CERNOBBIO, Italy--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Manufacturing companies throughout the world have embraced an aggressive strategy of globalization, but governments have not kept pace with appropriate industrial policies that encourage a new era of sustainable development and radical innovation.

The 2011 World Manufacturing Forum will be this year’s most important global event aimed at bridging the disconnect between government policies and industries that have moved beyond the confines of national borders. The Forum will be held May 16 and 17 in Cernobbio at the Villa Erba on Lake Como in northern Italy.

The inaugural Forum will include senior executives from leading global industrial companies and top government officials from around the world. The intent is to build a consensus for the adoption of a new generation of government industrial policies that promote advances among companies and supply chains that operate on a global scale.

The World Manufacturing Forum "responds to the needs for a global dialogue to support sustainable innovation in an ever-growing global industry that is facing challenges such as increasing carbon dioxide emissions, growing power consumption and an alarming scarcity in raw materials, water and fossil fuels," says Fred-Holger Gunther, former Senior Vice President of Bosch Group in Stuttgart, Germany, and chairman of the World Manufacturing Forum Executive Committee. "We want to discuss these matters with policy makers across the globe."

A new set of coordinated government industrial policies are needed to foster new product and process innovation, common standards to reduce waste and promote sustainable production. Additional topics for discussion include proposals to promote mass customization, interoperability, product intelligence, workforce development skills and workplace improvements.

The event is fashioned after the World Economic Forum held annually in Davos, Switzerland, but is aimed specifically at the implications of the globalization of manufacturing and the growing need for a revolution in production.

The Forum is supported by leading industry and research institutions, and sponsored by the Intelligent Manufacturing Systems (IMS) International research organization and the IMS2020 project.

Reporters and journalists who cover issues related to industry, globalization, innovation and sustainable development are invited to attend. The Forum is an invitation-only event with senior executives and policy makers.

To view the program, visit the World Manufacturing Forum website at http://www.worldmanufacturingforum.org.

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