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Industry · Week 44, 2026

Manufacturing

What the field argues about, where people say it is heading, and what those ahead of the curve are doing.

Startups and building things
0.2%
People quoted
19

AI-generated Questions, positions and links named by an AI model from the quotes and figures on this page. Every quote is checked word for word against its source; numbers come only from the surveys shown. How subject pages are made

Manufacturing

Media

Manufacturing

Opinions

The questions the field argues about, and each side in the words of the people who hold it.

What will make domestic manufacturing competitive?

Build demand first

Local demand is the route to domestic production growth, with the EV market offering more potential than energy storage.

I'll tell you the way to have the biggest impact on the domestic battery manufacturing industry is by having high demand. If you get high demand here locally, that domestic manufacturing will follow very quickly.

Kurt KeltyShift Key with Robinson Meyer, 7 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem

The EV market is much, many times bigger than you'll ever get in the ESS market. So the, and we think, I mean, I think the upside here is tremendous on the EV market side.

Kurt KeltyShift Key with Robinson Meyer, 7 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem

Secure the supply chain

Domestic manufacturing depends on bringing supply chains to the West and making sourcing resilient.

I think the biggest challenge is the supply chain. How are we going to bring this supply chain over to the West? It just is clearly still dominated by the Chinese.

Kurt KeltyShift Key with Robinson Meyer, 7 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem

I think it also de risks us from supply disruptions, being vertically, vertically integrated and having our own source of materials. I'd say it's more from a resilience standpoint, ensuring supply.

David CollettiAutoline After Hours, 2 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem

Integrate teams and production

Keeping engineering, production and related functions together can help connect development with manufacturing.

Even Tesla today, where they've got their production in Texas and they've got R and D in one location, pilot in another location, prototype, we've got everything in one location, which really gives us an advantage because you can imagine putting engineers together.

Kurt KeltyShift Key with Robinson Meyer, 7 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem

The first platform team was the LH and it was cross functional engineering, purchasing, manufacturing, finance, product planning, design, all working together on the same team and got that one launched.

Chris TheodoreAutoline After Hours, 16 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem

Should manufacturers prioritize new technology or lower costs?

Cut costs with existing tools

Manufacturers should use technology already in place to reduce costs rather than make new technology the priority.

My experience is the most of the OE customers are not interested in that right now. They have plenty of technology. They've invested a lot in technology. Now it's, how do we take the cost out with the technology that we have?

David CollettiAutoline After Hours, 2 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem

What I've grown to appreciate more in these last couple years being in industry is how important designing for cost, designing for manufacturability and understanding one's supply chain is to having a viable product.

Geoff NormanAutoline After Hours, 26 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem

Redesign and simulate

Starting from scratch and testing virtually can reduce reliance on existing manual processes and physical iterations.

The really good manufacturing plants didn't automate the manual process that humans did. They started from scratch.

Josh BersinFounder and CEO, The Josh Bersin Company; global industry analystThe Josh Bersin Company, 18 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem

Instead of building and testing everything, can you do stuff virtually so you're not building and testing as many iterations as we have in the past? And then are there lighter materials, less expensive materials to put in the tires?

David CollettiAutoline After Hours, 2 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem

Manufacturing

Emotions

What published surveys counted when they asked people in and around the field.


Pulse

Pulse: what readers say

Readers who answered, not a representative sample.

Manufacturing

Direction

Robotics forecasts point toward broader deployment, while other voices stress that hardware, data and dexterity remain constraints.

But our goal next year is overall just deploying hundreds of robots.

Jason MaLatent Space: The AI Engineer Podcast, 13 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem

I think this EcoSystem, the physical AI ecosystem in robotics is going to scale much, much faster because it has such a great foundation.

Dermot O'DriscollThe Road to Autonomy, 20 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem

Manufacturing

Goals and visions

Forecasts and visions, with when they were said and when they can be checked.

  1. Opennext yearCheck on 31 Dec 2027

    But our goal next year is overall just deploying hundreds of robots.

    Jason MaLatent Space: The AI Engineer Podcast, 13 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem
  2. Open

    I think this EcoSystem, the physical AI ecosystem in robotics is going to scale much, much faster because it has such a great foundation.

    Dermot O'DriscollThe Road to Autonomy, 20 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem
  3. Openbeyond 2036Check on 31 Dec 2036

    Deployable dexterity will remain pathetic compared to human hands beyond 2036.

    Rodney BrooksRoboticist; co-founder and CTO, Robust.AI; MIT professor emeritusPredictions Scorecard, 2026 January 01, 1 Jan 2026Report a problem

11 more in the Pro forecast tracker

Manufacturing

Ahead of the curve

What practitioners ahead of the curve say they do now.

  1. Keep engineering, production, prototyping and research together to support collaboration across stages.

    Even Tesla today, where they've got their production in Texas and they've got R and D in one location, pilot in another location, prototype, we've got everything in one location, which really gives us an advantage because you can imagine putting engineers together.

    Kurt KeltyShift Key with Robinson Meyer, 7 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem
  2. Form cross-functional platform teams spanning engineering, purchasing, manufacturing, finance, planning and design.

    The first platform team was the LH and it was cross functional engineering, purchasing, manufacturing, finance, product planning, design, all working together on the same team and got that one launched.

    Chris TheodoreAutoline After Hours, 16 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem
  3. Use virtual development to reduce how many physical iterations need to be built and tested.

    Instead of building and testing everything, can you do stuff virtually so you're not building and testing as many iterations as we have in the past? And then are there lighter materials, less expensive materials to put in the tires?

    David CollettiAutoline After Hours, 2 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem
  4. Buy and hold extra components in reserve to prepare for possible supply needs.

    So we've been quite lucky that we made a decision early on to buy up a bunch of FPGAs more than we needed. And there was talk of using them in a separate product. So we had them on standby.

    Christian SimpsonThe Game Business Show, 20 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem
  5. Stay close to customers and their operating conditions instead of waiting for requirements to arrive.

    One and most importantly is to understand our customers, their operating environment and in sort of stay close to understanding their needs. So we're not waiting for a requirement to come from them.

    Geoff NormanAutoline After Hours, 26 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem

Manufacturing

Topics and industries

Where this field meets other topics, careers and industries.

Week 44, 2026 · 19 people quoted

Manufacturing

Discussion

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