More than 4,000 manufacturing and distribution sites could be affected by Hurricane Florence, as could rail and port operations in the Carolinas and Virginia.

Asset managers can get executive support for asset management-related investments by showing the potential benefits via a strategic plan, budget and a work program, writes David Berger, president of the Lamus Group. "Without top management support, the probability of making any significant progress in changing the culture is very near zero," he writes.

Resilience is key to boosting cybersecurity in private organizations and government agencies, write Anne Hobson and Alice Calder. Building redundancy into network security and focusing on organizational learning are critical to resilience against future attacks, they write.

The use of predictive models and data in managing your supply chain can help minimize challenges, including the effects of trade regulations, currency fluctuations and labor costs, says John Caltabiano of Jabil.

Digital twins are transforming predictive maintenance and will become commonplace within a decade, says Schneider Electric Chief Information Officer Elizabeth Hackenson. "That's going to be a competitive advantage, to understand how your assets are performing, not only from a maintenance perspective, but also profitability," she says.

Manufacturers can cut water, sewer and energy costs by reducing water consumption and using resources more efficiently, writes Klaus Reichardt, founder and CEO of Waterless. Reichardt recommends tracking water-related data, forming a team focused on "minimization" and training employees on the issue.

Mars improved teamwork by helping employees move toward collaboration in pursuit of key business goals and identifying projects best handled by people working together, writes Carlos Valdes-Dapena, CEO of Corporate Collaboration Resources. "At Mars, we learned that to get people to work together, we had to let them figure out how that would actually improve results," he writes.

Tomorrow's jobs might be in industries that don't exist or are nascent today, which is sparking public-private partnerships such as the Manufacturing USA Institutes. The effort is not just about training but also overall education -- public speaking, communication and collaboration among different jobs and skill sets, writes Ellen Rosen.