New Directions in Manufacturing Report of a Workshop (2004) / Chapter Skim
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2 Challenges Facing U.S. Manufacturing Today
2 Challenges Facing U.S. Manufacturing Today
Pages 11-20
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From page 11... ...
economy faces major challenges to rebuild and retain the nation's manufacturing capacity, jobs, and innovative edge in a global, virtual market economy. Several central questions arose during the course of workshop discussions on these challenges: How can we ensure that the discussion of manufacturing issues takes place using accurate and useful metrics in the correct context?
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From page 12... ...
"Big M" manufacturing includes areas such as e-business, product design, process development, supply chain management, plant design, capacity management, product distribution, product costing, performance measurement, plant scheduling, quality management, workforce organization, equipment maintenance, strategic planning, and interplant coordination, as well as direct production. The current national debate on manufacturing is sometimes narrowly focused on little m manufacturing.
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From page 13... ...
In many cases, plants being built in developing countries utilize the newest technologies, whereas existing plants in the United States do not. Older and established facilities must recover capital costs incurred years or sometimes decades in the past and so cannot always be as up to date as a new factory.
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From page 14... ...
Key technologies for the future of manufacturing include interoperability/interoperability standards; pervasive and adaptive process control; advanced learning technology; global collaborative capabilities; enterprise-wide supply network management; knowledge management and navigation tools; security and other protection systems; modeling and simulation technology; wireless and remote communication; software to enhance moving from ideas to products; and the incorporation of intelligence into processes and products. The combination of information technology and increasing globalization has the potential to foster widespread outsourcing of manufacturing activities.
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From page 15... ...
the perceived cost advantages associated with globalization and the increasingly virtual nature of manufacturing supply chains. The Jobs Factor Many labor organizations associate movement of production overseas with the loss of manufacturing jobs in the United States.
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The committee noted broad support among the workshop participants for collaborative manufacturing programs such as the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) 2 and the Intelligent Manufacturing Systems (IMS)
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From page 17... ...
Every aspect of manufacturing depends on standards. Measurement standards establish criteria for accuracy, precision, and efficiency in documenting and specifying, for example, the dimensions of screw threads, the diameter of optical fibers, the content of steel alloys, information technology interfaces, electromagnetic compatibility requirements, and the performance of machine tools or robots.
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From page 18... ...
In a recent survey of manufacturers, more than 80 percent of respondents reported a moderate to serious shortage of qualified job applicants.8 Two-thirds of the firms surveyed reported that their most serious workforce shortages were in production areas, ranging from entry-level workers, operators, machinists, and craft workers to technicians and engineers. The major areas of concern have shifted from specific technology skills back to the fundamentals, with basic employability skills cited as the number one deficiency for both current hourly workers and applicants for hourly positions.
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From page 19... ...
Communities can pool resources from multiple organizations to holistically address the needs of manufacturers. Participants at the local and regional levels include workforce and economic development agencies and organizations, local Chambers of Commerce, community colleges and private education providers, literacy councils, state and local chapters of business and industry associations, local manufacturing extension centers, small business development centers, and organizations promoting entrepreneurship.
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From page 20... ...
Since the early 1980s, manufacturing employment has become increasingly concentrated in smaller plants and decreasingly concentrated in larger companies. The number of manufacturing plants with fewer than 500 employees in the United States fell in 2000 and 2001 for the first time since 1978.14 The influence of this small-manufacturer segment is exemplified by the fact that in large manufacturing plants that have experimented with a variety of ways to empower employees, it is routine today for small work units to operate independently within a larger plant.
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