Anna Horton

At the 2025 edition of the North American Manufacturing Excellence Summit series we sat down with some of the team from AlixPartners to talk about what manufacturing leaders can do to move their operations forward at a time when long-term planning is off the table for the time being.

The answer is surprisingly positive!

Making the mental shift from working on the strategic big picture to the tactical best practices that day-to-day operations depend upon opens up many opportunities to give time, attention, and resources to the issues and ideas that are sometimes forgotten about or put to one side as ‘good enough’ or ‘not a priority.’ The truth is there are many easy wins and low-hanging fruits that are not worked on in times of stability and certainty that can add up to substantial improvements in productivity, profitability, and employee job satisfaction when leaders concentrate within their own operations and teams to optimize what they can control while waiting for greater clarity on what is still up in the air in the future.

For an optimistic and impactful conversation about what manufacturers can do right now to make impactful positive changes in their organizations right now, give this episode a listen!