National Academies Press: OpenBook
« Previous: Front Matter
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Phase 2 Study Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26329.
×

Summary

To better support the need for timely, effective manufacturing technology development and transition, the Department of Defense (DoD) has established nine Manufacturing Innovation Institutes (MIIs) through its Defense-wide Manufacturing Science and Technology (DMS&T) program element within the DoD Manufacturing Technology (ManTech) program. The institutes are considered by DoD to be important facilitators that bring together innovative ecosystems in key technology and market sectors in the United States. DoD MIIs are industry-led public private partnerships, with dual, public and private benefit, providing large commercial market potential while also meeting key U.S. defense industrial needs. The mission of the nine DoD-established institutes addresses both defense and commercial manufacturing needs within specific, defense-relevant technology areas. DoD’s commitment of over $1.12 billion to date for these nine institutes, demands a coherent and effective strategy to guide their establishment and sustainment, and also to ensure their value to DoD and the nation.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine was asked to perform a follow-on study to its 2019 report Strategic Long-Term Participation by DoD in Its Manufacturing USA Institutes,1 which examined DoD’s strategic relationship with the DoD Manufacturing Innovation Institutes. The report listed a number of recommendations and suggested topics for additional study. OSD

___________________

1 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2019, Strategic Long-Term Participation by DoD in Its Manufacturing USA Institutes, Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, https://doi.org/10.17226/25417.

Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Phase 2 Study Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26329.
×

ManTech requested that the Academies perform a second study on some of the suggested topics. Specifically, the committee for the follow-on study, DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes Phase 2 Study, was asked to provide strategic guidance in three topics that were identified in the 2019 report: protocols for conducting long term engagement assessments of the MIIs including evaluation metrics (Task 1), best practices for MII education and workforce development (EWD) programs (Task 2), and development of strategies for better connecting MIIs to the broader DoD community and to other federal agencies (Task 3). The sponsor of the work at OSD ManTech asked the National Academies to provide an interim report focused on the MII assessment protocol topic. The interim report was provided in April 2021. That report is included in Appendixes C and D. This final report provides additional insights from the committee on MII assessment protocols but focuses on findings and recommendations relevant to EWD best practices and DoD and other federal agency engagement strategies. The statement of task for this study is reprinted in Appendix A.

The interim report for this study focused on protocols for long-term engagement assessments for the DoD MIIs, which is Task 1 of the study charge. It found that support for the DoD MIIs remains high among senior leadership at DoD, but the declining budget request for core funding will require difficult decisions. Accordingly, it made the following recommendation:

Recommendation 1.1 (from interim report): The Department of Defense should phase in formal 5-year assessments of the Manufacturing Innovation Institutes (MIIs) to support decisions on renewal of agreements and to provide budget justification for future years commensurate with the value of the MII program.

The interim report also found that DoD has a sound framework for conducting 5-year assessments of each institute to support such decisions, and is similar to good practices the committee has seen in other agencies. The study committee believes that, over time, such 5-year reviews can improve the coupling between public and private interests in each MII and move all MIIs toward collective implementation of best practices. Equally important, the JDMC can play a key role in the integration of the MIIs into DoD’s technology delivery pipeline. The interim report offered thoughts about the metrics that would be helpful for those strategic 5-year assessments. That report also noted that the unique public–private partnership aspect of the MIIs requires strategic consideration of the health of the “private” component of the institutes. To the extent that DoD views these cost-shared private–public partnerships as essential, an additional consideration would be input from MII members and non-members from the ecosystem.

Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Phase 2 Study Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26329.
×

An additional finding from the interim report was that greater involvement of the DoD acquisition and sustainment communities are needed for DoD to fully benefit from the technology development, EWD, and manufacturing ecosystem of DoD MIIs. The JDMC has an opportunity to use the 5-year assessments and the growth of this engagement over time as a key measure for the impact of the MIIs on DoD advanced technology development and implementation.

Based on these points, the interim report made the following recommendations:

Recommendation 1.2 (from interim report): The Office of the Secretary of Defense Manufacturing Technology Program (OSD ManTech) and the Joint Defense Manufacturing Council should expand the evaluation framework within its four topic areas to consider additional strategic considerations focused on the Manufacturing Innovation Institute (MII) key objectives of advancing research, education and workforce development, and ecosystem. Design of the evaluation team and details of the evaluation tasks should consider the best practices of other agencies discussed in Chapter 3, including provisions for access to outside technical experts as needed. The process should be tailored to the unique characteristics of the MII public–private partnerships and should be made available to the MIIs and the rest of the manufacturing community.

Recommendation 1.3 (from interim report): The Office of the Secretary of Defense Manufacturing Technology Program (OSD ManTech) and the Joint Defense Manufacturing Council should amend the planned evaluation process to make provisions for additional strategic metrics and trend analysis, and for additional sources of input beyond those currently planned, such as the following: other stakeholder survey results, assessment of the evaluation criteria, site visit results, and terms of reference planning agreements. In assessing effectiveness of governance and management, specific attention should be given to the effectiveness of government and industry leadership in achieving desired outcomes.

Recommendation 1.4 (from interim report): The Joint Defense Manufacturing Council 5-year assessment should address strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement of the Manufacturing Innovation Institutes (MIIs) relative to non-Department of Defense (DoD) components of the public–private partnership to inform decisions on whether a public–private partnership is the best way to meet DoD needs. The Office of the Secretary of Defense Manufacturing Technology Program (OSD ManTech) should also perform a stakeholder survey as a component of the 5-year MII assessment. The survey should include all stakeholders such as large, medium,

Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Phase 2 Study Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26329.
×

and small businesses, academia, state governments, and foundations that are within the MII ecosystem.

Recommendation 1.5 (from interim report): As the Department of Defense starts the 5-year Manufacturing Innovation Institute evaluation process in 2021, it is recommended that a process be established to catalog lessons learned and assess the effectiveness of the Joint Defense Manufacturing Council evaluation process to facilitate continuous improvements. A meta-evaluation can be accomplished by appropriate groups in professional societies or within suitable not-for-profit organizations.

This final report revisited the topic of protocols for long-term engagement assessments for the DoD MIIs (Task 1 of the study charge) and offers several thoughts to supplement those in the interim report. These are captured in Chapter 2 of this report. In short, the study committee found that, although each MII has its unique technology focus, all MIIs share some key common challenges, such as EWD and ecosystem development, and that the OSD ManTech team working on EWD is providing for all MIIs a shared EWD vision, an operational model, and coordination. It also found that, because DoD MIIs vary in the nature, maturity, and intended use of their focused technology, each MII and its stakeholders need to identify the shared challenges, shared opportunities, and technology transition and production risks in the ecosystem that they wish to develop, grow, and maintain.

In addition, the committee observed that regional ecosystems and supply chains for implementation of advanced manufacturing are important, and noted that NIST’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) offers good insight to these aspects. The Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program represents another set of regional consortiums that could provide benefit to the MIIs. To strengthen the MIIs’ capabilities along these lines, the committee offers the following recommendations in Chapter 2:

Recommendation 2.1: OSD ManTech should create an Advanced Manufacturing Ecosystems Team. Such a team will (1) help shape a vision and key strategies for the DoD MII ecosystems, (2) identify and share best practices across all DoD MIIs, and (3) coordinate manufacturing ecosystems initiatives across DoD-funded MIIs similar to what the education and workforce development lead does for education and workforce development.

Recommendation 2.2: With respect to manufacturing ecosystem development, OSD ManTech should direct each MII to:

  1. Describe the advanced manufacturing ecosystem that they envision based on the needs of DoD science and technology, acquisition, and
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Phase 2 Study Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26329.
×
  1. sustainment, as well as the commercial manufacturing community they serve.
  2. Articulate its role and responsibilities and develop a well-thought-out plan for growing and improving the ecosystem.
  3. Develop a process by which the MII will monitor the health, resilience, return on investment, and effectiveness of its ecosystem; identify gaps—innovation, human capital, partnership, risks, supply chains, infrastructure, and other factors; and take necessary actions or make actionable recommendations to DoD to close the gap as quickly as possible.

Recommendation 2.3: To ensure effective and broad-based deployment and adoption of the technologies and workforce developed by the MIIs and the strengthening of manufacturing ecosystems, OSD ManTech should assist MIIs in forming strong partnerships with other federally-recognized regional ecosystems, as well as the federal offices that promote these ecosystems, including the state-level Manufacturing Extension Partnerships, the Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program hubs, and their federal offices (the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology Manufacturing Extension Partnership and DoD’s Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation, respectively).

Recommendation 2.4: To leverage DoD’s investments in MIIs in building and growing U.S. manufacturing ecosystems, OSD ManTech should continue to assist MIIs in forming symbiotic partnerships with state and local government for economic development, education and workforce development, and research and development. The committee recommends that OSD ManTech initiate a couple of pilot projects across all MIIs in key regions and then scale across the balance of the United States after refinement.

Chapter 3 of this report deals with education and workforce development, in response to Task 2 of the study charge. Regarding workforce education models (Task 2a), the study committee observes that recent studies have identified a series of successful and optimal approaches from local models across the nation for workforce education, which could be considered by MIIs as promising approaches. These are discussed in detail in the report and listed in the findings. In addition, it noted that OSD ManTech could expand its cooperation with other programs including NSF’s Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program, NIST’s MEP program, and DoD’s Office of Local Defense Community Collaboration (OLDCC) program, while the Labor Department’s Strengthening Community Colleges training

Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Phase 2 Study Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26329.
×

grant and apprenticeship programs could provide new collaboration opportunities. Chapter 3 also notes additional collaborative opportunities that might be valuable.

In the areas of curricula and program development, of content development and of scaling up programs to meet needs, the committee notes a number of promising approaches for MIIs, as detailed in Chapter 3. Many opportunities could be explored within the MII program to build up and strengthen the nation’s manufacturing workforce, and the committee makes the following recommendation:

Recommendation 3.1: OSD ManTech should encourage preferred approaches for workforce education delineated in this report and listed in the above findings be included by MIIs through the best practices set out in the interim report: forming regional engagements around workforce education needs; developing education materials with the MII’s education and industry ecosystem; developing, with industry and education institution involvement, knowledge, skill, and ability elements and corresponding competencies; working with industry to develop or apply industry-recognized credentials; developing online education materials available to industry and educational institutions, and mapping skill demand and in developing skill roadmaps. In furthering these best practices, National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technological Education program, the National Institute for Standards and Technology’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership program, DoD’s Office of Local Defense Community Collaboration program, the Labor Department workforce and apprenticeship programs, and other agency workforce programs, could be expanded or new collaborators on these efforts. OSD ManTech should also encourage the MIIs as a network to strengthen ties with programs with connections to community colleges that can help build and spread their programs in these areas. ManTech should provide leadership for MIIs in these collaborations and on the MII networking that will be required for creating training packages across technology areas to meet industry needs.

Chapter 3 of this report also deals with the role of MIIs with respect to the organic industrial base (OIB), which is Task 2b of the study charge. The DoD OIB (i.e., depots, arsenals, shipyards, and ammunition plants) could be a significant ecosystem partner, in terms of the maintenance, repair and overhaul, for new technologies developed by DoD-funded MIIs, and will require a workforce with the requisite skills. But to date there have been few examples of meaningful and systematic engagement between the DoD MIIs and the DoD OIB. However, one successful example is the partnership between Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) MII and the OIB (e.g., Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex (ALC) through the activities of the Joint Robotics Organization for Building Organic Technologies (JROBOT).

Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Phase 2 Study Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26329.
×

The successful JROBOT example resulted from personal contacts and leadership from senior personnel in DoD, and presents a “best practice” opportunity for such partnerships to be developed more broadly and systematically. It would be desirable to establish formal engagements between the DoD MIIs and appropriate working groups via the Joint technology Exchange Group (JTEG) and other joint technology collaborative groups in the department.

While the MIIs generally do not now have strong connections to either the DoD OIB or to commercial small and mid-sized manufacturers (SMMs) that are part of the DoD industrial base, a number of NIST MEP centers do. These MEP centers appear to have the capability to facilitate new manufacturing technology adoption from the MIIs, as well as workforce training.

To build up these desirable connections, the study committee makes three recommendations:

Recommendation 3.2: OSD ManTech should work to ensure a systematic link between the DoD organic industrial base (i.e., depots, arsenals, shipyards, and ammunition plants) and the MIIs, for both new manufacturing technologies and adoption of related education and workforce development.

Recommendation 3.3: OSD and the MIIs should strengthen MII engagement with the DoD organic industrial base by identifying, encouraging, adopting and generalizing best practices (such as the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing partnership with Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex through the Joint Robotics Organization for Building Organic Technologies) across the MIIs.

Recommendation 3.4: OSD ManTech and the MIIs should strengthen partnerships with the National Institute of Standards and Technology Manufacturing Extension Partnership centers to ensure connections to the DoD organic industrial base (as well as to the commercial small and medium-sized manufacturers that are part of the DoD industrial base) and to facilitate new manufacturing technology adoption and workforce training.

Task 2d of the study’s charge calls for the committee to examine the potential for online education to serve as a scaling mechanism for workforce education, which is covered in a subchapter in Chapter 3 of this report. The committee found that there is indeed increasing demand for higher skills in the manufacturing workforce, and expectations of an increased demand for skilled manufacturing workers largely due to retirements from the current aging manufacturing workforce. These trends indicate the need for new approaches to workforce education. Online

Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Phase 2 Study Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26329.
×

education could provide an important tool for scaling manufacturing workforce education, and advanced manufacturing skills in particular. It will not displace face-to-face learning, which will continue to be key to hands-on-learning and learning-by-doing in manufacturing, but it can be an important complement. As new technologies develop (e.g. virtual and augmented reality, gaming and simulations), they can be imbedded into online education and improve its ability to tackle hands-on learning.

Many MIIs are already engaged in developing online education materials in their respective technology areas, and OSD ManTech is creating an online platform to collect, house and distribute these materials. Collaborations between ManTech and the military services’ programs to develop virtual and augmented reality for training purposes present opportunities for synergies. Based on these observations, the committee makes the following recommendation:

Recommendation 3.5: Given manufacturing workforce needs and because of their importance as a scaling mechanism, OSD ManTech should continue to encourage, support, and expand the initiatives for online and blended workforce education by manufacturing institutes. Online education and related blended learning should become a significant focus of institute education and workforce development efforts, including their efforts with their regional manufacturing ecosystems, because of its potential to scale up skills training in their advanced manufacturing fields. This should include support by OSD ManTech for the following: institute use of new educational technologies such as computer gaming, simulations, blockchain certifications, virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR), and digital tutors; incorporation by institutes of online materials of pedagogies that reflect learning science advances; collaborations between ManTech and military services’ virtual reality/augmented reality training simulation development programs; expanded use by institutes and other DoD agencies of the Open edX platform for access to online education materials; and other approaches noted in this discussion.

Task 2e of the study’s charge calls for an examination of industry-recognized credentials and certifications. Many DoD MIIs have started pilot programs in this area already. To accelerate their development, MIIs could continue to form joint projects and partnerships with educational institutions, including 2-year community/technical colleges and local industry, in developing credential curricula and programs to meet the needs of regional manufacturers.

In general, credentialing currently is not widely used in industry in hiring and promotion. The role of MIIs in building and reaching a critical mass of national recognition and acceptance of industry-recognized credentialing could include

Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Phase 2 Study Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26329.
×

promotion of standards, credentialing models, best practices, long-term performance and return-on-investment tracking, and endorsement. An inter-agency effort including the Department of Labor and Department of Health and Human Services could accelerate the attainment of a critical level of effort, while working in concert with NIST and standards bodies would create credibility. The committee offers two recommendations on this topic.

Recommendation 3.6: OSD ManTech should encourage the MIIs to build strong partnerships with educational institutions including 2-year colleges and industry in developing credential curricula and programs that meet the needs of regional manufacturers.

Recommendation 3.7: OSD ManTech should encourage the MIIs to engage industry, education, training, and credentialing organizations, standards development organizations, and other government agencies in increasing public awareness, and accelerating the recognition and acceptance of industry-recognized credentials in their technology areas.

Chapter 4 of this report examines how to improve MII linkages with DoD and other federal sponsors dealing with technology development and transition. DoD’s MII Strategic Communications and Outreach Plan is well structured to increase stakeholder awareness of MIIs, but it does not provide a strategy for direct engagement. In particular, although the stakeholder list is extensive, it omits two important federal interagency groups: Manufacturing USA and the National Science and Technology Council Subcommittee on Advanced Manufacturing. Beyond communications, direct engagement with stakeholders would benefit from an Engagement Guide similar to that developed for DoD University Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs).

While some MIIs have been able to engage with the DoD S&T community through the latter’s sponsorship of MII projects, this has been accomplished on an ad hoc basis and is highly dependent on personal connections of the host organization and the government program manager. The committee believes that S&T efforts that advance technology readiness level (TRL) maturity also need to advance manufacturing readiness levels (MRLs). MIIs have capabilities to assist S&T programs in this regard. OSD ManTech and the JDMC are well positioned to facilitate MII engagement with potential S&T sponsors on a more systematic basis than is currently practiced. Increasing these interactions is needed in order for DoD to benefit fully from its MII investments.

MIIs are currently configured for cost shared pre-competitive technology projects using contract vehicles that have often hindered engagement with potential non-core sponsors in DoD and the federal sector. While individual MIIs have broadened

Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Phase 2 Study Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26329.
×

the available set of contract vehicles to include other transaction agreements (OTAs) and project level agreements better suited to sponsor directed technology transition projects, changes will be needed in government facilitation, contracting mechanisms, and MII membership arrangements to make this more common. Such changes are essential to attract industry participants and DoD acquisition and sustainment sponsors whose primary interest is transition. Multiple viable alternatives are available for future contracting arrangements using OTAs or federal acquisition regulation (FAR) contracts. The rapid growth in DoD’s use of various OTA consortia models for prototyping and transition to production suggests that growth in MII transition projects can benefit from consortium lessons learned.

Creating links between MIIs and other federal agencies is necessary for national advancement of manufacturing technology, EWD and ecosystem. However, engagements with other federal sector organizations, including the National Laboratories, for the purposes of technology and ecosystem have been limited and ad hoc. A healthy pipeline for developing and maturing technology in the DoD MII focus areas involves projects feeding into the MIIs, maturing within the MIIs, and transitioning out of the MIIs. Similarly, engagements with other agencies can enhance DoD MII EWD and ecosystem development. Transition of mature MII outputs to the U.S. industrial base can leverage ecosystem elements provided by other federal agencies. Similarly, a closer relationship with MEP can support EWD and ecosystem development with SMMs.

To address these challenges and opportunities, the committee makes five recommendations:

Recommendation 4.1: OSD ManTech should continue implementation of the Strategic Communication and Outreach Plan, and develop a supplementary Engagement Guide as a resource for direct engagement with MII stakeholders. The Guide should identify the contractual vehicles available for contracting with the MII organizations, explain the unique capabilities and benefits of the DoD MIIs to the broader DoD science and technology, acquisition, and sustainment communities, and provide a starting point for engaging stakeholders to sponsor work at DoD MIIs.

Recommendation 4.2: OSD ManTech should develop a formal strategy of engagement with the science and technology (S&T) community to facilitate connections with MIIs who have capabilities to help with manufacturing readiness level advancement. The strategy should include connections with the Reliance 21 communities of interest and Service S&T organizations, with assistance from the JDMC. A key component of the strategy would be an S&T Program Development guide for the MIIs which documents best engagement practices from institutes acting individually or in collabora

Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Phase 2 Study Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26329.
×

tion. OSD ManTech can implement the S&T engagement strategy working with the MIIs and government program managers.

Recommendation 4.3: OSD ManTech should fund a team of transition facilitators to assist MIIs in engaging Service acquisition and sustainment communities. This team should establish DoD connections through coordination with the JDMTP, with additional assistance from JDMC when needed or when MII topics do not overlap with a JDMPT subpanel topic, such as bio-related connections. The role of the DoD team is to facilitate initial contacts. MIIs host organizations and members need to follow through with engagements to iterate with potential DoD sponsors on needs, including DoD needs on MII roadmaps, and identify solution concepts that are mature enough for transition projects.

Recommendation 4.4: OSD ManTech should add a transition-friendly contracting interface with the MIIs configured for projects sponsored by the DoD acquisition and sustainment communities. A spectrum of effective contracting models is available for transition projects, using other transaction authorities (OTAs) or federal acquisition regulation contracts, implemented at the project level, MII level or Multi-MII level, through a single or multiple contracting offices. The committee saw several advantages in an other transaction agreement consortium model across the MIIs based on the widespread DoD use of such models. The committee recommend OSD ManTech choose a model on this spectrum, with selection based on cost, effectiveness in engaging new transition sponsors and industry performers, and feasibility of implementation.

Recommendation 4.5: OSD ManTech should designate a focal point to develop an MII engagement strategy for other federal agencies which defines the value proposition of the MIIs relative to the organizational needs of these agencies, and to execute this strategy. DoD should actively engage members of the National Science and Technology Council Subcommittee on Advanced Manufacturing (NSTC SAM) to raise awareness of the MIIs and their roadmaps, identify common priorities in the technology focus areas of the MIIs, and discover actionable paths forward (including contracting mechanisms) with other federal agencies. Objectives should include enabling researchers funded by other agencies to utilize the DoD MIIs’ unique shared infrastructure, co-funded projects of mutual interest, and leverage of loan guarantees and other transition and scale up assistance mechanisms available with non-DoD agencies.

Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Phase 2 Study Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26329.
×

The final task covered by this study was to examine trends in manufacturing and workforce development driven by COVID-19 effects. This topic is covered in Chapter 5.

In general, the committee observes that strengthening the nation’s advanced manufacturing workforce will contribute to the resilience of our supply chains, which were stressed by the pandemic. Success in this area will require interagency collaboration and partnership.

The current demographics of the U.S. manufacturing workforce is a vulnerability. The current workforce is male dominated and white, with less than 5 percent of production jobs filled by women of color. Between 2021 and 2030, 4 million manufacturing jobs will need to be filled. Getting more people of color and women trained and hired into these jobs could help employers fill the impending workforce gaps. Since entry level positions do not require technical or industry know-how, they can be filled by people displaced from other industries (e.g., hospitality and retail) which employ a disproportionate share of women, underrepresented racial and ethnic groups and high-school graduates. Shortages in the middle-skill workforce can be addressed through a variety of approaches, as discussed in Chapter 3. More progress is needed.

Manufacturing is the largest employer of U.S. engineers, but only 14 percent are women and 13 percent are underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. Focused programs need to be put in place to increase the enrollment of women and underrepresented minorities in engineering to reflect the diversity of the U.S. workforce and to enlarge the pipeline of advanced manufacturing talent.

The majority of masters and doctoral engineering students and post-docs who are supporting U.S. university research are international and are from three countries: China, India, and Korea. In order for DoD to have more U.S. citizens trained and residing in the United States to support the development of cutting-edge military systems and advanced manufacturing technologies, policies and programs need to be put in place to systematically do so and to ensure the candidates reflect the diversity of the overall U.S. workforce.

A limitation to these efforts is that many rural and low-income U.S. communities, including those in large urban areas, lack reliable, affordable internet access. Online learning is becoming increasingly important in training for manufacturing skills, and the digital divide limits access to this training, particularly for minority and rural learners. It is imperative that equitable access to digital infrastructure be addressed.

During the pandemic, policy makers, companies, and workers adapted to new ways of work. Manufacturers responded by reimagining where and how work is done, thinking through specific work areas, occupational activities, and outcomes, and finding new ways to hire, train and redeploy workers with a focus on in-demand skills rather than jobs. For manufacturers, this digital transformation

Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Phase 2 Study Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26329.
×

accelerated three trends with far reaching impact on the future of work, manufacturing, education, and economic development: (1) a shift to and increasing reliance on remote work, training and virtual interactions, (2) increased deployment of advanced automation technologies and artificial intelligence, and (3) reskilling the U.S. manufacturing workforce for Industry 4.0.

As Industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing become further embedded into production facilities, companies are finding that their employees do not have the skills needed to operate their digitally intensive, manufacturing facilities. Given the convening power of MIIs, and growing national demand for an Industry 4.0 skilled workforce, MIIs are well positioned to establish a GEA-like Industry 4.0 Development Program to support their constituents’ regional engineering, technical staff and manufacturing workforce needs.

It is critical for policymakers, employers, and educators to understand the direction of workforce skill changes and develop an appropriate response to work imbalances to speed the recovery. A central part of this response is the development of manufacturing career pathways, which map out the shortest, most cost-effective ways to reskill displaced workers. To ensure that the labor market is working as efficiently as possible, some governments are creating comprehensive data and digital employment platforms, which help citizens assess their skills, identify potential employment pathways, and close capability gaps through upskilling and reskilling opportunities. The Regional Workforce Development Initiative project for Smarter Manufacturing highlighted the opportunity to develop a labor market analytics tool that would allow the MIIs to regularly review, understand and respond to rapidly evolving demand for advanced manufacturing technical skills. The U.S. government would benefit in having a cross agency workforce strategy and policy unit in place to understand national and regional trends in workforce supply and demand for advanced manufacturing, to identify the gaps which exist and to develop measures, working across the whole of government to implement policies and programs to address.

Governments are beginning to shift funding models to support lifelong learning systems that enable continuous learning and upskilling throughout one’s life versus large, one-time subsidies or loans. Near term, DoD may want to explore establishing a “SkillsFuture” type of program for its military staff and veterans to support lifelong learning and facilitate effective job transitions to the civilian sector in advanced manufacturing.

If key elements of the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act of 2021 and other relevant legislation become law, it could open the opportunity for OSD ManTech to perform an analysis to address how best to (1) develop regional strategic roadmaps of advanced manufacturing technologies critical to DoD that cut across multiple industries to outline a plan of action for growth in the states/regions of interest,

Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Phase 2 Study Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26329.
×

(2) encourage regional startups to move from prototyping to pilot to demonstration and commercial production in the United States, (3) strengthen the regional innovation capacity of SMMs and local supply chains, and (4) accelerate supporting regional workforce training involving upgrading technology and Industry 4.0 requirements.

To address these observations, the committee makes six recommendations.

Recommendation 5.1: OSD ManTech should work to ensure that workforce development programs from the MIIs are designed to attract, develop and retain women and underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. DoD MIIs should define tangible actions they are taking to increase equity and parity for these underrepresented communities and how they are creating pathways to job opportunities for these groups in their technology fields. OSD ManTech should periodically report on their progress in achieving these aims.

Recommendation 5.2: Given the critical importance of resilient supply chains and DoD’s mission to promote and protect, OSD ManTech should engage its industrial advanced manufacturing ecosystem to identify critical barriers beyond technology which would allow the United States to generate more business and market share in the technology areas of its MIIs. OSD ManTech should compile and inform the White House National Economic Council of its findings, including options and policies to address.

Recommendation 5.3: OSD ManTech should support MIIs completing national labor needs analysis for each MII technology field. The MIIs should partner with regional economic development leaders to identify current, as well as forward looking needs. The analysis should identify education and workforce development (EWD) gaps as well as which EWD programs to put in place to address. MIIs should partner, if appropriate, with Manufacturing Extension Partnerships to ensure small and mid-sized manufacturer (SMM) regional needs are included and appropriate SMM training needs are met. These efforts should identify which roles can be executed remotely and which roles require regional focus and presence.

Recommendation 5.4: OSD ManTech should sponsor expansion of the MII Career Pathways analysis to create a national map of regional advanced manufacturing workforce needs. The map should be a digital platform which generates a real-time analysis of regional workforce needs which can be accessed and acted on by employers, employees, and regional developers. Ideally, it should also incorporate advanced analytics capabilities enabling

Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Phase 2 Study Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26329.
×

identification of future workforce trends thus supporting government supply demand labor market forecasting and policy development.

Recommendation 5.5: OSD ManTech should identify stakeholders and potential partners for establishing a “SkillsFuture” type of program for its military staff and veterans to facilitate effective job transitions to the civilian sector in advanced manufacturing and support their lifelong learning needs. One element could be the Operation Next program for military personnel leaving the services which was first developed by the LIFT MII.

Recommendation 5.6: OSD ManTech should identify options and address what policies and programs should be put in place to increase the number of U.S. citizens trained to support the development of cutting-edge military systems and advanced manufacturing technologies.

Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Phase 2 Study Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26329.
×
Page 1
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Phase 2 Study Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26329.
×
Page 2
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Phase 2 Study Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26329.
×
Page 3
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Phase 2 Study Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26329.
×
Page 4
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Phase 2 Study Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26329.
×
Page 5
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Phase 2 Study Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26329.
×
Page 6
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Phase 2 Study Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26329.
×
Page 7
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Phase 2 Study Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26329.
×
Page 8
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Phase 2 Study Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26329.
×
Page 9
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Phase 2 Study Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26329.
×
Page 10
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Phase 2 Study Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26329.
×
Page 11
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Phase 2 Study Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26329.
×
Page 12
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Phase 2 Study Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26329.
×
Page 13
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Phase 2 Study Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26329.
×
Page 14
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Phase 2 Study Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26329.
×
Page 15
Next: 1 Introduction »
DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Phase 2 Study Final Report Get This Book
×
Buy Paperback | $55.00 Buy Ebook | $44.99
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
Download Free PDF

To better support the need for timely, effective manufacturing technology development and transition, the Department of Defense (DoD) has established nine Manufacturing Innovation Institutes (MIIs) through its Defense-wide Manufacturing Science and Technology program element within the DoD Manufacturing Technology program. The institutes are considered by DoD to be important facilitators that bring together innovative ecosystems in key technology and market sectors in the United States. DoD MIIs are industry-led public private partnerships, with dual, public and private benefit, providing large commercial market potential while also meeting key U.S. defense industrial needs. The mission of the nine DoD-established institutes addresses both defense and commercial manufacturing needs within specific, defense-relevant technology areas.

DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes Phase 2 Study provides strategic guidance on protocols for conducting long term engagement assessments of the MIIs including evaluation metrics; best practices for MII education and workforce development programs; and development of strategies for better connecting MIIs to the broader DoD community and to other federal agencies. An interim report focused on the MII assessment protocol topic was published in April 2021 and is also included in this report, in appendixes C and D. This final report provides findings and recommendations relevant to education and workforce development best practices and DoD and other federal agency engagement strategies.

  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    Switch between the Original Pages, where you can read the report as it appeared in print, and Text Pages for the web version, where you can highlight and search the text.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  9. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!