Processing's Weekly Mixer: How close is the chemical industry to true autonomy, and more
Welcome to the latest installment of Processing's Weekly Mixer, which highlights recent content from EndeavorB2B brands relevant to process manufacturers.
This week's entry features content from Chemical Processing, Control Design, Automation World and Plant Services, as well as this week's content from Processing.
How close is the chemical industry to true autonomy?
While most chemical facilities are highly automated, they still rely on varying levels of human oversight. And according to one industry observer, some plants have been slow to embrace digitalization in their day-to-day operations, a key barrier to autonomy.
Still, there are signs that the industry is making progress in the transition from automation to autonomy. And the good news, according to Yokogawa, is that “even in specific processes or at a limited scale,” autonomous operations “can deliver substantial benefits across industries.”
Decentralized drive systems: Saving costs and boosting industrial uptime
Why 61% of manufacturers still haven't fully deployed AI and how to close the gap
According to NIST, only 39% of manufacturers have fully deployed AI in their production operations. And though manufacturers are ramping up AI adoption this year, it seems that widespread use has not yet translated into enterprise-wide transformation.
There’s a clear gap between ambition and execution.
Success of AI deployments depends on manufacturers knowing where to start, how to scale and how to achieve tangible results. AI is set to revolutionize the shop floor but only for those organizations willing to make changes across four critical areas.
Five reliability professionals share their top challenges
The skills gap facing U.S. manufacturers gets more challenging every year. In 2024, Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute found that there could be as many as 3.8 million net new employees needed in manufacturing between 2024 and 2033, and that around half of these jobs (1.9 million) could remain unfilled if the talent conundrum is not solved.
Adding to the situation is the issue of training current workers. The World Economic Forum’s 2025 jobs report states that about 40% of the core skills in the manufacturing and supply chain sectors will change in the next 3-5 years and, as a result, more than 54% of incumbent workers will need additional training by 2030.
Last month at the 2026 Fluke Xcelerate event in Austin, TX, the event team gathered together five maintenance professionals to identify and tackle the most pressing real-world problems facing them and their teams. Nobody tried to boil the ocean and solve every problem; instead, the panel helped identify the top shared pain points currently facing maintenance and reliability, including a lack of skilled workers.
