Middle market manufacturers need to understand whether they are equipped to use humanoid robots.
Key takeaways
The chemicals sector faces soft demand, pricing pressure and an uncertain global trade landscape.
Even with rising AI investment, execution remains a major issue in the manufacturing industry.
What is the manufacturing outlook?
RSM’s manufacturing outlook provides insights into the major trends shaping the U.S. manufacturing sector throughout the year. In our latest edition, we examine how robotics is evolving on the factory floor and growth strategies for chemical companies amid economic uncertainty. Other recent topics include the data center boom’s impact on the industrial ecosystem and what artificial intelligence looks like in the manufacturing industry.
Our analysts highlight actionable strategies and solutions to help industrial businesses navigate these challenges and remain competitive.
Manufacturing trend 1: Robot-ready: The next wave of automation for manufacturers
For middle market manufacturers, humanoid robots won't take over the factory floor overnight. However, as labor constraints, wage pressure and global competition intensify, companies need to have a clear understanding of whether they have the operational, digital and workforce capabilities needed to start deploying these technologies as they advance.
Manufacturing trend 2: Growth strategies for middle market chemical companies
The chemical sector remains challenged by soft demand, pricing pressure and an uncertain global trade environment. For middle market companies, success as these challenges continue will depend on disciplined cost management, strategic and opportunistic capital deployment, customer and product mix optimization, and the agility to adapt to evolving supply chain dynamics.
Manufacturing trend 3: How the data center boom is reshaping the industrial ecosystem
Major hyperscaler cloud service providers have announced an eye-watering level of capital expenditures in recent years amid the data center boom. Such investment, while positive, is adding demand pressure to the industrial ecosystem. More than generating demand, delivering against it in a constrained environment will be one of the biggest challenges for industrial companies.
Manufacturing trend 4: AI investment for manufacturers: From experimentation to capital expenditure
Whether operating in the United States or in Europe, manufacturers increasingly see investment in artificial intelligence as a core driver of future productivity, profitability and competitiveness rather than a discretionary innovation spend. While adoption remains uneven, the shift is clear: AI is moving from small-scale pilots to routine capital expenditure embedded within wider digital and operational strategies.
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