Zoller’s Technology Days & Smart Manufacturing Summit held in May at its North Americanheadquarters featured two days of direct, experience-driven dialogue on the realities of modern manufacturing.
Held under the theme “Smart Manufacturing. Made Simple.”, the event brought together manufacturers, industry leaders, and technology partners and made one thing clear: Smartmanufacturing is no longer defined by future concepts, but by how consistently companies execute disciplined, connected workflows between tool management and shop-floor operations. Over the twodays, it became evident that the experienced manufacturing leaders in the room are driving real progress by integrating data, process control, and automation into tightly coordinated production environments, reducing variability, and improving decision-making at every stage of the production process.
The program featured a strong lineup of industry voices, including Jeff Cederstrom, president of ARCH Cutting Tools; Peter Doyle, president of Hirsh Precision; Max Egan, president of Atlas Fibre; FrankWeisskopf, president of TTS Tooling Technology Supply; John Leppien II, president of GARR Tool, Tom Bassett II, president of Pro-Cam LLC; and Walt Swenton, senior manager of advanced manufacturing at Eaton Aerospace, alongside Zoller leadership and customers actively implementing advanced manufacturing strategies.
Across keynote presentations, customer discussions, and peer exchange, a consistent theme emergedthat the gap between companies talking about digitalization and those executing it continues to widen.
“We designed this event to move beyond traditional formats and create a space for real dialogue between experienced manufacturing leaders,” said Rita Conroy-Martin, director of marketing & CX atZoller Inc. “The level of openness in the room showed that manufacturers are actively working throughthese challenges and looking for practical ways to bring greater control and consistency into their operations.”
As digital manufacturing continues to mature, collaboration between tooling systems, machine tools,and process intelligence is no longer optional, it is becoming the foundation for sustainable productivity gains.
“Efficiency today is not about isolated improvements, it’s about how everything works together,” said Alexander Zoller, president of Zoller Inc. “The companies making real progress are not necessarily theones investing the most, but the ones executing with discipline, connecting tool data, preparation, and machine integration into a single, consistent process.”
What distinguished the event was the level of engagement and candor among attendees. These werenot passive participants, but experienced leaders openly sharing where they are seeing success, where challenges remain, and what it takes to scale performance across multiple locations. That reality was reflected in broader discussions around supply chain instability and material cost volatility, particularlythe escalating pricing of tungsten carbide and its downstream impact on production, margins, and competitiveness. ARCH Cutting Tools’ Cederstrom shared first-hand perspective on the issue, including recent engagement at the federal level, highlighting the growing pressure manufacturers are facing and the need for greater operational control in response.
Customer-led sessions reinforced the shift from concept to execution. From toolroom investments directly tied to revenue growth to the integration of connected systems across grinding and inspection processes, the focus remained firmly on real implementation and measurable results. Livedemonstrations across Zoller’s solutions portfolio, including tool presetting, inspection, balancing, shrinking, tool management, and automation illustrated how integrated systems are enabling manufacturers to reduce variability, improve uptime, and scale operations. The conversations initiatedduring the summit will continue to shape Zoller’s engagement with the industry leading into IMTS, where the focus will remain on helping manufacturers move from isolated improvements to fully connected, data-driven production environments.
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