Manufacturers should look toward customers when deciding which aspects of their operations to change, writes Louis Columbus, a principal at IQMS. One area of improvement should be in enterprise resource planning systems, where companies can add real-time monitoring, data analytics and other technologies, he writes.

Blockchain, artificial intelligence, autonomous devices and digital twins are among the strategic technologies companies should be employing in 2019, according to a Gartner report. "Over time, we will shift from thinking about individual devices and fragmented user-interface technologies to a multichannel and multimodal experience," says David Cearley of Gartner.

For the first half of 2018, fleet driver turnover averaged 96%, the highest level in five years, according to the American Trucking Associations. To improve this, fleets are actively working to provide bonuses, expanded benefits and use of mobile freight apps, in addition to refining interview processes.

Internet of things capabilities are improving multiple areas of the supply chain, and the benefits don't need to be limited to one organization, writes Kevin Heath, chief procurement officer at Georgia-Pacific. "When a company achieves a breakthrough using IoT-enabled technology, there's a wealth of benefits in sharing that development with the world," he writes.

Vendor partnerships are helping them offer better industrial internet of things services to chemical facilities, writes Sean Ottewell. Such digitization is important for chemical companies facing a wave of retirements, while trying to innovate their manufacturing, particularly in batch or specialty chemicals, says Gordon Bordelon of Rockwell Automation.

Machine builders and users should consider using the Functional Safety Life Cycle, which looks to design at the appropriate safety level starting with the design phase, write George Schuster and Brad Prosak of Rockwell Automation. Risk and safety assessments, and agreement on functional needs are the first two steps in this life cycle.

A study from the Vision Council and the American Society of Safety Professionals found that fogging in protective eyewear is a problem, and fixing it would improve the likelihood of workers using such eyewear. "By taking the necessary measures to reduce the fogging of protective eyewear, employers will likely see an increase in compliance with eye-protection recommendations and increased worker safety," says The Vision Council.

Scholarships, public-private partnerships and manufacturing coalitions are just three ways industry can develop young talent, Jim Vinoski writes. One example is the Aerospace Joint Apprenticeship Commission in Washington state, which offers seven programs involving hundreds of companies.

Download this cybersecurity workbook courtesy of eSentire for a how-to guide covering critical topics, including recommendations that all businesses can use to build a vulnerability management program, threat management best practices for a prescriptive look at the five phases of ransomware preparing and event management, and a review of emerging technology. Want more tips and unique insight into how your organization can identify risks that are most prominent within the manufacturing industry and prevent a business-disrupting breach? Register for the Leading Edge Cybersecurity Forum on Oct. 30 in Chicago.