Bending without breaking

What does it actually take to keep a small manufacturer competitive right now?

That is not a rhetorical question. For the thousands of small and mid-size manufacturers across Illinois, it is the question sitting at the center of every leadership conversation right now. Technology is moving fast. The workforce is thinning. Tariffs are shifting. And the pressure to do more with less has never been louder.In this episode of the Modern Industrialist Xchange Podcast, Jason Hehman sits down with David Boulay, President of IMEC, the Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center, to talk about what is actually working on the ground for manufacturers navigating this moment.

The experts:

• Host: Jason Hehman Industrials Vertical Lead at TXI and founder of the Modern Industrialist Xchange (MIX) community. Jason works at the intersection of technology, operations, and workforce in manufacturing and industrial sectors. Connect with Jason on LinkedIn

• Guest: David Boulay President of IMEC, the Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center. David leads an organization that has worked with over 3,400 Illinois manufacturers in the past year alone, helping small and mid-size companies scale through technology, workforce development, and continuous improvement. Connect with David on LinkedIn

Key take-aways:

1. Process has to come before technology. Every time. It sounds obvious, but it is still one of the most common and costly mistakes manufacturers make. Boulay put it plainly: before any technology investment, you have to understand the process it is supposed to improve. Deploying a tool around a broken process does not fix the problem. It hardens it. The manufacturers seeing real ROI from technology are the ones who did the unglamorous work first, mapping gaps, identifying pain points, and only then evaluating solutions.
2. The workforce challenge is bigger than a skills gap. Boulay pushed back on the "skills gap" framing in a way that is worth sitting with. The real issue, he argues, is population. Flat population growth combined with uncertain immigration policy means there simply are not enough people entering the workforce to fill manufacturing roles at the pace the industry needs. The skills gap is real, but it is layered on top of a deeper supply problem.
3. The next 10 years are actually something to look forward to. This is not a take you hear often enough. Boulay sees a convergence happening that he thinks will fundamentally reshape domestic manufacturing for the better. Federal and state industrial policy is being built out in a way it has not been in decades. A new generation of owners is coming up with a different relationship to technology and data. And the tools available to small and mid-size manufacturers, especially digital technologies, are closing the gap between them and much larger competitors.

Why this conversation matters for industrial leaders

The MIX podcast exists because the most useful conversations in manufacturing tend to happen between people who are actually doing the work, not in conference keynotes or industry reports. This episode is a good example of that. Boulay's perspective is grounded in daily contact with manufacturers across Illinois, which makes his read on technology adoption, workforce, and the road ahead worth paying close attention to.

If you are an operations leader, plant manager, or small manufacturer trying to make sense of where to put your energy right now, this one is worth an hour of your time.

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