The first day of the 2018 World Manufacturing Forum was held on September 27th, 2018 at its new permanent home, Cernobbio, Italy. The international event on manufacturing produced record numbers for the seventh edition with thirty international speakers that spoke at the Villa Erba in front of 900 participants from over 40 countries. This years’ record turnout coincides with the newly formed World Manufacturing Foundation from partners Confindustria Lombardia, Intelligent Manufacturing System and Politecnico di Milano. The new foundation’s success is indicative of the global dimension now reached by the World Manufacturing Forum.