At this year’s Manufacturing Leadership Council Rethink 2025 event, the mood among senior leaders was clear: the desire to modernize is stronger than ever, but real-world challenges are slowing the pace of transformation.
First let's make one thing clear: Rethink is a fantastic event, bringing into one environment a huge amount of manufacturing leadership expertise, united by the shared aim of harnessing the best technology to deliver the next generation of US manufacturing.
We had in-depth conversations with dozens of strategic leaders representing a wide spectrum of manufacturing organizations. Their collective enthusiasm for digital transformation — particularly in the realm of documentation, training, and operations — was unmistakable. Yet nearly all shared common concerns and frustrations that are worth highlighting.
Paper and PDFs Still Rule the Floor
It’s 2025, and yet roughly 75% of manufacturers are still relying to some degree on paper-based or static PDF instructions for critical operational tasks like assembly, maintenance, and inspections.
This is not for lack of awareness of superior alternatives. Leaders clearly understand – and communicated to us – the limitations of legacy formats:
- Difficult to update and distribute
- Hard for new workers to follow
- Not integrated with other systems
- Nearly impossible to mine for insights or improvement
The problem isn’t vision — it’s execution.
Modernization is a multi-year project
Many attendees spoke candidly about their digital transformation timelines. While eager to modernize, they acknowledged that the scale of the challenge is massive. As one attendee put it:
“The data we have is a mess. It’s all over the place — Word docs, paper binders, PDFs, tribal knowledge. Cleaning it up will take years.”
For most companies, transforming documentation and workflows into digital, accessible formats will require a phased, multi-year strategy. This isn’t a “rip and replace” moment — it’s a methodical journey that demands buy-in, change management, and pilot successes.
The Industry Faces Shared Pain Points
It was clear that the challenges manufacturers face are systemic:
- Data is siloed across departments and systems.
- There are no standard formats or protocols forsharing and structuring work instructions.
- Most teams lack the resources or internalexpertise to drive large-scale digital projects alone.
- Cultural resistance and legacy thinking remainbarriers.
Despite these hurdles, nearly every leader we spoke with acknowledged that status quo approaches are unsustainable.
A New Workforce Demands Better Tools
Another theme echoed across conversations: the incoming generation of manufacturing workers expects digital-first experiences.
Today’s operators and technicians are used to intuitive,visual, and interactive tools in their personal lives — and they expect the same level of usability on the shop floor. Training and upskilling using dense manuals or flat PDFs is increasingly ineffective.
As one executive told us:
“We’re bringing in younger workers who are smart enough but, because of the way they are used to consuming information, they struggle to make sense of our outdated materials. They tune out — or leave.”
When you consider the cost of new employee acquisition, workforce churn is a compounding headache.
A Practical First Step: Model-Based Graphics as the Gateway to Digital Transformation
While full digital transformation of manufacturing operations is a long-term effort, one tangible, achievable first step stood out in conversations with industry leaders: The integration of model-based graphics into instructional content.
This approach offers high impact with relatively low barriers to introduction. By embedding visual representations of 3D models into existing work instructions, organizations can immediately improve clarity, engagement, and accuracy without overhauling entire systems.
Just as important:
- These graphics can be linked to source CAD or PLM data, enabling rapid updates when designs change.
- Even when used as static exports, they still reflect up-to-date product structures and eliminate the lag and errors associated with manual redraws.
- They can be easily embedded in MES platforms or training systems, including in fully interactive formats, enhancing text-based instructions and supporting both frontline usability and enterprise integration.
For many manufacturers, this is a realistic and meaningful entry point — a way to begin modernizing their documentation practices without needing to restructure everything at once. It establishes the foundation for more advanced digital capabilities down the road, from automation to AI-enhanced guidance.
As leaders across the industry emphasized, the transformation journey doesn’t need to start with a sweeping overhaul. It can begin with one upgrade — and model-based graphics are an ideal place to start.
Talk to us today if you are interested in taking this first crucial step.
