THU AM News: Rockwell Automation survey sheds light on tech in global manufacturing; Metro Milwaukee home sales ‘very mixed’ so far this year

August 14, 2025

— A recent global survey of manufacturers from Milwaukee’s Rockwell Automation finds integrating new technology has become the top internal obstacle.

The company yesterday released its 10th annual State of Smart Manufacturing Report, which includes survey results from 1,560 respondents across 17 of the top countries for manufacturing. The online survey explored how businesses are deploying new technologies like AI and automation while navigating cybersecurity issues, inflation and other hurdles.

In last year’s survey, respondents pointed to attracting employees with desired skillsets as their No. 1 internal obstacle. This year, that has fallen to No. 5, having been ousted by worries about deploying and integrating new technology. Other top internal concerns this year include balancing quality and profitable growth, and budget constraints.

But when looking at external challenges, respondents once again said inflation is the top concern, followed by cybersecurity at No. 2. Concern about online threats has risen from No. 5 in last year’s ranking.

Stephen Ford, vice president and chief information officer for Rockwell Automation, says the findings confirm what the company is seeing firsthand, that cybersecurity risks pose “one of the top threats” to manufacturing growth.

“You can’t protect tomorrow’s enterprise with yesterday’s tools,” he said in a statement. “AI is a critical part of the modern security stack, enabling manufacturers to detect threats in real time, maintain productivity, and stay ahead in an increasingly aggressive threat landscape.”

When asked about how they’re using AI and machine learning over the next 12 months, 49% said they’re using it for cybersecurity purposes — up from 40% in last year’s survey. Meanwhile, 50% of respondents pointed to quality control, followed by process optimization with 42%, robotics with 37% and logistics with 36%.

The report illustrates the widespread acceptance of AI in the manufacturing sector, with 95% of all respondents saying they’ve either invested in or plan to invest in some form of AI over the next five years.

“AI is poised to have a transformative impact on supply chain management, with a third planning to use it for managing their supply chain,” authors wrote, noting the changes identified in the survey suggest AI is increasingly a “core of technology strategy.”

Survey respondents included professionals in management to executive level, conducted by the company and the UK’s Sapio Research. It covered various industries within manufacturing including automotive, semiconductors, life sciences, energy and more, with individual respondents’ company revenues ranging from $100 million to more than $30 billion.

See the release and report.

— Home sales in the Milwaukee area have been “very mixed” so far this year, according to the latest report from the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors.

GMAR yesterday released figures for July, showing home sales for the month fell 0.8% from the same month in 2024. A total of 1,710 homes were sold across Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington counties last month, compared to 1,723 in July 2024.

But sales for the year overall are 1.1% higher than in the same period of last year, boosted by higher sales figures in January and June.

And last month also saw higher total listings with 2,187, up by 8.3% from 2,019 in July 2024.

That was driven in part by Milwaukee and Waukesha counties, which had increases of 10% and 11.8% over the year, respectively.

“Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties are the engines that drive the regional real estate market, and there was good news from both in July,” authors wrote. “Each saw an increase in unit sales, but more importantly both saw substantial increases in new listings.”

These increases helped push overall inventory levels for the region up to 3.1 months, an improvement from the 2.9 months seen at this point of last year. But authors note the metro area has struggled to accommodate buyer demand “for years” due to too few new homes being built.

To reach a more balanced market with 6 months of inventory, the area needs about 4,000 more homes, GMAR says. But through June of 2025, just 984 units were built in the metro area, 2.9% less than during the first half of last year.

While this has created “favorable” conditions for sellers — with average prices rising 4.9% over the year to $463,438 — prospective homebuyers are struggling to find options in the area, the report shows.

See the report.

— Legislation being circulated by GOP authors would provide funding for fall prevention awareness and related efforts.

Sen. Andre Jacque, R-New Franken, and Rep. Rick Gundrum, R-Slinger, this week began circulating a cosponsorship memo for LRB-3242/1.

Under the legislation, the state Department of Health Services would award $450,000 in grant funding in fiscal years 2025-26 and 2026-27 to the Wisconsin Institute for Healthy Aging. The funding would go toward statewide fall prevention awareness and initiatives. The bill would also appropriate the grant amount in both fiscal years for this purpose, according to the Legislative Reference Bureau.

The lawmakers say the grant program would help fund organizations that are already delivering effective education on preventing falls among older adults.

“As our population ages, we have the opportunity to support healthier, more engaged lives,” they wrote in the memo. “Older adults are more prone to falling and becoming seriously injured. This puts strain on families’ time and money, increasing health care costs, nursing home admissions, and strain on emergency medical services.”

The memo notes some local efforts are happening in the state but the Wisconsin Institute for Healthy Aging is the only statewide group that focuses only on this issue. The institute offers classes and workshops focused on preventing falls, along with other related programs for both older adults and their caregivers.

The WIHA also created a statewide campaign in 2023 called Falls Free Wisconsin, which is aimed at reducing the number of falls among older adults in the state.

“It’s much better and cost-friendly to protect our older adults on the front end through prevention methods than to have to focus on helping them after a tragic fall,” the lawmakers wrote.

In 2020-21, the latest year for which figures are available from Falls Free Wisconsin, hospitalizations for older adult falls in the state cost $427 million. And in 2022, nearly 48,000 older adults in Wisconsin went to the emergency department for a fall-related injury.

The cosponsorship deadline is Monday.

See the bill text.

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