Advanced Manufacturing Now

We speak with Alexandra Levit, workforce futurist and founder of Inspiration at Work, and Stephanie Loeck, vice president of strategic development at GPS Education Partners, about their book Make School Work and the growing impact of work-based learning.

The manufacturing industry is transitioning into a new era of additive implementation, from massive automotive-scale builds to ultra-precise micro 3D printing. We dive into the evolving landscape of this technology in our preview of the April 2026 edition of Manufacturing Engineering and Technology, just ahead of RAPID + TCT 2026.

2026 is not about transformation - it's about survival through smarter allocation. Manufacturing leaders are entering the year with fewer people, tighter margins, and far less patience for initiatives that don't deliver measurable ROI. Based on CADDi's 2026 Industry Report, this session breaks down where manufacturers are still investing, what they're deliberately avoiding, and how the best teams are extracting more output from the assets and data they already own. We'll explore:
Why 69% of companies are prioritizing physical assets - and why automation and robotics are winning over headcount
Why data access, not headcount, is becoming the real productivity multiplier
How "selective improvement" is replacing broad transformation - and what that means for ROI, resilience, and speed
Join us for a data-backed look at where the industry is heading and how leading manufacturers are extracting more value from the assets, systems, and people they already have.


Presenters:
Aaron Lober
VP of Marketing
CADDi
Chris Cope
VP of Engineering
CADDi
Patrick Harrigan
VP of Partnerships
CADDi
Brought to you by: CADDi


Visit https://advancedmanufacturing.org/webinars for more webinars and an interactive experience with visuals.

SME Media Editor-in-Chief Steve Plumb and Associate Editor Cary Gitter are joined by SME's Dave Morton, group director, events; Suzy Marzano, senior manager, industry development and technical activities; and Stacey Eeman, director, industry strategy, for a special preview of RAPID + TCT—North America's largest additive manufacturing event—and the AeroDef Manufacturing showcase, coming up in Boston April 13-16.
This is an audio recording of our latest episode of Advanced Manufacturing Live. Follow SME Media on LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube to catch our next episode live.

We sit down with Matthew Bush, CEO of Hirebotics, to discuss the rapid rise of cobots in modern manufacturing and how they are transforming operations across industries.