This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with Ron Wanek, founder and chairman of Ashley Furniture Industries.
Wanek is the first inductee since the 1970s to the state’s Manufacturing Hall of Fame, which Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce recently revived to showcase standout leaders of the state’s manufacturing industry. His induction came earlier this year during WMC’s annual Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year Awards ceremony in Milwaukee.
“Wisconsin has always been great at manufacturing,” he said on the podcast. “And from my standpoint, I’m really proud to be a manufacturer. From youth, from being a small boy, I always wanted to be a maker, so to speak … and I especially love furniture manufacturing, because it’s gratifying building beautiful furniture and enriching people’s homes.”
After Wanek founded Arcadia Furniture in 1970 in Arcadia, the business later merged with Ashley Furniture Corp. and has since grown to become the world’s largest home furnishings manufacturer, according to WMC.
The global company now employs more than 30,000 people, including 16,000 people in the United States and 3,000 in Wisconsin. The business operates in 155 different countries and has stores in 60 countries.
Wanek shares insights from his decades-long career, discussing how the manufacturing sector has changed over time, the challenges and opportunities of entrepreneurship, as well as mentors and other influences on his life.
“I was fortunate,” he said. “Having great mentors is one of the greatest blessings one can have in his life.”
He also touches on the impact of new technologies on the furniture industry, including AI and automation, as well as the need for more STEM education to support these changes.
“There’s a lot of manual work in manufacturing furniture, a lot of heavy lifting and that sort of thing, and automation has really allowed us to improve that situation … it obviously eliminates repetition and it makes the jobs a lot easier,” he said. “But it does require a different skill set, you know, the engineers, the technology, scheduling — everything that goes with it.”
Listen to the podcast below, sponsored by UW-Madison:
