KEY SUMMARY

At the 2026 Electrical Wire Processing Technology Expo, industry leaders from Southwire, Lapp Tannehill, and Wesco shared how sustainability is being put into practice across the wire harness and cable manufacturing ecosystem. Panelists emphasized that sustainability is no longer just an environmental responsibility — it's a driver of operational efficiency, talent attraction, and long-term competitiveness. Key themes included starting with baseline measurements, building cross-functional accountability, and embedding sustainability into existing business processes rather than treating it as a separate initiative.

By Seth Jacobsen, sustainability program manager

At this year’s Electrical Wire Processing Technology Expo, the session “Wiring a Sustainable Future: Harnessing Industry Solutions in Practice” brought together industry leaders to share practical examples of how sustainability initiatives are being implemented across the wire harness and cable manufacturing ecosystem. The room was filled to capacity, a strong signal that sustainability is moving from a peripheral discussion to a core business priority for the electronics supply chain.

We extend our appreciation to the panelists who openly shared their experiences, lessons learned, and actionable strategies. What made this session especially valuable was the opportunity for attendees to hear directly from peers navigating similar operational, regulatory, and customer-driven challenges. From engineers and facility managers to supply chain leaders and corporate executives, participants gained practical insight into how sustainability efforts can drive measurable business value.

A recurring theme throughout the discussion was that sustainability is no longer viewed solely through the lens of environmental responsibility. Organizations are increasingly connecting sustainability initiatives to operational efficiency, employee engagement, customer expectations, resilience, and long-term competitiveness. Several presenters emphasized that meaningful progress often starts with manageable, data-driven initiatives; establishing baseline measurements, aligning teams around shared metrics, and embedding sustainability into existing operational processes rather than treating it as a standalone initiative.

The discussion also reinforced the importance of collaboration across the supply chain. Whether through supplier engagement, renewable energy strategies, circularity efforts, employee programs, or improved reporting capabilities, panelists demonstrated that sustainable transformation requires participation across functions and organizational levels. As sustainability expectations continue to evolve, businesses that proactively integrate these practices into their operations will be better positioned to reduce risk, strengthen customer relationships, attract talent, and unlock new opportunities for innovation and growth.

Panelist Takeaways:

Bo Quick, Vice President, Corporate Sustainability at Southwire:

Southwire’s sustainability strategy is built on our five tenets of Growing Green, Living Well, Giving Back, Doing Right, and Building Worth.  Best-in-class companies integrate sustainability into their operations to drive innovation, differentiate their brands, and deliver business value. As we see it, sustainability can provide business value by meeting customer expectations, enhancing competitiveness, insulating the organization from government policy changes, and boosting talent attraction and employee engagement.

Companies that are looking to kick off their sustainability journey should consider two things: (1) What are some quick wins that we could achieve? and (2) What are my customers and other key stakeholders asking for?  Based on the answer to these key questions, organizations should set targets that are achievable and reasonably ambitious.

Brian Arickx, Senior Director of Supply Chain & Operations at Lapp Tannehill:

Representing the mid-market operator perspective on the sustainability panel at EWPTE 2026 was both an honor and a highlight. My session focused on how wire and cable companies can build meaningful sustainability programs without enterprise-scale resources, embedding environmental and social goals directly into strategic planning, building cross-functional teams that include frontline voices, and starting with small, visible actions that build culture over time. One practical takeaway: connecting sustainability KPIs to metrics your team already owns drives real ownership. Sharing the floor with industry leaders like Southwire and Wesco reinforced what makes sustainability unique, the genuine openness to share best practices across competitors, all in the interest of a better future for our industry and our world. 

Renee Thompson, Director, Global Sustainability & Environmental Compliance at Wesco: 

Sustainability at Wesco is practical, measurable, and built to scale, embedded into operations and the broader value chain rather than treated as a standalone effort.  Key takeaways include the importance of setting clear, data-backed goals, strengthening data quality through consistent reporting and assurance, and driving cross functional accountability. One practical lesson is starting with baseline measurements and scaling through existing processes to improve efficiency and reduce waste.  This matters for the wire harness and cable industry because it connects sustainability to operational performance, regulatory readiness, and long-term competitiveness across the supply chain.

Introducing Peter Tranitz, featured in our “Five Questions With…” blog series. 

This series highlights individuals who are influencing the future of the electronics industry. It is part of our larger initiative to bring together diverse experiences, expertise, and viewpoints, enhancing industry voices and fostering engagement and community among our members. 

Through five targeted questions, you will gain expert perspectives, practical insights, and innovative ideas from across our extensive community.

Key Summary

Peter Tranitz, Senior Director of Technology Solutions Europe, discusses key shifts in the electronics industry, emphasizing the importance of simultaneous, co-designed development of semiconductors, PCBs, packaging, and assembly. He notes the rapid evolution of ECAD/MCAD software, AI integration, digital twins, and simulation tools as both challenges and solutions in the next 3–5 years. Tranitz highlights innovation in materials, design, manufacturing, and systems integration, driven by semiconductor advancements, and calls for sustainability to be prioritized from the start of the ideation process.

What is the most important shift happening in the electronics industry right now, and why does it matter?

The biggest shift is that everything must be designed at once. 

The electronics industry is undergoing a fundamental change in how products are designed, affecting everything from the chips inside your devices to the circuit boards that connect them.

The next generation of electronic devices will be more complex, requiring the simultaneous consideration of a wide range of technical aspects. The individual areas—including semiconductors, packaging, printed circuit boards, PCB, and final assembly—must be designed in tandem. Historically, the various stages of product development were carried out separately, followed by assembly of the individual components. This approach is no longer feasible.

There are simply too many factors to consider. In addition to electrical and mechanical criteria, thermal and magnetic properties, warpage, and, increasingly, optical properties must be continuously co-designed and co-optimized throughout the entire development process. The many different physical aspects cannot always be separated from one another. Instead, certain interactions must be modeled in detail during simulation. This places greater demands on designers' expertise and requires new ways of working and collaboration models.

What is one challenge the industry must solve in the next 3–5 years, and what will it take to get there? 

The capabilities of Electronic Computer-Aided Design (ECAD) and Mechanical Computer-Aided Design (MCAD) software are constantly expanding and evolving rapidly. Artificial intelligence is being integrated into many areas of software, and digital twins are advancing rapidly as well. Simulation tools are being integrated directly into design software, and some vendors offer design software solutions that span the entire manufacturing process within a single suite.

Manufacturing is being considered from the very beginning. In addition to the Design for Manufacturing and Design for Test concepts, digital twins of manufacturing equipment and factories are being developed. It's all truly fascinating. We are at a very exciting juncture in terms of progress.

Where do you see the most innovation right now—materials, design, manufacturing, or systems integration? 

It all goes hand in hand. New concepts are being developed everywhere. Innovations in AI data centers, power electronics, mixed-signal processing, and transmission are necessary due to advancements in semiconductor technology.

What’s one trend people are not talking about enough? 

Sustainability. Our goal is to develop electronics that will help create a better world. From the beginning, sustainability must be a top priority and at the forefront of developers' minds. During the ideation phase, sustainability considerations must be included in the requirements list. These requirements must be detailed enough to provide clear direction during the development phase. Currently, this is rare. The industry needs to change its mindset in this regard.

What excites you most about the future of this industry? 

Electronics are essential for progress and are ubiquitous. Software, automation, artificial intelligence, and autonomous transportation rely on electronics. This is why the electronics industry should be acknowledged as a critical enabler at all levels.

Key Summary

Kevin O'Hanlon, writing from Washington, D.C., examines the growing disconnect between U.S. policy ambitions and manufacturing realities across three critical areas: global oil price volatility driven by the Iran conflict, America's push to lead in AI exports despite domestic data center manufacturing gaps, and the FCC's complicated effort to ban foreign-made consumer routers on national security grounds. His takeaway: good policy intent isn't enough when the supporting infrastructure doesn't yet exist.

By Kevin O’Hanlon, VP, North American Government Relations

From my perch in Washington, D.C., I see every headline through a policy lens, and right now, the gap between policy intent and on-the-ground reality is widening. This week’s picks spotlight that disconnect and why it matters for U.S. manufacturing and the electronics ecosystem.

Oil is Liquid Gold – Until It Isn’t 

As the Iran conflict enters its third month, global oil prices continue to rise. News from Europe suggests that the manufacturing sector is starting to suffer not from the price of oil, but from the oil derivative price increases. As we look to strengthen U.S. domestic manufacturing, it’s worth exploring how we can future-proof against volatility. 

U.S. is not the 'manufacturing powerhouse' it once was. During the Iran war, that's a good thing.

Remind Me What We’re Exporting?

The U.S. is an undisputed leader in technology development. Our intellectual property laws are second to none, which leads to some of the foremost research and development globally. As the Trump Administration looks to extend the country’s leadership on artificial intelligence, it raises an important concern: we can build parts of data centers, but we can’t manufacture the entirety of a data center in the U.S. Should we be focused on domestic capacity building before aiming to export leadership?

White House postpones executive order on AI

Made in the U.S.A. – One Router at a Time

In March, an interagency task force, including the Department of War, Department of Homeland Security, and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), identified consumer routers as a risk to national security. Since then, we have been on a policy roller coaster trying to balance national security against the reality of manufacturing capabilities. The evolution of the FCC’s guidance to consumers and the subsequent policy changes highlight the disconnect between well-intentioned policy and reality. 

The FCC's Foreign-Made Router Ban Gets Complicated. What You Need to Know

Key Summary

At the 2026 Apprenticeships for America Summit in Washington, D.C., leaders from industry, education, workforce development, and government explored how apprenticeships are evolving into a strategic workforce solution for industries facing talent shortages and rapidly changing skills needs. 

David Hernandez, VP of Education at the Global Electronics Association, highlights the importance of collaboration, employer-centered design, and cross-state coordination to scale apprenticeship programs while maintaining flexibility and local responsiveness.

By David Hernandez, VP, Education, Global Electronics Association

Last week, I had the opportunity to spend several days in Washington, D.C., participating in the 2026 Apprenticeships for America Summit alongside employers, workforce leaders, educators, policymakers, intermediaries, and apprenticeship advocates from across the country.

The summit brought together leaders committed to strengthening and scaling apprenticeship as a workforce solution for industries facing persistent talent shortages and rapidly evolving skills needs. Discussions throughout the week focused on employer engagement, return on investment, state and regional systems, expanding access, and the practical challenges that continue to impact apprenticeship growth. One thing became increasingly clear during the summit: apprenticeship is no longer simply a workforce initiative. It is becoming a strategic imperative for employers looking to build sustainable talent pipelines and develop workforce capacity for the future.

A highlight of the week for me was moderating the panel discussion, “Closer to Employers, Tougher to Scale: Solving the Cross-State Apprenticeship Puzzle,” featuring Melanie Flowers, Chief Workforce Strategy Officer at Craft Education; Lisa McIntyre-Hite, Chief Operating Officer at the Competency-Based Education Network (C-BEN); and John Ladd, Senior Advisor at Jobs for the Future (JFF). The session explored one of the most pressing questions facing apprenticeship expansion today: how do we maintain the employer responsiveness and local partnerships that make apprenticeship successful while creating systems capable of supporting multi-state scale?

For many employers operating nationally, apprenticeship programs often encounter varying state requirements, registration processes, funding structures, data practices, and implementation models. While local flexibility is important, these differences can create friction when organizations attempt to expand successful programs across state lines. The discussion focused on what it will take to reduce that friction.

Panelists explored the role intermediaries and industry associations can play in creating stronger alignment across regions, establishing shared standards, improving transparency around data and outcomes, and leveraging technology-enabled collaboration to support scale without sacrificing quality. The conversation also highlighted the importance of competency-based approaches and employer-centered design. As industries evolve and workforce needs change more rapidly, apprenticeship systems must become more adaptable, portable, and easier for employers to engage with.

One takeaway that resonated throughout the discussion was that scale does not require uniformity; it requires coordination. Moving apprenticeship forward will depend on stronger collaboration between industry, workforce systems, educators, intermediaries, and state partners to build frameworks that preserve local strengths while reducing unnecessary complexity. What made the panel especially impactful was that it moved beyond identifying challenges and focused instead on advancing practical solutions and shared ownership. 

For organizations like the Global Electronics Association, this conversation is particularly relevant as the advanced manufacturing and electronics industries continue facing workforce shortages and increasing demand for skilled talent. Employers need solutions that are flexible enough to meet local workforce needs while scalable enough to support national growth strategies. Today, the Association continues advancing apprenticeship as part of a broader workforce development strategy for the electronics industry. We continue to focus on helping employers adopt and scale programs that align with industry needs while creating clear career pathways for workers.

Employers can engage through multiple pathways depending on their workforce needs: implementing a Registered Apprenticeship Program to develop new talent, using apprenticeship models to upskill incumbent workers, or participating in broader workforce pipeline efforts that connect education, training, and industry partners. This flexibility is critical because workforce challenges vary by company, region, and stage of growth. 

The future of apprenticeship will depend on partnerships, innovation, and a willingness to rethink how systems work together. I left Washington encouraged by the momentum and the growing recognition that apprenticeship is not only an effective workforce strategy but also an essential component of building the workforce our industries will need tomorrow.

At the Global Electronics Association, we are already seeing that momentum translate into action. Our apprenticeship efforts continue to expand across employers and occupations, demonstrating that industry-led approaches can create a measurable impact. As more organizations adopt apprenticeship to recruit new talent, upskill existing employees, and strengthen workforce pipelines, we are building a stronger foundation for the future of electronics manufacturing—one partnership, one apprentice, and one success story at a time.