Look around you and chances are nearly everything in sight was made in a factory somewhere.
Yet most of us never see how any of it is made and usually carry an image of the noise, the grime and the endless manual labour of the factory floor.
But the factories of today are changing and we travelled to three of the most advanced manufacturing sites in the world — in Viet Nam, Türkiye and the United States — to see exactly how.
We found robots guided by artificial intelligence, factories powered entirely by renewable energy and workers learning skills that didn't exist a few years ago (and even a few months ago).
These sites are part of the World Economic Forum's Global Lighthouse Network, a group of technology-driven production sites recognized for transforming how things are made and for showing the rest of the industry what's possible. They show us what it looks like when a single production line that once needed dozens of workers now runs with two, or how rainwater and stored ice can keep a factory running on a fraction of the resources.
But beyond the machines and the operations, they show us something more: how people are adapting, learning and reimagining what a career in manufacturing can be.
Watch the film to see what happens inside the world's most advanced factories:
The Global Lighthouse Network has now expanded with 16 new sites, bringing the community of advanced manufacturing and supply chain operations to 238 sites worldwide. Find out more here.
