2026 is a leadership test for North American factories
From workforce capability to full-system integration, leading manufacturers are aligning technology and strategy to thrive in one of the toughest operating climates in decades.
3 core industries:
automotive | life sciences | consumer industrial
Based on a survey of 600+ manufacturing leaders, this report reveals how AI, automation, and workforce transformation are reshaping North American factories—and what separates successful programs from those that struggle.
Report contributors and industry leaders
It’s a year of reckoning – Are you ready?
2026 is a pivotal year for North American manufacturers. Shifting trade patterns, rising energy costs, and persistent inflation are challenging traditional cost structures and supply networks. Labor shortages, especially in automation, robotics, factory digitization, and data analytics, threaten production scalability.
New sustainability and disclosure requirements are reshaping transparency, while compliance strategies are creating one of the most challenging operating environments in decades. Yet, these pressures coincide with a rapid acceleration of AI-driven automation, creating a decisive opportunity for manufacturers that can integrate technology, workforce capability, and strategy.
Explore data-driven insights from more than 600 manufacturing executives across automotive, medical devices, and consumer-industrial sectors. You’ll discover how organizations are approaching AI adoption, workforce shortages, data challenges, and full-system integration.
Some key trends you’ll find in the report:
- Nearly 50% of manufacturers rank AI as their top automation priority. Discover where leaders are investing next.
- Only 17% of companies fully achieved automation goals in the past three years. Learn what successful programs do differently.
- 60% of organizations report limited structured data availability, one of the biggest barriers to scaling automation. Get the insights to tackle unstructured factory data.
- Integration separates leaders from laggards: Up to 65% of top performers fully integrate systems, compared with as little as 8–21% of less successful firms.
- Close to 500,000 manufacturing roles sat unfilled in early 2025, accelerating the shift toward automation and AI-driven operations. Unlock the findings on human-centric machine-driven automation.
This report reinforces that every automation decision today also shapes the AI factory built alongside it—the ability to generate, refine, and deploy intelligence for the physical factory. Top performers aren’t just adding automation; they’re building integrated systems, structured data, and clear accountability to scale intelligence.
Jeff Winter
Vice President, Commercial Strategy
Belden Inc.
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