Insight on Manufacturing

March 2013

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By Margaret LeBrun Photographs and video by John Behrens, Ark Media Group Connecting you with thought leaders for insight on innovative ideas that work Engineering is a rapidly changing field today, given highly competitive global markets and rapidly changing technology. On top of that, filling leadership positions in manufacturing and related industries is becoming an enormous challenge for many companies. This is becoming even more challenging as the baby boomers age and the ranks of long-time employees retire, according to the Manufacturing Vitality Index (see page 24), a survey of regional companies conducted by the NEW Manufacturing Alliance. To delve into this topic with our Insight on Manufacturing readers, we teamed up with Cheryl Perkins, president and founder of Innovationedge, a Neenah-based firm that provides consulting for Fortune 50 companies worldwide. Perkins led a round-table discussion – an "InForum," as we call it – to explore the issue with thought leaders from throughout the New North region. On these pages we offer a few key take-away ideas from the discussion. In our digital magazine online, we invite you to click on the photographs of each participant, including Perkins, and listen to their brief remarks following their discussion. The complete podcast of the InForum appears on our Insight YouTube site, InsightMagazineWI. In our digital magazine, click here: http://tinyurl.com/d76gk9w. "Are you able to influence? Are you a lateral thinker, or can you bring different groups together and help them collaborate? Those that do have these soft skills can even better exploit the engineering background that they have." —Cheryl Perkins, Founder and president, Innovationedge Q: Why is it so hard to fill leadership roles in engineering today – and what can we do about it? InForum takeaways I f you look back over the last 10 to 15 years, many things are changing in the field of engineering. Among them: n In-sourcing vs. outsourcing. For a while, work was being outsourced outside the United States, and now we're seeing things "in-sourced." n Collaboration. We're seeing multifunctional teams brought 18 | / insight on manufacturing • March 2013 together – regardless of whether they are with the company itself or a partner from the outside, bringing the right expertise, the right functions together to deliver on the business proposition. n A need for soft skills. We're witnessing an evolution involving requirements for engineering skills. In the past we concentrated on purely technical skills and experience. But now more than ever, some of the soft leadership skills are even more important. Are you able to influence? Are you a lateral thinker, or can you bring different groups together and help them collaborate? Those that have these soft skills can even better exploit the engineering background that they have. Tune in (online) and hear from some of these engineering leaders about what other things are evolving within their engineering functions today. F — Cheryl Perkins w w w.in s i g h t o n m f g .c o m

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