The Most Innovative Manufacturing Companies Of The Year—And What They Reveal About The Future Of The Industry
Manufacturing leaders know just how difficult it is to lift your head up from the day-to-day work of running a business to create a technology strategy and roadmap — and do truly innovative things.
So, I’m encouraged by Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in Manufacturing list, which includes not only startups, but also long-standing firms who are innovating. Where they’ve concentrated their efforts provides a glimpse into the industry’s future, from supply chain tech to 3D printing, sustainability, and more. Here are five takeaways from the winners.
1. Technology will reshape the supply chain
Case in point: Kraft Heinz, the massive food and beverage company, which received a wake-up call during the pandemic. Faced with the reality that its supply chain was vulnerable, Kraft Heinz began work to automate its management system. The result, five years since the pandemic began, is three-fold. The company’s Lighthouse software keeps an eye on key supply chain metrics. Its digital platform, Connected Worker, brings together insights from across the company’s global factory footprint. And Kraft Heinz also uses digital twin, which helps the company recreate its physical operations in digital form so it can monitor efficiency and pinpoint areas of need.
The transformation has rapidly paid off. Supply chain waste is down 40%, sales forecasting is 20% more accurate, and inventory forecasting is 35% more accurate, all adding up to an estimated $1.1 billion in gross efficiencies over a less than two-year period.
2. 3D printing can significantly speed up manufacturing
Case in point: Ursa Major, which is tackling the problem that, “rockets take much longer to build than they do to fly,” as FastCo puts it. Using additive manufacturing, Ursa Major’s Lynx production system can quickly print parts for solid rocket motors and efficiently switch from producing one type of motor to another. That’s an important development in the country’s ability to restore defense stocks that, most recently, dwindled as the U.S. provided aid to Ukraine. “One Lynx cell can print 1,600 solid-rocket motor casings for anti-tank weapons a year, more than three-quarters of the DOD’s surge-production rate for the Javelin anti-tank missile,” FastCo writes.
That’s good enough for the U.S. Navy, which gave Ursa Major a $12.5 million contract in 2024.
3. There’s a market for sustainability
Case in point: P2 Science and HT Materials Science, a couple of green companies who’ve found a willing market. P2 works in the historically fossil fuel-reliant cosmetics industry, developing more sustainable options that aim to replace problematic polymers. Business is good: P2 projected 175% revenue growth in 2024 versus 2023.
Meanwhile, HT is tapping into its own sizable market, helping companies hit their sustainability and energy efficiency goals without tearing down facilities and rebuilding. HT’s additive, called Maxwell, works to improve heat transfer inside existing HVAC hardware – resulting in efficiency improvements of up to 20%.
4. Listening to your customers is a fast-track to product breakthroughs
Case in point: Window and door-maker Pella, which sent representatives out to job sites to talk to the actual installers of its products and quickly noticed a common refrain. About 85% of window installers wanted a version they could put in from the inside, while standing on a floor, rather than the outside, while standing on a ladder.
The resulting Steady Set windows that Pella developed has helped crews cut down on time spent outdoors, extended several feet up off the ground, which comes with inherent dangers. Since its 2024 debut, already 15% of new-construction wood window projects have used the new design, Pella says.
5. AI will reach every manufacturer through software
Case in point: Keychain, an AI-powered platform that helps companies in consumer goods packaging find and vet manufacturing partners that fit their needs. That has been a traditionally troublesome process that can take months or years depending on complexity — which is on the rise as new food rules keep greater tabs on what we consume.
Keychain’s technology uses AI to provide data in real time on production availability, schedules, and cost. Increasingly, this will be the way of the world for manufacturers — they’ll need to work with software providers that have figured out how factories can put AI to use.
The manufacturers that thrive over the next decade will be the ones that seize whatever technology opportunities emerge and figure out how to use them to improve competitiveness and profitability. These examples of the most innovative companies in manufacturing show just how powerful tech can be to any company eyeing growth. And with lingering global uncertainty, this may be the only sure bet for manufacturing.
This article was written by Ethan Karp from Forbes and was legally licensed through the DiveMarketplace by Industry Dive. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.
