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Introduction

STUDY BACKGROUND AND STATEMENT OF TASK

This study of the Committee on Options for a National Plan for Smart Manufacturing originates with a congressionally mandated request, as part of the Energy Act of 2020, for the Department of Energy (DOE) to develop a national plan for smart manufacturing in consultation with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (the National Academies). This study charge was developed jointly between the National Academies and DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing and Materials Technologies Office in response to the mandate in the Energy Act of 2020, specifically Sec. 6006. This section states that

DOE, in turn, asked the National Academies to convene a consensus study committee to explore and recommend options for a national plan for smart manufacturing. A committee of leading experts in advanced and smart manufacturing was assembled from across academia, industry, and trade and technology associations to examine the state of the smart manufacturing industry; explore technology, workforce and education, social and environmental, and economic challenges and opportunities; and recommend critical elements and considerations for DOE’s national plan for smart manufacturing. (See Box 1-1.)

In the following list, the Energy Act of 2020 also describes what is intended by the term “smart manufacturing,” which includes advanced technologies in information, automation, monitoring, computation, sensing, modeling, artificial intelligence, analytics, and networking that

• Digitally simulate manufacturing production lines; operate computer-controlled manufacturing equipment; monitor and communicate production line status; and manage and optimize energy productivity and cost throughout production;
• Model, simulate, and optimize the energy efficiency of a factory building;
• Monitor and optimize building energy performance;
• Model, simulate, and optimize the design of energy efficient and sustainable products, including the use of digital prototyping and additive manufacturing to enhance product design;
• Connect manufactured products in networks to monitor and optimize the performance of the networks, including automated network operations; and
• Digitally connect the supply chain network.

The concept of smart manufacturing is crosscutting, encompassing different disciplines of research and development including energy productivity, process

automation, control and optimization, industrial decarbonization, cybersecurity, modeling and simulation, artificial intelligence/machine learning, and workforce development.

A national smart manufacturing plan is desired to help create a manufacturing research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D) ecosystem that can facilitate quicker development, deployment, and adoption of smart manufacturing technologies and processes; promote greater energy efficiency and lower environmental impacts for American manufacturers; and enhance competitiveness and strengthen the manufacturing sectors of the United States.

This National Academies study is intended provide options for DOE to consider when developing its national plan for smart manufacturing technology development and deployment; the report focuses on the topics outlined in the study’s statement of task. The output from this study will be used in conjunction with other existing and ongoing resources, such as the recent National Academies national plan on industrial decarbonization and DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing and Materials Technologies Office’s RDD&D Technology Roadmap developed by the Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute.

THE STUDY PROCESS AND DATA GATHERING

The study effort was conducted over the course of approximately 9 months and consisted of a series of committee planning meetings, public data-gathering sessions, and workshops. During this time the committee gathered information from across industry, academia, and government to identify options and critical elements necessary for an effective national plan for smart manufacturing.

The committee’s first workshop was held on February 6, 2023, and focused on the state of technology developments in smart manufacturing. The 1-day workshop included speakers from across industry and academia to discuss key technology developments, identify gaps, and explore technology opportunities across various manufacturing industry sectors.

The committee’s second workshop, held on February 28, 2023, focused on workforce, education, and training challenges and opportunities in smart manufacturing. Workshop participants, representing industry, academia, and government, identified challenges for advanced and continuing training and education in smart manufacturing; examined approaches and best practices for curriculum development; explored opportunities for upskilling current members of the manufacturing workforce; and highlighted education and training programs in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and design that incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The third workshop was held on March 7–8, 2023, and explored the broader economic, social, environmental, and technological impacts of smart manufacturing.

The workshop participants explored a wide range of impacts, including optimization; efficiency; decarbonization; improved U.S. competitiveness and supply chain resilience; opportunities to integrate product and process life cycle; resource (i.e., energy, material, and water) productivity; and quicker development, deployment, and adoption of smart manufacturing technologies and processes.

While the workshops served as the primary means of data gathering for the study effort, additional virtual public sessions were held to ensure broad stakeholder engagement. These included panel discussions and interviews with industry leaders in smart manufacturing and discussions with representatives of the smart manufacturing institutes. Additional individual research was also conducted by committee members and staff to inform the report.

THE STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT

This report is divided into four chapters and a concluding analysis. Chapter 1 focuses on the value of smart manufacturing and the critical role it will play in the future of the U.S. economy and environment. This chapter introduces a key recommendation from the committee regarding critical steps needed to ensure effective data and knowledge sharing across the industry. Chapter 2 examines the workforce and education challenges facing the smart manufacturing industry with a focus on new and continuing education support and reform. This chapter introduces another key recommendation to create a dedicated organization to ensure a robust and relevant smart manufacturing workforce. Chapter 3 turns to the technology challenges facing the smart manufacturing industry and calls for greater data sharing and common data banks for the industry. Chapter 4 examines the challenges and opportunities of realizing the broader impacts of secure smart manufacturing in terms of enhanced productivity, environmental sustainability (e.g., energy efficiency, decarbonization, and waste reduction), innovation, and accelerated commercialization across the industry. Finally, the conclusion details methods and timelines for the implementation of the report’s recommendations.