Business leaders on Wednesday called for increased domestic manufacturing and a focus on artificial intelligence in U.S. supply chains. Melody Richard, vice president of Pantry at Walmart, highlighted the supermarket chain’s $350 billion commitment to U.S. manufacturing through 2031.

Investing in Domestic Suppliers

Walmart is committed to partnering with domestic suppliers in the country. “I like to think our collaboration is about creating accessibility and affordability, and then exciting customers with great new products, and it happens all the time,” Richard said.

One of those collaborators is Ferrero, a business focused on small packaged sweet snacks like Nutella and Kinder. Michael Lindsey, president of Ferrero North America, said the company has hired more than 1,000 new employees in North America to manufacture more products throughout the country.

Artificial Intelligence in Supply Chains

Leaders also called for a greater reliance on artificial intelligence to increase access to the supply chain. Dayna Grayson, co-founder of Construct Capital, said physical AI and robotics is the biggest area where companies are looking to invest.

However, Grayson said robot development in the supply chain is still in the early stages and not yet capable of replacing humans. Kevin O’Hanlan, vice president of North America Government Relations at the Global Electronics Association, said manufacturing resources to invest in AI and robotics will be difficult due to President Donald Trump’s tariffs on foreign countries like Vietnam.

Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.