3D-printing company Stratasys, with $660 million in annual revenue, is fueled by co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer Scott Crump's ideas and energy, colleagues say. "Part of why he's so successful as a leader is his open-door policy and his appreciation for every person's role, as well as his internal fire to innovate," says executive Dick Anderson.

Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Justin Saliman combined his medical expertise with entrepreneurial curiosity to create suturing company Ceterix Orthopedics, which he sold to Smith & Nephew this year for $105 million. "The reason I chose to combine business and medicine is I knew I wanted to be able to make a positive health impact on a macro level," he says.

Nissan will put all US employees on an unpaid two-day furlough at the beginning of January and reduce employee travel expenditures as Nissan deals with declining sales. The automaker's US sales are down 7.8% this year through November.

Introducing the industrial internet of things to the supply chain can provide more visibility and improve efficiency, writes Boris Shiklo, chief technology officer at ScienceSoft. He lists four steps to follow, starting with evaluating current visibility, then introducing a flexible IIoT solution.

The majority of manufacturing managers and operations professionals said their companies are pursuing industrial internet of things-related technology modernization to some degree, according to an Automation World survey. Nearly half said they trail their peers in introducing such technologies.

Three of the nation's largest utilities -- Duke Energy, American Electric Power and Xcel Energy -- are leading the way on decarbonization and have set goals to eliminate carbon use by 2050, writes Aaron Larson. While the shift mirrors the views of many lawmakers, their efforts to embrace wind and other renewables indicate the transition is driven by market forces and not policies, he writes.

Electrical systems manufacturer Eaton has training centers and labs at colleges in Houston and Pittsburgh that recruit workers for various careers. The company also has training centers for entry- and mid-level employees and is involved with STEM programs.

The digitalization and automation of the oil and natural gas industry is starting to disrupt roles, with tech workers and job titles such as data scientist, user experience designer and agile coach becoming ever more common as blue-collar jobs become obsolete. Companies like Enbridge and Baker Hughes are counting on tech pros to streamline operations and boost profits.