Even little shops like Northeast Tool & Manufacturing Company, outside Charlotte, North Carolina, are making the commitment to innovate. Rote assembly-line work is being replaced with an industrial vision that requires skilled and nimble workers to think while they work. This move toward innovation has made career planning and development essential. The past nature of work has little bearing on the future of work. Factory workers at Northeast Tool now must deal with industrial robots and computers that control massive steel casters and stamp presses.