WMF Report on manufacturing presented

The first day of the World Manufacturing Forum 2018, the international manufacturing event that, as of this year, is permanently hosted in Cernobbio. Record numbers for this seventh edition: 30 international speakers (out of 45 in total) taking to the stage at Villa Erba and approximately 900 participants from over 40 countries. These are highly encouraging figures for the newly established World Manufacturing Foundation (founded by Confindustria Lombardia, Intelligent Manufacturing Systems, and the Politecnico di Milano), which confirm the global scale now achieved by the World Manufacturing Forum.

The President of the World Manufacturing Foundation, Alberto Ribolla, opened the WMF by sharing the Foundation's vision and mission, as well as its three strategic activities (producing the WMF Report, organising the annual WMF, and holding regional dissemination events). He highlighted the natural fit of the WMF finding a permanent home in Cernobbio, given the centuries-old manufacturing tradition of Italy and, in particular, Lombardy—one of the four motors of Europe. Thanking the WMFoundation's founding members, partners, and supporters, Ribolla noted that "manufacturing brings prosperity to people—social and economic prosperity. For this reason, it represents the best investment in terms of resources, ideas, and synergies to ensure a sustainable and equitable future for populations. This is why we must generate and disseminate a culture of enterprise globally, which is the primary purpose of the WMFoundation." Ribolla concluded by thanking the Lombardy Region, a strategic partner from the very beginning, and the European Commission for the support they have provided and will continue to provide to the Foundation.

Among the new features introduced in the 2018 edition, the most anticipated was the presentation of the first WMF Report on manufacturing, titled '2018 World Manufacturing Forum Report - Recommendations for the Future of Manufacturing', a document developed by 30 global experts, informed by over 150 policy papers, which will play a central role in the Foundation's activities.

In the report, presented at the opening of the forum by Marco Taisch, WMF Scientific Chairman, manufacturing is defined as an architect of social prosperity that can help countries develop other key sectors of their economies and create positive economic growth. However, while manufacturing plays a vital role in the global community, there are numerous future challenges to address. These include shifting social megatrends, the need for specific skills, the digitalisation of the entire supply chain, the requirement to create new urban manufacturing ecosystems, the hyper-personalisation of manufacturing, and demographic and climate changes, among many others.

The WMF Report proposes addressing these challenges through a series of specific actions:

- Cultivate a positive perception of manufacturing

- Promote education and skills development for the benefit of society

- Develop effective policies to support global entrepreneurial initiatives

- Strengthen and expand infrastructure to enable future-oriented production

- Encourage ecosystems for manufacturing innovation worldwide

- Create attractive workplaces for all

- Design and produce socially-oriented products

- Assist SMEs with digital transformation

- Explore the real value of data-driven cognitive manufacturing

- Promote resource efficiency and country-specific environmental policies

DOWNLOAD THE WMF REPORT

Numerous guests, including representatives from national and international institutions and the global industrial sector, took to the stage at Villa Erba for the plenary sessions. These included:

Marco Bonometti, President of Confindustria Lombardia; Attilio Fontana, President of the Lombardy Region; Michele Geraci, Undersecretary at the Italian Ministry of Economic Development; Signe Ratso, European Commission – DG Research and Innovation; Mike Lackey, SAP; Julien Tognola, French Ministry of Economy and Finance; Marco Lavazza, Lavazza; Luc Triangle, IndustriAll Europe; Ralf Michael Wagner, Siemens; Jayson Myers, Next Generation Manufacturing Canada; Jorge Ramos, Embraer.

Numerous topics were explored during the first day of the World Manufacturing Forum:

‘Global innovation priorities from 2030’, ‘Manufacturing as a value-add for society’, ‘International policies for the development of advanced manufacturing and global cooperation’, ‘Solving skills challenges in manufacturing: creating a skills market’.

Numerous speakers are scheduled for the final day of the World Manufacturing Forum on Friday 28 September, including: Li Yong, UNIDO, Vincenzo Boccia, President of Confindustria, Massimo Garavaglia, Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance, Pichet Durongkaveroj, Minister of Digital Economy and Society of Thailand, Ilijana Vavan, Kaspersky, Fabio Borsotti, Leonardo, Flemming Besenbacher, Carlsberg.