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<\/p>\nThe National Association of Manufacturers made North Texas a centerpiece of its 2026 national tour this week, and the message was clear: the future of American manufacturing depends less on machines than on the people who run them.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo put it bluntly, workforce is not a side issue. It is the strategy,\u201d said Carolyn Lee, president of the Manufacturing Institute, describing it as the NAM\u2019s workforce development affiliate. \u201cWe don\u2019t just need people. We need talent. And that means our workforce needs the skills to succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n
NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons echoed the point. \u201cAt the very top is always the workforce and making sure that we have the people that we need to lead us forward,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Lee delivered the Manufacturing Institute\u2019s annual State of the Manufacturing Workforce Address on Wednesday at NTT DATA\u2019s North American headquarters in Plano. A panel discussion followed, featuring Lee, Timmons, NTT DATA Products Industries Global Leader Prasoon Saxena, and Celanese Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer Sameer Purao.<\/p>\n
Taken together, the address and panel made the case that the industry is at an inflection point. \u201cAll of this is happening faster than necessarily I would have banked on a couple of years ago and probably six months ago,\u201d Lee said during the panel.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Manufacturers have integrated robotics, machine learning, and data analytics on shop floors for decades, but the rapid rise of AI is connecting those systems in ways that are transforming how work gets done. Even as the sector faces a looming workforce shortfall and a generational shift in how young Americans think about careers.<\/p>\n
\u201cA shifting industry calls for more effort to train, upskill, and keep our people,\u201d Timmons said. <\/p>\n
He acknowledged that \u201cleaders in Washington truly need to invest in our policies to build that stronger workforce,\u201d but quickly pivoted. \u201cWe\u2019re the ones that need to lead the way,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
From left, NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons, NTT DATA\u2019s Prasoon Saxena, Celanese\u2019s Sameer Purao and Manufacturing Institute President Carolyn Lee during a panel discussion on AI and the manufacturing workforce at NTT DATA\u2019s North American headquarters in Plano on Feb. 25, 2026. [Screenshot\/NAM YouTube]<\/p>\n
The numbers behind the urgency<\/p>\n
Lee framed the workforce challenge as structural\u2014not a crisis, but a gap that demands action while conditions are favorable.<\/p>\n
She presented projections showing the scale of the problem. The manufacturing sector could face nearly 1.9 million unfilled positions by 2033, according to research by the Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte. <\/p>\n
More than half of manufacturers are already deploying artificial intelligence, and 80% say it will be essential to their growth by 2030, according to the Manufacturing Leadership Council, which Lee described as \u201cthe digital transformation division of the National Association of Manufacturers.\u201d <\/p>\n
In Texas alone, nearly 1 million manufacturing workers drive a sector representing between 11% and 13% of the state\u2019s economic output, according to the NAM.<\/p>\n
The other half of her data suggested the momentum is real. A Harris poll found that 50% of Gen Z-ers are interested in blue-collar careers\u2014\u201dmore than twice as high as Americans overall,\u201d Lee said. Americans\u2019 skepticism about the value of a four-year degree has grown sharply: in 2013, 40% said it wasn\u2019t worth the cost. By 2023, that figure was 56%, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo as more young people seek out skilled pathways, we must seize the opportunity to ensure they see manufacturing as a sector in which they apply those skills for a durable career,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n
AI on the shop floor: \u2018It elevates them\u2019<\/p>\n
Lee took on the fear around artificial intelligence head-on\u2014both in her address and in the panel that followed.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople often ask me whether AI is coming for manufacturing jobs,\u201d she said. \u201cHere\u2019s what I believe: AI won\u2019t take your job. But jobs will go to people who know how to use AI.\u201d<\/p>\n
She pointed to the technology\u2019s practical impact: AI-powered systems are making workplaces safer, supply chains stronger and operations more efficient. \u201cPredictive analytics reduce downtime. Smart simulations accelerate product design,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen applied the right way, AI doesn\u2019t replace workers\u2014it elevates them, pairing human judgment with machine precision to make jobs more skilled, more resilient and more rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n
To illustrate the point, Lee shared what a manufacturing leader told her about how AI is changing an operator\u2019s job. The operator who once stood at a single machine turning dials can now manage a fleet of machines\u2014assessing inputs, tracking the supply chain, monitoring materials across multiple systems.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re elevating that individual operator who needs to now have horizontal awareness across multiple aspects and manage the system instead of being the individual player,\u201d she said during the panel. Her follow-up was blunt: \u201cIs anyone ready for that?\u201d<\/p>\n
She also recounted a conversation with a 65-year-old manufacturing worker who has spent 40 years in the industry. Rather than heading for retirement, the man told her he wanted to stay. \u201cThe job is safer. It\u2019s even more interesting. I\u2019ve learned more in the last five years than I\u2019ve learned in my previous 35 years\u2014and I\u2019m excited for what\u2019s to come,\u201d Lee said, quoting the worker.<\/p>\n
\u2018We\u2019ve all watched too much TV\u2019<\/p>\n
During the panel, Lee acknowledged that the pace of change is fueling anxiety\u2014and said part of the problem is perception.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that\u2019s actually what drives the fear,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ve all watched too much TV, and so therefore the only image out there is Terminator or I Robot.\u201d The antidote, she said, is connection\u2014bringing workers closer to the technology, not shielding them from it\u2014and skills training that lowers what she called \u201cthe fear factor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe answers to this moment must come from us\u2014from manufacturers,\u201d Lee said in her address.<\/p>\n
She recalled seeing a sign on the wall of a factory she visited earlier in the tour week: \u201cWe build machines to help humans, not to replace humans. The machines help humans do more.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat didn\u2019t have a sticker on it that they just hung it up this week,\u201d Lee said. \u201cThat has always been the case. It\u2019s just more prevalent.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Celanese Chief Information Officer Sameer Purao (left) and Manufacturing Institute President Carolyn Lee discuss AI and the manufacturing workforce during a panel at NTT DATA\u2019s North American headquarters in Plano on Feb. 25, 2026. [Screenshot\/NAM YouTube]<\/p>\n
On the panel, Purao drew a distinction between jobs and roles. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely going to create jobs,\u201d he said, \u201cbut it\u2019s going to kill the roles. The roles are going to be very, very different.\u201d<\/p>\n
He pointed to operator safety rounds and inspections as an example\u2014tasks now handled by AI analytics, with the workers who once did them being retrained to interpret the data instead. \u201cYour roles are going to change, and we are going to hold hands and train you and walk you through the newer roles,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For employers and boards, there is no choice. There is no choice, Purao said. \u201cIt\u2019s a survival.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour kids or your grandkids bond with these gadgets \u2026 They\u2019re not going to be able to work in the manufacturing environment that is not digitalized,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Saxena described how AI is collapsing what used to be four or five separate roles\u2014mechanic, shop floor worker, IT technician, technologist\u2014into a cross-skilled position where one person needs to understand the data, the equipment, and the systems together.<\/p>\n
Saxena thinks \u201cit\u2019s going to create more jobs\u2014and also new companies will emerge because of that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Employers at the center<\/p>\n
Lee noted that the workforce solution has to be employer-led.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one understands the skills manufacturing requires better than employers themselves,\u201d she said in her address. \u201cIf workforce is the strategy, then employers must help design it, lead it, and sustain it.\u201d<\/p>\n
She pointed to the FAME apprenticeship program\u2014the Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education\u2014as a model. Since the Manufacturing Institute took over stewardship of FAME from Toyota six years ago, the program has more than doubled in size, Lee said. It now includes nearly 500 companies across 17 states with an 85% job placement rate with sponsoring employers.<\/p>\n
The MI\u2019s investment case is strong. McKinsey & Company assessed the institute\u2019s programs last year and found that \u201cfor every dollar invested in the MI, it generates a fivefold return in total economic impact,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n
Training matters for retention, too. An MI survey found that 69% of manufacturing employees under 25 said training was a motivating factor in their decision to stay with their employer.<\/p>\n
\u2018When manufacturing leads, America works\u2019<\/p>\n
Timmons, who also chairs the Manufacturing Institute\u2019s board, framed the moment as an inflection point during the panel.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is our moment,\u201d he said. \u201cWe shape our own destinies. We drive our own talent, we build our own workforce, and we need to master the right approach to do exactly that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lee closed her address with a sweep through manufacturing\u2019s historical role in the American economy\u2014\u201dfrom the factories that powered the Industrial Revolution to the assembly lines that mobilized an arsenal of democracy, from the boom that built the middle class to the advanced production that created the modern economy\u201d\u2014and brought it back to the present.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen manufacturing leads, America works,\u201d she said. \u201cSo, let\u2019s lead\u2014together.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 2026 NAM State of Manufacturing Tour, which earlier visited New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Wisconsin, continues to Houston and concludes Friday in Phoenix. The full address and panel discussion<\/a> are available on YouTube.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t miss what\u2019s next. Subscribe\u00a0to\u00a0Dallas\u00a0Innovates.<\/p>\n Track Dallas-Fort Worth\u2019s business and innovation landscape with our curated news in your inbox Tuesday-Thursday.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \tR E A D\u00a0\u00a0 N E X T\t<\/p>\n \t Backed by the Department of Defense and $200 million in private capital, the new facility helps companies prototype and scale battery technologies for both commercial use and national defense. The launch comes at a time when supply chain independence is a growing priority. Government and industry leaders recently got a first look.<\/p>\n \t A global leader in liquid cooling for data centers, LiquidStack said its new 17,000-square-foot facility will increase its production capacity, while serving as a new R&D and service training facility.<\/p>\n \t Austin-based Flex said its new facility in East Dallas “significantly boosts production capacity and efficiency” for its grid-to-chip data center power infrastructure solutions, including power pods, power distribution units, and low-voltage switchgear.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Beacon02_UTD_970x464-02.jpg\"){kind=tracking}
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