Complex and rapidly changing; that’s how manufacturing leaders in Northern Kentucky described the state of the industry in 2025.
Northern Kentucky’s manufacturing sector is responsible for the employment of more than 50,000 people, according to BE NKY Growth Partnership. As such, manufacturing plays a significant role in shaping the region’s growth trajectory. With companies such as L’Oréal, Safran Landing Systems, Perfetti Van Melle and Mazak, the region’s manufacturing sector is closely tied to a wide range of key American industries.
However, Northern Kentucky manufacturers are navigating economic headwinds, including uncertainties regarding U.S. tariff policy, geopolitical conflicts, supply chain disruptions and labor shortages. These global challenges are significantly influencing local decision-making processes within the manufacturing sector.
A panel of NKY manufacturing executives convened on June 17, hosted by the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, to discuss the current state of their industry. The panel included Jose Garcia, plant manager at Bosch Automotive in Florence; Jonathan Titterton, CEO of R.A. Jones in Covington; and Craig Townsend, president of U.S. Playing Card Company in Erlanger.
Garcia said the automotive manufacturing industry is undergoing rapid change, with the use of artificial intelligence and advanced robotics becoming increasingly commonplace. These changes have forced manufacturers to either adapt or risk stagnation.
“With all the geopolitical changes, I would say we need to adapt very fast to all these changes, targets, capacities,” Garcia said.
Another wrinkle is that the demand for electric vehicles has not met the projections laid out at the turn of the decade. In 2021, numerous car manufacturers unveiled plans to phase out internal combustion engines in the coming decades, transitioning fully to electric vehicles.
Despite the lofty goals, Garcia said some companies are starting to scale back their aspirations due to waffling demand. In turn, this is impacting companies throughout the supply chain, including parts manufacturers.
“In the meantime, we are not seeing that coming as fast as we originally thought,” he said.
Titterton said that tariff policies have adversely impacted R.A. Jones during the first quarter of 2025. The manufacturer, which does the majority of its business in North America and Europe, has implemented a strategy of absorbing higher costs, choosing not to pass them onto their consumers.
“We are just riding the storm and reducing our profitability at this moment in time to see what happens in the next couple of months,” he said.
Townsend offered a slightly different perspective on tariffs, noting that they have actually benefited his company, which manufactures playing cards in the United States. However, he also raised concerns about the sluggish labor market and weak consumer demand.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty from the job market right now, even though it’s been fairly robust, and I think that the tariffs have caused a lot of destabilization in terms of strategy at the retailer level and even at the casino-operator level, so we’re just trying to manage through that,” he said.
Regarding AI, all three panelists confirmed that their businesses incorporate artificial intelligence into their daily operations. Townsend said that U.S. Playing Card is using AI to improve the efficiency of work streams.
“We started talking about how we integrate AI into everything that we do,” he said. “Everything from a co-pilot just to help our administrative team and to be better customer-facing, but then also, how do we improve efficiency of work streams?”
Titterton anticipates a significant shift in the workforce composition within the next five years due to the impact of AI. This necessitates that companies invest in both AI technology and train their employees to work productively with it.
“I strongly believe the workforce in the future, over the next five years, will be very, very different with AI,” Titterton said. “I strongly believe that it’ll change the way we run our companies.”
To close, the panelists maintained a cautiously optimistic view of manufacturing going forward. Each advocated for manufacturers to continue investing in advanced technology and workforce development in an effort to expand operations and retain talented workers.
