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Mention “Industry 4.0” to most manufacturing executives and you will raise eyebrows. If they’ve heard of it, they are likely confused about what it is. If they haven’t heard of it, they’re likely to be skeptical of what they see as yet another piece of marketing hype, an empty catchphrase. And yet a closer look at what’s behind Industry 4.0 reveals some powerful emerging currents with strong potential to change the way factories work. It may be too much to say that it is another industrial revolution. But call it whatever you like; the fact is, Industry 4.0 is gathering force, and executives should carefully monitor the coming changes and develop strategies to take advantage of the new opportunities.

California should do all it can to attract these new jobs.  But according to the Initiative’s numbers, California attracted only 34 reshores over the last three years, totaling 884 jobs and a mere 2.4 percent of the overall 36,325 reshored jobs. Further, California was not the destination for any of the top 10 reshoring examples noted below.

The wind-down will occur in “a staged process” over the next two months. Production at the Chatsworth factory will shift to plants in either Mason, Ohio, or Jacksonville, Fla., Mullen said, as those facilities share the same manufacturing process and capabilities.

Getting a more qualified workforce is a big issue, and you can’t have too many regulatory hurdles to get approvals to build plants. People in the U.S. have no idea how fast people do things in Asia. They work 24/7. I was just in Shanghai, and I was watching them build an elevated freeway. The construction workers lived on the site. We don’t have that level of urgency in the U.S.

Chevron has announced it will move 100 jobs from its San Ramon corporate headquarters to Houston this year. . . Last year, Chevron announced it was transferring 400 jobs from San Ramon to Houston.

The space tourism company founded by British billionaire Richard Branson said it was opening a facility next to the Long Beach Airport that would eventually employ 100 engineers and other employees.

California manufacturers from food processors to apparel makers are warning costs will skyrocket if state regulators proceed with a plan to reduce their allocations of free greenhouse gas emission credits.

Farmer Bros. said it expects its relocation plan to result in annualized savings of $12 million to $15 million, beginning in the latter half of fiscal 2016.

California had more manufacturing businesses (38,741) than any other state in 2012 and their 1.2 million employees were also the largest industrial workforce of any state, the report says. Those workers produced products valued at $512.3 billion, up 4.3 percent from the previous industrial census in 2007.

The company expects to grow by a factor of more than 12 to more than 300 employees by 2018.

Since February 2010, U.S. manufacturing employment has increased at a rate of 6.7%, with some Midwestern and Southern states such as Indiana and South Carolina seeing gains of 15% or more. By contrast, California manufacturing has grown at about 1% over the same period.

The final AMP report makes recommendations addressing three key pillars that support American manufacturing: 1) enabling innovation, 2) securing the talent pipeline, and 3) improving the business climate.

Chevron traces its history to 1879 when Pacific Coast Oil Co. was founded. It was bought, in 1900, by the vast industrial empire of the Standard Oil Co. & Trust, which once controlled almost all oil production, processing, marketing and transportation in the United States.

Most believe California has reacted slowly to being regarded as one of the most anti-business environments in the country. The simple fact that California initially was not even on the short list should give folks in Sacramento heartburn!

For the past decade, the U.S. shale boom has mostly passed by California, forcing oil refiners in the state to import expensive crude.

Now that’s changing as energy companies overcome opposition to forge ahead with rail depots that will get oil from North Dakota’s Bakken Shale.