New Directions in Manufacturing

The processes and techniques of manufacturing have changed substantially over the decades and that evolution continues today. In order to examine the potential impacts of these changes, the Department of Commerce asked the NRC to design a workshop to focus on issues central to the changing nature of manufacturing. The workshop brought together a number of experts to present papers about and to discuss the current state of manufacturing in the United States and the challenges it faces. This report presents the results of that workshop. Key challenges that emerged from the workshop and that are discussed include understanding manufacturing trends; manufacturing globalization; information technology opportunities; maintaining innovation; strengthening small and medium-sized enterprises; workforce education; and rising infrastructure costs.Table of Contents

• Front Matter
• Executive Summary
• Part I Summary of the Workshop Sessions
  1 Manufacturing in the United States
• 2 Challenges Facing U.S. Manufacturing Today
• 3 New Directions
• Part II Presented Papers: Manufacturing in the U.S. Economy
  4 Keynote Address: The Administration's Manufacturing Policy
• 5 U.S. Manufacturing at the Crossroads
• 6 Innovation and U.S. Manufacturing
• Part III Presented Papers: View from Three Manufacturing Sectors
  7 Trends in Rural Manufacturing
• 8 Issues for Small Manufacturing Enterprises
• 9 Drivers and Challenges for U.S. Aerospace Manufacturing
• Part IV Presented Papers: Manufacturing Globalization
  10 Manufacturing Globalization: Is the Glass Half Full or Half Empty?
• 11 Manufacturing Globalization at United Technologies Corporation
• 12 Insights on Outsourcing
• Part V Presented Papers: The Human Element in Manufacturing
  13 Keeping America Competitive
• 14 Economic Challenges to American Manufacturing
• 15 The Crisis in U.S. Manufacturing: A Union View
• 16 The Human Component in Manufacturing
• Part VI Presented Papers: The Way Forward
  17 Standards and Infrastructure
• 18 Collaborating to Meet Manufacturing Challenges
• 19 Manufacturing, Energy, and the Future of New Technology
• 20 Army Manufacturing Technology Program Responds to 21st Century Challenges
• 21 Turning New Technologies into Products at Sandia National Laboratories
• Part VII Presented Papers: New Manufacturing Paradigm
  22 Manufacturing in a Digital Era
• 23 Manufacturing Knowledge and the Arrow of Time
• Appendix A Biographical Sketches of Committee Members
• Appendix B Workshop Agenda
• Appendix C Acronyms and Abbreviations