The future of manufacturing will not be shaped by technology alone. It will be shaped by partnerships — across companies, industries, research institutions, regions and, increasingly, across borders.

 

Baden-Württemberg and Wisconsin are particularly well positioned to contribute to this future. Both regions have strong manufacturing traditions, a highly skilled workforce, world-class research and innovation ecosystems, and a large number of successful family-owned and mid-sized companies.

 

At the same time, both face similar challenges: increasing global competition, supply chain resilience, the transformation toward climate-neutral production, digitalization, artificial intelligence, and the need to attract and develop the next generation of manufacturing talent.This creates a strong foundation for cooperation.

The central question for this panel is not whether Baden-Württemberg and Wisconsin have a shared future in manufacturing. The question is how ambitious we want that future partnership to be.