John Brandt, MPI Group

John Brandt, CEO and founder of The MPI Group and the former editor-in-chief and publisher of both Chief Executive and IndustryWeek magazines. He is an accomplished management innovator and an internationally recognized expert on manufacturing and technology. His book, NINCOMPOOPERY: Why Your Customers Hate You—and How to Fix It, is based on groundbreaking research into leadership and performance excellence across more than fifty thousand organizations. At IndustryWeek, John led the development of the IW Value Chain Survey, the IndustryWeek 1000, the World’s Best Managed Companies Program, and the IW Census of Manufacturers. And during his tenure, the magazine garnered more than 70 editorial awards for excellence. We discuss the MPI Group’s work in collaboration with the Ohio Manufacturing Extension Partnership and the Ohio Manufacturing Institute on Digital Transformation for Manufacturers, a NIST MEP-funded pilot program. Key terms: digital transformation, Industry 4.0, manufacturing innovation