Advanced Manufacturing: –
For decades, globalization has facilitated positive economic ties and development. It also made the US economy vulnerable to disruptions, material shortages, and international competition. As the Biden Administration observed, domestic manufacturing capacity is essential to the reliable availability of the goods, components, and equipment on which America's security, economic prosperity, and international influence rely. Fortunately, Industry 4.0 and Advanced Manufacturing offer opportunities to improve domestic manufacturing capacity. Industry 4.0 is a vision for combining the power of people, machinery, and technology for more efficient production of goods and services that fuel the global economy. Advanced Manufacturing combines data, technical inputs, and process changes necessary to realize that vision.
Since January 2022, Seminar Two of the Eisenhower School has studied the current state of Advanced Manufacturing. The class traveled to various US cities, many of them former industry hubs with broad access to well-paying jobs. With the assistance of federal government initiatives such as Manufacturing USA, innovative educators and researchers, and forward-thinking businesspeople, many of those cities are reinventing themselves as leaders of new American enterprise. Seminar Two assessed from those stakeholder engagements that Advanced Manufacturing enables more agile production and facilitates rapid mobilization but requires a skilled and capable workforce to implement fully. If strategically resourced and utilized, Advanced Manufacturing processes have the potential to amplify the capability, effectiveness, and responsiveness of the US manufacturing sector and, by extension, US economic competitiveness. The US government should remove barriers to the industry's broad and competitive adoption of Advanced Manufacturing processes to preserve national prosperity, security, and global influence. More transparent and results-oriented collaboration between government, academia, and industry is also necessary to facilitate Advanced Manufacturing adoption at the scope and scale appropriate for American manufacturers of various sizes.
We researched the increased productivity that broader adoption of Advanced Manufacturing can facilitate. The class then considered potential structural and conduct changes that might influence the performance of companies utilizing Advanced Manufacturing processes, thus leveraging or exacerbating the opportunities and threats associated with the broader manufacturing sector. Using Michael Porter's Diamond Theory of National Advantage, the class analyzed the competitive edge that America might gain from Advanced Manufacturing's wider adoption, particularly relative to countries like China. Finally, we pooled our findings into a holistic analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to inform policy options. Ultimately, this paper reflects Seminar Two's findings and associated policy recommendations.
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