peer-led learning play in creating inclusive, scalable development models?
- How can organizations measure the impact of embedded learning on performance, engagement, and operational metrics?
12:10 pm Action: What Practical Steps Can You Take to Embed Leadership & Skills Development Into Daily Manufacturing Operations?
- Where in your current workflow are gaps in leadership consistency or skill readiness creating risk, and what quick-win initiatives could address them?
- How can you combine digital tools with peer-led learning to build confidence and sustain knowledge sharing?
- What governance mechanisms (e.g. defect reduction, engagement scores, safety event rates) can track the success of embedded learning programs?
- How can you design bilingual, just-in-time resources that meet the needs of diverse teams without adding complexity?
12:30 pm Networking Lunch
Track A: Talent Acquisition
Scaling Recruitment Strategy for Global Growth & Operational Agility
1:30 pm Discover: Repositioning Recruitment as a Strategic Engine: How Unimacts Saved $2M+ & Scaled Global Hiring Through a Manufacturing-Focused Recruiting Center of Excellence
- Identifying the inefficiencies of reactive, vendor-led hiring and pivoting to a centralized Recruiting Center of Excellence to support expansion across manufacturing hubs in the U.S., Mexico, Asia, and Europe
- Delivering $2M+ in cost savings, 300+ hires, including 100+ in hard-to-fill roles like Plant Managers, Directors of Engineering, and steel production experts, and reducing time-to-fill by up to 50%, while eliminating $30K-$100K per executive search
- Embedding recruiting into workforce planning, P&L leadership, and post-acquisition integration by deploying a modern ATS/HRIS, standardizing global SOPs, and transforming recruiters into strategic advisors who drive business outcomes
1:50 pm Develop: How Can Manufacturers Transform Talent Acquisition & Development Into Engines for Sustainable Growth?
- What strategies help organizations pivot from reactive, vendor-led hiring to centralized, strategic recruiting models?
- How can talent acquisition be embedded into workforce planning and business operations to drive measurable cost savings and scalability?
- What role do external partnerships and internal progression frameworks play in sustaining hypergrowth without compromising quality or culture?
- How can organizations balance speed and rigor in hiring while building long-term pipelines for critical roles?
2:00 pm Action: What Practical Steps Can You Take to Build Scalable Talent Strategies That Support Global Expansion & Operational Continuity?
- Where in your current hiring process are bottlenecks slowing time-to-fill, and what quick-win automation pilots could address them?
- How can you restructure TA teams and embed technology to reduce vendor dependency and improve recruiter bandwidth?
- What metrics, beyond time-to-fill, can track success, such as vacancy-driven downtime, candidate experience scores, and cost-per-hire?
- How can you align TA transformation with plant-level operational priorities to ensure scalability and measurable business impact?
Track B: Learning & Development
Closing Skills Gaps & Accelerating Competency Through Scalable Development Models
1:30 pm Discover: Blueprints for Agility: How Exela Pharma Sciences Used DACUM to Cut Time to Competency by Up to 60% in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
- Diagnosing skill gaps in pharma production and quality roles by engaging high-performing employees and supervisors in DACUM sessions to decode real job functions and define the precise skills, knowledge, and behaviors needed for success in GMP-regulated environments
- Remapping training for speed, compliance, and precision through DACUM-generated skill blueprints, translated into targeted learning maps linked to microlearning and on-the-job evaluation, with L&D, operations, and QA collaborating to ensure alignment with pharmaceutical standards
- Driving measurable impact and future readiness by reducing time to competency by 40–60%, improving training consistency and internal mobility, and laying the groundwork for AI-driven skill profiling and strategic workforce planning in pharma manufacturing
1:50 pm Develop: How Can Manufacturers Design Skills Frameworks & Training Models That Future-Proof Operations?
- What strategies help organizations move from ad-hoc training to structured skills academies aligned with workforce planning and production needs?
- How can DACUM and similar methodologies accelerate competency while ensuring compliance and precision in regulated environments?
- What role do external partnerships, apprenticeships, and advanced training centers play in building sustainable talent pipelines?
- How can organizations measure the ROI of skills academies and competency frameworks beyond speed, such as retention, mobility, and operational resilience?
2:00 pm Action: What Practical Steps Can You Take to Build Scalable Skills Development That Drives Workforce Readiness?
- Where in your current training approach are gaps slowing competency or creating compliance risk, and what quick-win pilots could address them?
- How can you leverage skill blueprints, microlearning, and on-the-job evaluation to accelerate readiness and mobility?
- What governance mechanisms (e.g. proficiency frameworks, competency dashboards, apprenticeship KPIs) can track progress and sustain impact?
- How can you integrate skills development into the rhythm of work while aligning with future operational and technological needs?
2:20 pm Networking & Refreshments
Redesigning Leadership Layers to Restore Operational Stability & Workforce Confidence
2:50 pm Discover: Rebuilding Supervisory Structure to Transform Plant Performance: How Shawmut Is Aligning Workforce Planning with Operations
- Diagnosing the operational impact of leadership gaps – a legacy decision to cut supervisors created uncontrolled spans of responsibility, eroding safety culture, morale, and quality standards across manufacturing lines
- Partnering with operations and workforce planning to reintroduce critical supervisory roles, implement leadership development, and embed accountability frameworks that connect structure to the employee lifecycle and plant-level performance
- Driving measurable improvements in key metrics, targeting reductions in safety incidents, faster time-to-fill for frontline roles, improved retention, and higher engagement, while building a sustainable operations model to maintain long-term productivity gains
3:10 pm Develop: How Can Manufacturers Address Family & Health Needs to Strengthen Retention & Workforce Engagement?
- What are the hidden costs of leadership gaps, and how can organizations quantify their impact on safety, morale, and quality?
- How can HR and operations collaborate to reintroduce critical roles without creating inefficiencies or inflating costs?
- What frameworks ensure accountability and connect leadership structure to measurable plant-level outcomes?
- How can organizations future-proof supervisory models to withstand turnover, scaling, and operational complexity?
3:20 pm Action: What Practical Steps Can You Take to Embed Supervisory Excellence Into Workforce Planning?
- Where in your current structure are leadership gaps creating risk, and what quick-win pilots could address them?
- How can you integrate leadership development and accountability frameworks into supervisory roles to sustain improvements?
- What governance mechanisms (e.g. safety KPIs, engagement scores, time-to-fill metrics) can track progress and ensure long-term productivity gains?
- How can you build cross-functional partnerships between HR, operations, and workforce planning to maintain alignment and scalability?