Foundry & Industry 4.0 Solutions
I 4.0 & F 4.0
Completing our comprehensive and effective business assessment is essential! Identify your business strengths, uncover opportunities, and drive strategic growth. Start now!
Start Your Journey Towards CHANGE
Our readiness assessment tools, Industry and Foundry 4.0, are tailored to help you understand your unique strengths and areas for improvement. With detailed analytics and customized feedback, you'll receive a clear roadmap for personal and professional development. Whether you're aiming to elevate your skills, improve team performance, or make strategic decisions, this tool is designed to meet your needs.
INDUSTRY & FOUNDRY 4.0 Readiness Technology Pillars
Empower Your Growth Potential
A great strategy to begin your transformation is to register for and start using our free, comprehensive, personalized Foundry 4.0 readiness assessment tool. This tool will help you evaluate your current capabilities and identify areas for improvement, setting you on the path to achieving Industry 4.0 excellence.
"Embracing Industry 4.0 is crucial for businesses in the Midwest
and the entire US to stay competitive in the global market.
By integrating advanced technologies such as IoT, AI,
and automation, companies can enhance productivity,
drive innovation, and create resilient supply chains,
ensuring sustainable growth and economic prosperity."
Drew Conrad
Director, UNI Business & Community Services (BCS)
The LTM Impact 2.0 [LTM] Lunch 'n' Learn Series
![Last Tactical Mile [LTM] Lunch n' Learn](/sites/default/files/inline-images/LTM-LnL-EventBrite-Image.jpg)
Additive Manufacturing for Metal Casting
Missed a seminar or want to revisit the insights shared by industry leaders? The Last Tactical Mile (LTM) Impact 2.0 brings the conversation directly to you through a collection of recorded one-hour Lunch 'n' Learn sessions, now available free of charge on our YouTube channel.
Featuring presentations delivered between April and July 2026, this on-demand video library provides metal casting and additive manufacturing professionals with practical knowledge, proven strategies, and emerging technology insights that can be applied immediately within their organizations.
Designed for foundries, OEMs, government stakeholders, and supply-chain partners, Impact 2.0 explores the technologies and best practices driving greater agility, resilience, and competitiveness across the casting industry. As the digital companion to the nationwide Last Tactical Mile Seminar Series, delivered in partnership with America Makes, these sessions transform deep technical expertise into accessible, actionable learning opportunities.
Whether you're evaluating additive manufacturing for the first time or advancing an existing implementation strategy, the LTM Impact 2.0 series offers valuable guidance from experts, innovators, and technology adopters leading the future of metal casting.
Series Highlights
- The OEM Perspective: Understand why OEMs are encouraging suppliers to adopt additive manufacturing technologies.
- Mold Design Applications: Learn best practices for integrating additive manufacturing into mold design and production workflows.
- Hybrid Tooling Solutions: Explore material extrusion printers and their role in hybrid tooling applications.
- Materials & Consumables: Gain insight into the materials being used today and the innovations shaping tomorrow.
- Large-Format Printing: Discover operational considerations, implementation strategies, and best practices.
- Future Technologies: Examine emerging additive manufacturing capabilities and their potential impact on the casting industry.
- Strategies for Change, Innovation & Resilience: Learn how industry leaders are advancing metal casting through additive manufacturing adoption.
Who Should Watch?
- Foundry engineers, managers, and technical personnel
- OEM and Tier I/Tier II casting consumers
- Procurement and supply chain professionals
- Government engineers and acquisition personnel
- Manufacturing and engineering students
- Anyone interested in the future of metal casting and additive manufacturing
Watch Free on YouTube
Access all LTM Impact 2.0 Lunch 'n' Learn recordings at your convenience and learn from industry experts at your own pace.
For additional information, contact Brittany Engel, Engineering Project Manager, at bengel@ybi.org or visit ybi.org.
Stay informed. Stay competitive. Stay ahead with LTM Impact 2.0.
The 2026 AFS Foundry Industry 4.0 Conference
Strategies for Change, Innovation & Resilience in the U.S. Metal Casting Industry
Todd E. Hutcheson, July 28–29, 2026 • Minneapolis, MN
Industry 4.0 is no longer a distant concept — it’s the current reality for manufacturers determined to stay competitive. Forward‑thinking foundries are already leveraging advanced technologies to boost productivity, profitability, and worker safety. Those evaluating and implementing digital tools today are positioning themselves for long‑term strength, stability, and sustainable growth.
As Director of ADVANCE IOWA and Adjunct Professor at the University of Northern Iowa's Wilson College of Business, Todd E. Hutcheson brings strategic management, business leadership and Industry 4.0 expertise to the metal casting sector. His session shows how strategy, innovation, and value creation converge to become the key drivers of foundry resilience. With U.S. metal casting facilities declining from 6,150 in 1955 to just 1,750 today, purposeful transformation is no longer optional — it’s the foundation for long‑term competitiveness.
Todd will discuss how applied strategic principles guide successful technology adoption, enabling foundries to strengthen operations, unlock measurable performance gains, and prepare their workforce for the next era of manufacturing. Attendees will leave with actionable insights, real‑world scenarios, and a clear view of how Industry 4.0 accelerates sustainable growth rather than standing in the way
STRATEGIC INNOVATION |
Creating Value Through Change presentation emphasis
- Strategy — develop, connect, execute
How to align people, processes, and technology using Industry 4.0 tools that make strategy actionable. - Innovation — know where you are, know where you’re going, get there
A disciplined approach to assessing digital maturity and implementing solutions that deliver measurable improvements. - Value — measure, be transparent, emphasize impact
How to quantify the bottom‑line benefits of digital transformation and communicate results clearly across the organization.
Industry 4.0 technologies are already proving their impact. The path forward is clear: VALUE CAN ONLY BE CREATED THROUGH CHANGE.
Stay tuned — a link to download Todd’s full presentation will be available after the event.
Ready to Lead the Next Era of American Manufacturing?
Start with the Foundry Transformation Assessment to identify your highest‑value opportunities.
Then partner with our experts to turn change into measurable business value.
Iowa’s Hidden Hotbed of Innovation
Why This Story Matters...
INNOVATION IOWA recently published a compelling article spotlighting the quiet but powerful transformation unfolding across our state. It’s a story of bioscience, advanced manufacturing, and tech—but more than that, it’s a story of implementation.
That’s where ADVANCE IOWA comes in, we joined UNI’s Metal Casting and Foundry 4.0 Centers in a national Foundry 4.0 Partnership to accelerate Industry 4.0 adoption in foundries and supply chains. While the formal contract has ended, the partnership has not—our daily collaboration with Foundry 4.0 (F4C) and the Metal Casting Center (MCC) continues, united by shared values and long-term strategic impact.
Today, ADVANCE IOWA remains a driving force in this innovation ecosystem. Our outreach and education efforts help manufacturers connect I4.0 concepts—like smart sensors, automation, and data analytics—to real-world value. Through tools like our Industry 4.0 assessment, we help businesses evaluate current operations, identify gaps, and uncover transformation-ready solutions.
We're also part of the Last Tactical Mile (LTM) Impact 2.0, a seminar series initiative through America Makes, that focuses on Additive Manufacturing for Metal Casting and aims to elevate education and networking for foundries and their supply chains. UNI’s Metal Casting and Foundry 4.0 Centers will host one of these seminars in spring 2026—advancing not just technologies, but innovation and progress.
This isn’t just a story about Iowa—it’s a national blueprint. When strategy, technology, and values align, innovation becomes tangible. The article doesn’t just recognize our mission—it reinforces it.
Call or email Todd E. Hutcheson and explore Industry 4.0 and how it could transform your business!
A Foundry 4.0 Center Case Study
Rada reached out to the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) Foundry 4.0 Center after hearing about their expertise in foundry processes. After a brief tour at Rada with UNI staff, it was clear that Industry 4.0 initiatives were of significant interest. Rada employs equipment in their foundry that uses legacy control systems. The UNI Foundry 4.0 Center suggested the implementation of low-cost sensors to acquire process data that would describe how the seasoned veterans are creating that high quality, American craftsmanship that Rada and their customers value.
For more information on workshops and events at the UNI Foundry 4.0 and Metal Casting Centers, please visit the following link:
The UNI Center for Business Growth & Innovation
CBGI was part of a successful partnership with the Department of Defense to aimed to foster growth, cultivate innovation, and incorporate Industry 4.0 technologies and automation for the foundry industry and their supply chain. Our team provided resources, networking platforms, and the workshop and training programs to adapt challenges into profitable opportunities for sustainable futures!
FOUNDRY 4.0 Discover Tomorrow Today
Building Resiliency in the Casting Industry, 2025
Understanding Foundry 4.0 technologies is crucial for transformative change.
The last two years Todd E. Hutcheson, Director of ADVANCE IOWA, spoke at the AFS Castexpo & Metalcasting Congress. His first presentation in 2024 was focused on the practical implications of Foundry 4.0 for businesses titled "Why INDUSTRY 4.0? Connecting Inputs to Assessments to KPIs to Business Value."
Todd’s second and most recent presentation was titled "Building Resiliency in the Casting Industry: Using Composite, Industry-wide 4.0 Assessment Lessons Learned and Best Practices.” During this presentation, he provided answers to key questions using findings, best practices, and lessons learned from industry-wide data gathered during a two-year Foundry 4.0 Partnership in collaboration with the NCDMM and several strategic partners nationwide.
The comprehensive data, benchmarked against industry metrics, highlights the significant value and growth opportunities of strategic Foundry 4.0 implementation. Download the presentation to learn from his expertise and discover how these enhancements can drive transformative change, resulting in higher quality products, increased customer satisfaction, and a stronger market position.
Presentation copies are available upon request via email.
Let's talk.
8120 Jennings Drive | Cedar Falls, IA 50614
319-273-4692 | info@advanceiowa.com LinkedIn AdvanceIowa
Todd.Hutcheson@uni.edu LinkedIn
Janell.Crow@uni.edu
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