EMERGING TECHNOLOGY TO SUPPORT AN AGING POPULATION
STRATEGY
FOR AMERICAN
LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED
MANUFACTURING
A Report by the
SUBCOMMITTEE ON ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
COMMITTEE ON TECHNOLOGY
of the
NATIONAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL
October 2018
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
ii
About the National Science and Technology Council
The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) is the principal means by which the Executive
Branch coordinates science and technology policy across the diverse entities that make up the Federal
research and development enterprise. A primary objective of the NSTC is to ensure science and
technology policy decisions and programs are consistent with the President's stated goals. The NSTC
prepares research and development strategies that are coordinated across Federal agencies aimed at
accomplishing multiple national goals. The work of the NSTC is organized under committees that
oversee subcommittees and working groups focused on different aspects of science and technology.
More information is available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/nstc
.
About the Office of Science and Technology Policy
The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) was established by the National Science and
Technology Policy, Organization, and Priorities Act of 1976 to provide the President and others within
the Executive Office of the President with advice on the scientific, engineering, and technological
aspects of the economy, national security, homeland security, health, foreign relations, the
environment, and the technological recovery and use of resources, among other topics. OSTP leads
interagency science and technology policy coordination efforts, assists the Office of Management and
Budget with an annual review and analysis of Federal research and development in budgets, and serves
as a source of scientific and technological analysis and judgment for the President with respect to major
policies, plans, and programs of the Federal Government. More information is available at
http://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp
.
About the Subcommittee on Advanced Manufacturing
Under Section 102 of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 6622), as amended,
the NSTC Committee on Technology is responsible for planning and coordinating Federal programs and
activities in advanced manufacturing research and development, and developing and updating a
quadrennial national strategic plan for advanced manufacturing. The Subcommittee on Advanced
Manufacturing (SAM) addresses these responsibilities, and is the primary forum for information-
sharing, coordination, and consensus-building among participating agencies regarding Federal policy,
programs, and budget guidance for advanced manufacturing.
About this Document
This 2018 strategic plan for advanced manufacturing, developed by the SAM following extensive public
outreach, is based on a vision for American leadership in advanced manufacturing across industrial
sectors. This vision will be achieved by developing and transitioning new manufacturing technologies
to market; educating, training, and connecting the manufacturing workforce; and expanding the
capabilities of the domestic manufacturing supply chain. Strategic objectives are identified for each
goal, along with technical and program priorities with specific actions and outcomes to be
accomplished over the next four years.
Copyright Information
This document is a work of the United States Government and is in the public domain (see 17 U.S.C.
§105). Subject to the stipulations below, it may be distributed and copied with acknowledgment to
OSTP. Copyrights to graphics included in this document are reserved by the original copyright holders
or their assignees and are used here under the government’s license and by permission. Requests to
use any images must be made to the provider identified in the image credits or to OSTP if no provider
is identified. Published in the United States of America, 2018.
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
iii
NATIONAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL
Chair
Ted Wackler, Deputy Chief of Staff and
Assistant Director, OSTP
Staff
Chloe Kontos, Executive Director, NSTC
COMMITTEE ON TECHNOLOGY
Co-Chairs
Walter Copan, Under Secretary of Commerce
for Standards and Technology and Director of
NIST, DOC
Paul Dabbar, Under Secretary for Science,
DOE
Michael Kratsios, Deputy Assistant to the
President, OSTP
Staff
Lloyd Whitman, Principal Assistant Director for
Physical Sciences and Engineering, OSTP
SUBCOMMITTEE ON ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
Co-Chairs
Michael Molnar,* DOC/NIST
Lloyd Whitman,* OSTP
Abigail Slater,* NEC
Executive Secretary
Said Jahanmir, DOC/NIST
Members
Toby Ahrens,* USDA
Gary Anderson, NSF
Michael Angelastro, HHS/BARDA
Michael Britt-Crane, DoD/Navy
Michael Clark,* OMB
David Cranmer, DOC/NIST
Tracy Frost,* DoD
Frank Gayle, DOC/NIST
Charles Geraci, HHS/NIOSH
Gregory Henschel, DOEd
Jean Hu-Primmer,* HHS/FDA
Robert Ivester,* DOE/EERE
Justin Jackson, NASA
Bruce Kramer,* NSF
Rosemary Lahasky,* DOL
Valri Lightner, DOE/EERE
Steve Linder, DoD
Christopher McNeal, SBA
Jeffrey Randorf,* DHS
G. Nagesh Rao,* SBA
Kelley Rogers, DOC/NIST
John Vickers,* NASA
Michael Wooten,* DOEd
Bronte Wigen, DOL
* Principal Representative
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
iv
Table of Contents
Abbreviations and Acronyms ............................................................................................... v
Executive Summary ........................................................................................................... 1
American Manufacturing and Competitiveness ..................................................................... 3
Factors That Impact Innovation and Competitiveness for Advanced Manufacturing ................. 4
Vision and Goals for Advanced Manufacturing .............................................................................. 7
Goal 1: Develop and Transition New Manufacturing Technologies ........................................... 8
Capture the Future of Intelligent Manufacturing Systems ............................................................ 8
Develop World-Leading Materials and Processing Technologies
............................................... 11
A
ssure Access to Medical Products through Domestic Manufacturing ....................................... 13
Maintain Leadership in Electronics Design and Fabrication ....................................................... 14
Strengthen Opportunities for Food and Agricultural Manufacturing ......................................... 16
Goal 2: Educate, Train, and Connect the Manufacturing Workforce ......................................... 18
Attract and Grow Tomorrow’s Manufacturing Workforce ........................................................... 19
Update and Expand Career and Technical Education Pathways ................................................ 20
Promote Apprenticeship and Access to Industry-Recognized Credentials ................................ 21
Match Skilled Workers with the Industries that Need Them ....................................................... 23
Goal 3: Expand the Capabilities of the Domestic Manufacturing Supply Chain .......................... 24
Increase the Role of Small and Medium-Sized Manufacturers in Advanced Manufacturing ..... 25
Encourage Ecosystems of Manufacturing Innovation ................................................................. 26
Str
engthen the Defense Manufacturing Base .............................................................................. 28
Strengthen Advanced Manufacturing for Rural Communities .................................................... 30
Progress Made in Achieving the Objectives from the 2012 Strategic Plan ................................. 32
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
– v –
Abbreviations and Acronyms
3D three-dimensional
AM additive manufacturing
AI artificial intelligence
BARDA Biomedical Advanced Research and
Development Authority
CAP Cross-Agency Priority
CM continuous manufacturing
CMOS complementary metal oxide
semiconductor
CTE career and technical education
DPA Defense Production Act
DOC Department of Commerce
DoD Department of Defense
DOEd Department of Education
DOE Department of Energy
DHS Department of Homeland Security
DOL Department of Labor
EERE Office of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy
FDA Food and Drug Administration
FY fiscal year
GDP gross domestic product
HHS Department of Health and Human
Services
IIoT industrial internet of things
I-Corps Innovation Corps
IT information technology
ITA International Trade Administration
MEP Manufacturing Extension Partnership
NEC National Economic Council
NASA National Aeronautics and Space
Administration
NIH National Institutes of Health
NIOSH National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health
NIST National Institute of Standards and
Technology
NSF National Science Foundation
NSTC National Science and Technology
Council
OMB Office of Management and Budget
OSTP Office of Science and Technology
Policy
OT operational technology
R&D research and development
SAM Subcommittee on Advanced
Manufacturing
SBA Small Business Administration
SBIR Small Business Innovation Research
STTR Small Business Technology Transfer
STEM science, technology, engineering,
and mathematics
U.S. United States
USDA United States Department of
Agriculture
WIOA Workforce Innovation and
Opportunity Act
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
– 1 –
Executive Summary
The United States has long thrived on its ability to manufacture goods and sell them in domestic and
global markets. Manufacturing plays a vital role in almost every sector of the U.S. economy, stretching
from aerospace to pharmaceuticals and beyond. Advanced manufacturingwhich includes both new
manufacturing methods and production of new products enabled by innovationis an engine of
America’s economic power and a pillar of its national security. Advances in manufacturing enable the
economy to continuously improve as new technologies and innovations increase productivity, enable
new products, and create entirely new industries.
Advances in manufacturing played a major role in America’s global economic dominance in the 20
th
century. However, this century saw dramatic changes, with significant declines in U.S. manufacturing
employment starting in the 1990s and accelerating losses during the 2008 recession. In the face of
intense global competition, the Trump Administration has taken strong actions to defend the economy,
expand manufacturing employment, and ensure a strong manufacturing and defense industrial base
and resilient supply chain. Strong actions are required to combat unfair global trade practices and help
U.S. manufacturers reach their full market potential. Although manufacturing employment remains
below its pre-recession level, manufacturing jobs still account for 8.5 percent of the workforce, and
nearly 350,000 manufacturing jobs have been created since President Trump took office.
This s
trategic plan was developed by the National Science and Technology Council, Committee on
Technology, Subcommittee on Advanced Manufacturing following extensive public outreach. It
presents a vision for American leadership in advanced manufacturing across industrial sectors to
ensure national security and economic prosperity, to be achieved by pursuing three goals:
1. Develop and transition new manufacturing technologies;
2. Educate, train, and connect the manufacturing workforce; and
3. Expand the capabilities of the domestic manufacturing supply chain.
Strategic objectives are identified for each goal, along with technical and program priorities with
specific actions and outcomes to be accomplished over the next four years. The table at the end of this
Executive Summary identifies Federal agencies that will contribute to each of the goals and objectives.
This strategic plan is motivated by the factors that impact innovation and competitiveness for
advanced manufacturing. Rapid advances in technology, in combination with economic forces, are
changing the ways products and services are conceived, designed, made, distributed, and supported.
While rapid innovation has long been a defining attribute of American industry, private investments in
manufacturing-based technologies have dramatically shrunk in recent years as investors focused on
the rapid return on investments possible through software-based start-ups. Manufacturing leadership
in emerging markets, exports, and trade not only requires investment in advanced technologies, but
the ability to effectively leverage new technologies and platforms across industrial sectors. Although
not the focus of this plan, manufacturing leadership requires trade policies that protect and advance
U.S. industry; by ensuring fair and reciprocal trade, the United States can secure an optimal
environment for growth in advanced manufacturing.
Although the Un
ited States is still the largest producer of products in some sectors, a worrisome
development is the sharp decline in production and employment in some strategically important
sectors, notably the communications and computer industries. America’s manufacturing and defense
industrial base and supply chain, composed of these and other key sectors, is essential to economic
prosperity and must maintain the capacity to rapidly innovate and arm our warfighters to prevail in any
conflict.
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
– 2 –
Underlying all of the challenges for innovation and competitiveness in U.S. advanced manufacturing is
a shortage of Americans with the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics knowledge and
technical skills needed for advanced manufacturing jobs. Appropriate education and training is
required from elementary through high school, and through technical training programs, re-training,
apprenticeships, postsecondary education, and access to valid, industry-recognized, competency-
based credentialsone of the highest priorities of the Trump Administration.
Federal, State, and local governments must work together to support advanced manufacturing through
collective actions that support research and development, develop the workforce, promote free and
fair trade, and create a regulatory and tax system that unleashes the private sector. Federal agencies
play key roles in fostering the growth of advanced manufacturing through investments in research and
development and in education and workforce development.
Goals Objectives
DoD
DOE
DOC
HHS
NSF
NASA
DOL
USDA
DOEd
Develop and
Transition New
Manufacturing
Technologies
Capture the Future of Intelligent
Manufacturing Systems
Develop World-Leading Materials
and Processing Technologies
Assure Access to Medical Products
through Domestic Manufacturing
Maintain Leadership in Electronics
Design and Fabrication
Strengthen Opportunities for Food
and Agricultural Manufacturing
Educate, Train,
and Connect the
Manufacturing
Workforce
Attract and Grow Tomorrow’s
Manufacturing Workforce
Update and Expand Career and
Technical Education Pathways
Promote Apprenticeship and Access
to Industry-Recognized Credentials
Match Skilled Workers with the
Industries that Need Them
Expand the
Capabilities of
the Domestic
Manufacturing
Supply Chain
Increase the Role of Small and
Medium-Sized Manufacturers in
Advanced Manufacturing
Encourage Ecosystems for
Manufacturing Innovation
Strengthen the Defense
Manufacturing Base
Strengthen Advanced Manufacturing
for Rural Communities
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
– 3 –
American Manufacturing and Competitiveness
Manufacturing plays a vital role in almost every sector of the U.S. economy, stretching from aerospace
to pharmaceuticals and beyond. Advanced manufacturingwhich includes both new manufacturing
methods and production of new products enabled by innovationis an engine of America’s economic
power and a pillar of its national security. Advances in manufacturing enable the economy to
continuously improve as new technologies and innovations increase productivity, enable new
products, and create entirely new industries. These new industries often create new, higher-paying jobs
that replace low-skilled jobs a healthy economy sheds over time. In the face of intense global
competition, the Trump Administration has taken strong actions to defend the economy,
1
expand
manufacturing employment,
2
and ensure a strong manufacturing and defense industrial base and
resilient supply chain.
3
Strong actions are required to combat unfair global trade practices, in some
instances harnessed to undermine American innovation and prevent U.S. manufacturers from reaching
their full market potential.
When we grow American manufacturing, we don’t only grow our jobs and
wages, but we also grow Americas spirit.
Th
ere is no better place to build, hire, and grow than right here in the United
States. America is open for business more than it has ever been open for
business.”—President Donald J. Trump
Advances in manufacturing played a major role in America’s global economic dominance in the 20
th
century. However, the 21
st
century saw a dramatic change in U.S. manufacturing. Employment in the
manufacturing sector began declining in the 1990s, followed by a significant decrease during the 2008
recession. Manufacturing employment declined by 20 percent, from 14.2 million to 11.3 million, in the
four years between 2006 and 2010.
4
Although manufacturing employment remains considerably below
its 2006 level, those jobs still account for 8.5 percent of the workforce, and nearly 350,000
manufacturing jobs have been created since President Trump took office.
Manufacturing is among the highest paying sectors of the economy, and has a broad impact on jobs in
other sectors. For example, one study found that the job-multiplier effect increases significantly for
advanced manufacturing technologies, with every technology-intensive manufacturing job supporting
at least four other jobs.
5
These impacts make advances in manufacturingand America’s ability to
translate those advances into products, processes, and services—a research and development (R&D)
priority and a key element of the Administration’s overall manufacturing strategy.
6
1
https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/see-great-american-made-products-across-50-states/
2
https://www.bls.gov/web/empsit/ceshighlights.pdf
3
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-executive-order-assessing-strengthening-
manufacturing-defense-industrial-base-supply-chain-resiliency-united-states/
4
https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CES3000000001
5
https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/us/Documents/manufacturing/us-indprod-deloitte-and-
council-on-competitiveness-advanced-tech-report.pdf
6
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/M-18-22.pdf
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
– 4 –
Section 102 of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 6622), as amended,
7
directs the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), in coordination with the National
Economic Council, to develop and update a quadrennial strategic plan to improve Government
coordination and provide long-term guidance for Federal programs and activities in support of U.S.
manufacturing competitiveness, including advanced manufacturing R&D. This document, Strategy for
American Leadership in Advanced Manufacturing, provides this guidance. It was developed by the NSTC
Subcommittee on Advanced Manufacturing with consideration of public input gathered through a
Request for Information
8
and a series of regional roundtables held with a diverse array of stakeholders.
Factors That Impact Innovation and Competitiveness for Advanced Manufacturing
9
Rapid advances in technology in combination with economic forces are changing the ways
products and services are conceived, designed, made, distributed, and supported. Manufacturing
can no longer be considered separate from the value chainthe system of R&D, product design,
software development and integration, and lifecycle service activities performed to deliver a valuable
product or service to market.
10
The growth of advanced manufacturing requires advances in technology-based infrastructure.
11
Technological innovation is closely tied to manufacturing capability.
12
Global leadership in innovation
is required for American manufacturers to maintain (and in some cases regain) their competitive edge.
While rapid innovation has long been a defining attribute of American industry, private investments in
manufacturing-based technologies have dramatically shrunk in recent years as investors focused on
the rapid return on investments possible through software-based start-ups.
13
Public investment in
basic and early-stage applied research, along with public-private R&D partnerships, can help drive
private sector investment and innovation in advanced manufacturing.
Investments in advanced manufacturing depend upon reliable and predictable intellectual
property rights. Reliable intellectual property rights and a legal system that enables effective
enforcement of those rights incentivize innovation and encourage private sector investment in R&D.
The need for intellectual property, especially patents, trademarks, and trade secrets, is no less
important for advanced manufacturing than for other technologies. U.S. manufacturers benefit from
an intellectual property ecosystem that protects innovation both domestically and abroad, which
enables their intellectual property to be assigned or licensed on voluntary and mutually agreed terms.
7
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2016-title42/pdf/USCODE-2016-title42-chap79-subchapII-
sec6622.pdf
8
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/02/05/2018-02160/national-strategic-plan-for-advanced-
manufacturing
9
Many of these factors are discussed in more depth in Assessing and Strengthening the Manufacturing and
Defense Industrial Base and Supply Chain Resiliency of the United States, a report developed in response to
Executive Order 13806; see https://defense.gov/StrengtheningDefenseIndustrialBase
.
10
https://www.nap.edu/catalog/19483/making-value-for-america-embracing-the-future-of-manufacturing-
technology
11
https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2017/05/09/Measurement_Infrastr_Roles_Impacts_v3.pdf
12
https://www.nap.edu/catalog/24875/securing-advanced-manufacturing-in-the-united-states-the-role-of
13
For example, see https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2018/nsb20181/report/sections/invention-knowledge-
transfer-and-innovation/innovation-indicators-united-states-and-other-major-economies.
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
– 5 –
Moreover,
there is a virtuous circle between innovation and manufacturing: skills developed from
manufacturing better position America to innovate, and with innovation, America can continue to be
competitive in advanced manufacturing.
Emerging markets, exports, and trade are all affected by advanced manufacturing. Manufacturing
leadership not only requires advanced technologies, but the ability to effectively leverage new
technologies and platforms across industrial sectors. Emerging markets will be driven by advances in a
wide range of technologies, including smart and digital manufacturing systems, industrial robotics,
artificial intelligence, additive manufacturing, high-performance materials, semiconductor and hybrid
electronics, photonics, advanced textiles, biomanufacturing, food and agriculture manufacturing, and
more. Many of these technologies represent dual opportunities—not only can they make other
subsectors more competitive by increasing productivity, but the market for these emerging
technologies themselves will be billions of dollars annually.
14
U.S. manufacturers would benefit from
increased awareness about new market opportunities in foreign countries and resources that are
available to help them access foreign markets, especially those provided by the International Trade
Administration.
15
Advanced manufacturing leadership requires trade policies that protect and advance U.S.
industry. More than 70 percent of all goods exported from the United States are manufactured
goods.
16
Fair and reciprocal trade can encourage economic development and expansion of
manufacturing, and new products developed through investments in advanced manufacturing can
generate new export opportunities. America is faced with a concerted effort of unfair global trade
practices, and must be prepared to confront bad actors seeking global dominance that have adopted
unfair competition and, in some cases, outright illegal practices. The promotion of standards and
technical regulations that do not disadvantage U.S. innovators and manufacturers is vital, as well as
the protection of intellectual property and support for frameworks that facilitate the free flow of data
across borders. Although not the focus of this plan, trade policies that protect and advance U.S.
industry will be essential to the success of this advanced manufacturing strategy.
17
Manufacturing drives global economies. The manufacturing sector is strongly coupled to
infrastructure development, job creation, and growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The U.S.
standing in the global innovation index recently dropped from 9
th
to 11
th
as measured by the
2018 Bloomberg Innovation Index.
18
This index scores countries using several criteria, including
R&D intensity, manufacturing value-added, productivity, high-technology density,
researcher concentration, and patent activity. Specifically, U.S. production and employment have
fallen sharply in the high-technology manufacturing industries of communications and computers.
However, the United States is still the world’s largest producer in testing, measuring, and control
instruments; and is the dominant global producer in aircraft and spacecraft, as well as in
pharmaceuticals.
19
14
https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2017/05/09/IDA-STPI-report-on-Global-Emerging-Trends-
in-Adv-Mfr-P-4603_Final2-1.pdf
15
https://www.export.gov/Market-Intelligence
16
https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/Press-Release/current_press_release/exh15.pdf
17
https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/files/Press/Reports/2018/AR/2018%20Annual%20Report%20I.pdf
18
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-22/south-korea-tops-global-innovation-ranking-again-
as-u-s-falls
19
https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2018/nsb20181/report
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
– 6 –
A solid defense industrial base is a national priority, including an innovative and profitable
domestic manufacturing sector with resilient supply chains.
20
America’s manufacturing and
defense industrial base and supply chain is essential to economic prosperity and national security. This
industrial base must continuously innovate in order to remain economically competitive and provide
America’s warfighters with the capabilities to prevail in any conflict. Research, technology, invention,
and innovation within this base is driven by more than $500 billion of U.S. public and private sector
R&D, and the quarter of that support from Federal sources serves as the seed fund for many of the
defense capabilities of the future.
21
Every goal and priority identified in this strategic plan will support
the manufacturing industrial base and can serve as a guide for both public and private sector
investments.
The advanced manufacturing workforce requires a high level of preparation in science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Manufacturing jobs continue to represent a path
to the middle class for Americans, but now these jobs often require employees to have a manufacturing-
focused STEM education, making STEM skills pivotal for the future manufacturing workforce.
Appropriate education and training is required from elementary through high school, and through
technical training programs, re-training, apprenticeships, postsecondary education, and access to
valid, industry-recognized, competency-based credentials.
The Trump Administration has prioritized STEM education by highlighting key goals that are both
transparent and achievable. The Administration has underscored the importance of STEM education to
the development of the future American workforce by forging stronger connections for students
between the worlds of education and work; focusing on innovation and entrepreneurship; integrating
computer science principles; and improving access to STEM programs and technical apprenticeships
for all Americans, including women, minorities, persons with disabilities, and those living in rural
areas.
22, 23
Federal, State, and local governments must work together to support advanced manufacturing.
The private sector has always been key to the development and deployment of emerging technologies
in America, but government support is also a critical factor. Direct investment in early stage R&D,
innovation-friendly policies that limit red tape and allow technologies to be created and deployed on
American soil, trade policies to protect intellectual property and ensure an even playing field in the
international marketplace for American companies, access to world-class laboratories and research
facilities, and efforts to generate a strong scientific and technical workforce are all important ways the
Government can help emerging technologies like advanced manufacturing thrive.
Federal agencies play key roles in fostering the growth of advanced manufacturing through
investments in R&D and in education and workforce development. While HHS/NIH and NSF R&D
support is focused on basic research from which new manufacturing processes and systems can
emerge, DoD, DOE, NASA, DOC/NIST, and USDA support both basic research and early-stage applied
research supporting advanced manufacturing, with many world-class R&D capabilities within their
20
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/NSS-Final-12-18-2017-0905.pdf
21
https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2018/nsb20181/report/sections/research-and-development-u-s-trends-and-
international-comparisons/recent-trends-in-u-s-r-d-performance#u-s-total-r-d-and-r-d-intensity
22
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Summary-of-the-2018-White-House-State-
Federal-STEM-Education-Summit.pdf
23
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-committed-preparing-
americas-workers-jobs-today-tomorrow/
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
– 7 –
Federal research laboratories and federally funded laboratories. Recent Federal investments have
placed
an increased emphasis on building an innovation pipeline between research and
commercialization through public-private partnerships, technology transfer activities, coordination
with States, and collaborative workforce development programs.
Vision and Goals for Advanced Manufacturing
This strategic plan is designed to realize the following vision:
A
merican leadership in advanced manufacturing across industrial
sectors to ensure national security and economic prosperity.
This vision will be achieved by pursuing three goals:
1. Develop and transition new manufacturing technologies;
2. Educate, train, and connect the manufacturing workforce; and
3. Expand the capabilities of the domestic manufacturing supply
chain.
In the following sections, each goal is described and supported by a number of strategic objectives.
For each objective, a set of technical or program priorities is identified, with each priority including
specific actions and/or outcomes to be accomplished over the next four years. A table identifying
which Federal agencies will contribute to each of the goals and objectives is included in the Executive
Summary.
24
24
All Federal activities listed in this strategic plan are subject to budgetary constraints and other approvals,
including the weighing of priorities and available resources by the Administration in formulating its annual
budget and by Congress in legislating appropriations.
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
– 8 –
Goal 1: Develop and Transition New Manufacturing Technologies
Worldwide competition in manufacturing has been dominated in recent decades by the maturation,
commoditization, and widespread application of computation in production equipment and logistics,
effectively leveling the global technological playing field and putting a premium on low wages and
incremental technical improvements. Pervasive networking and recent advances in machine learning,
biotechnology, and materials science are creating new opportunities for global competition in
manufacturing based on scientific and technological innovation. Although global competitors are well
organized, as evidenced by the European Union’s Industrie 4.0 Programme and China’s Made in China
2025 Program, the United States still leads the world in scientific and technological innovation. America
must protect and leverage this strength to rapidly and efficiently develop and transition new
manufacturing technologies into practice within our domestic industrial base and international allies.
A recent study reports that addressing scientific and technical challenges in advanced manufacturing
can conservatively save U.S. manufacturers over $100 billion annually while further enhancing the
economic value to the private sector of federally performed R&D.
25
Although Federal investments in
advanced manufacturing-related research, development, and deployment are typically focused on
mission-specific goals, portfolio-based strategies coordinated across agencies would more effectively
develop and transition new manufacturing technologies.
Public-private partnerships that bring together diverse stakeholders with overlapping interests and
capabilities to advance targeted technology sectors and establish the United States as a leader in those
sectors are key to developing and transitioning new manufacturing technologies. Large-scale consortia
with shared resources, such as physical infrastructure and colocation of tools, technology, and
embedded expertise, can expand regional innovation ecosystems and drive economic growth both
within and across regions.
The following strategic objectives for the next four years have been identified under Goal 1:
Ca
pture the future of intelligent manufacturing systems;
Develop world-leading materials and processing technologies;
Assure access to medical products through domestic manufacturing;
Maintain leadership in electronics design and fabrication; and
Strengthen opportunities for food and agricultural manufacturing.
For each objective, a set of technical priorities is identified, with each priority including specific
actions and/or outcomes to be accomplished over the next four years.
Capture the Future of Intelligent Manufacturing Systems
Digital design and manufacturing seamlessly distributes the information needed to transform designs
and raw materials into products, resulting in a highly connected industrial enterprise that can span
multiple companies within a supply chain. Smart manufacturing enables the execution of that
transformation by sensing and correcting anomalies to ensure product uniformity, quality, and
traceability. These advances depend on the innovation of a robust industrial internet of things (IIoT),
machine learning algorithms that can be applied across a broad range of manufacturing processes, and
machine tools and controllers that can plug-and-play in an integrated, information-centric system.
25
https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/eab/NIST.EAB.1.pdf
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
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Taking the lead in digital design and manufacturing also requires the United States to expand ongoing
efforts to represent, structure, communicate, store, standardize, and secure product, process, and
logistical information in a digital manufacturing environment.
The technical priorities for this objective are smart and digital manufacturing; advanced industrial
robotics; infrastructure for artificial intelligence; and cybersecurity in manufacturing.
Smart and Digital Manufacturing. Technologybased productivity improvements have consistently
driven job growth. The emergence of widespread, high-speed information and communications
technologies provides the opportunity to capture tremendous new productivity gains, but only if
information technology can be properly integrated and leveraged with operational technology (OT).
Two distinct but interrelated areas within this emerging field are smart manufacturing
26
and digital
manufacturing.
27
The ultimate promise of smart and digital manufacturing is seamless integration from design to part
production, producing guaranteed good parts. Current smart manufacturing implementations lack 100
percent dependability, with fixes for execution failures representing most of the engineering cost in
both production and customizing smart manufacturing methods to specific processes. Improvements
will enable the highly integrated design and manufacturing of complex products in reduced time and
at lower cost, while accelerating the pace at which new products can be brought to market.
The following specific actions are planned for the next four years (as noted above, this format will be
used throughout this document):
Facilitate a digital transformation in the manufacturing sector by enabling the application of big
data analytics and advanced sensing and control technologies to a host of manufacturing
activities. Prioritize support for real-time modeling and simulation of production machines,
processes, and systems to predict and improve product performance and reliability; mine
historical design, production, and performance data to reveal the implicit product and process
know-how of the expert designers who created them. Develop the standards that will enable
seamless integration between smart manufacturing components and platforms.
Advanced Industrial Robotics. Collaborative smart robots enable human-robot teamwork, thereby
decreasing mental and physical stress on workers, reducing manufacturing costs, increasing quality,
and providing quick response to changing customer demands. Advanced robotic systems can perform
multiple tasks, thus reducing capital investment and increasing manufacturing agility by eliminating
the need for several special-purpose tools. Robot-based production systems can also enable efficient
batch-of-one production (also known as mass customization).
Improved robotics technology benefits manufacturing by lowering technical, operational, and
economic barriers to the wider adoption of the robots that will, in turn, drive further growth in the U.S.
manufacturing sector. Key industrial sectors that will benefit from the next generation of robotics
include aerospace, automotive, electronics, biotechnology, and textiles. Robotics technology areas
26
Smart manufacturing generally refers to the integration of sensors, controls, and software platforms to
optimize performance at the unit, plant, and supply chain levels.
27
Digital manufacturing involves the use of an integrated, computer-based system incorporating simulation,
three-dimensional visualization, analytics, and collaboration tools to create product and manufacturing process
definitions simultaneously.
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
10
ripe with opportunities for advancement include human-robot interaction, adaption, learning,
manipulation, autonomy, mobility, agility, dexterity, and perception. Some industrial robots in use
today move without awareness of their environments, making their vicinities hazardous to humans and
precluding their use as assistants to human workers, or cobots.
28
In addition, because human co-
workers are inherently unpredictable, new breakthroughs in artificial intelligence are needed to allow
robots to anticipate human actions and thereby improve occupational safety.
Promote development of new technologies and standards that enable wider adoption of robotics
in advanced manufacturing environments and promote safe and efficient human-robot
interactions.
Infrastructure for Artificial Intelligence. The convergence of cloud computing, data analytics, and
computational modeling with artificial intelligence (AI) will be a key enabler of IIoT, allowing individual
manufacturers to extract pinpoint guidance from the collective experience of every manufacturer.
Machine learning may provide future manufacturing systems with the benefit of all of the historical
knowledge gained from production experiences from similar systems in the country. The machine
learning methods used to mine this vast store of manufacturing experience need massive datasets.
They also become more powerful as more data becomes available, making data curation and access
critical enablers of machine learning and AI applications. However, companies will contribute their
manufacturing data only if proprietary data can be identified and kept secure.
Develop new standards for artificial intelligence and identify best practices to provide consistent
availability, accessibility, and utility of manufacturing data within and across industries, while
maintaining data security and respecting intellectual property rights. Prioritize R&D to develop
new approaches to data access, confidentiality, encryption, and risk assessment for U.S.
manufacturers.
Cybersecurity in Manufacturing. As the implementation of intelligent manufacturing grows, the U.S.
manufacturing sector becomes increasingly vulnerable to malicious actors and data piracy. The
manufacturing sector represents a particularly inviting target for both state- and competitor-sponsored
spying. Not only can data be stolen, but it can be changed and manipulated to cause production of
defective products, which can cause system disruption and failure. Strengthening cybersecurity is a
national priority.
29
Traditional cybersecurity solutions and efforts are centered on protecting information technology (IT)-
based systems, with such actions as better authentication, updated security patches, and risk
management for cloud computing. Cybersecurity in manufacturing organizations is complicated by the
need to clearly understand the differences in vulnerabilities between both IT and OT systems.
Manufacturing systems and their integrated control systems are OT systems that have a direct effect on
the physical world and often cannot be updated on demand, so typically cannot be protected by simply
adopting newer IT methods.
New research efforts are needed to develop and/or update standards and guidelines
30
for
implementing emerging technologies for cybersecurity in manufacturing systems, including AI for
28
A cobot is a collaborative robot intended to physically interact with humans in a shared workspace, distinct
from robots designed to operate autonomously or with limited guidance.
29
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-executive-order-strengthening-cybersecurity-
federal-networks-critical-infrastructure/
30
https://www.nist.gov/cyberframework
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
11
threat detection and handling, blockchain for security of sensitive manufacturing information, and
security of IIoT devices when deployed in smart manufacturing systems. Recently developed quantum
devices have shown the potential to easily infiltrate conventional safeguards. Therefore, new
approaches to cyber security in the traditional and quantum domains are needed.
Develop standards, tools, and testbeds, and disseminate guidelines for implementing
cybersecurity in smart manufacturing systems. Focus efforts on moving American manufacturers
towards better cybersecurity.
Develop World-Leading Materials and Processing Technologies
Advanced materials are essential for the development of new products and for economic and national
security, with applications across multiple industrial sectors including defense, energy, transportation,
aerospace, and healthcare. Unfortunately, it can take 20 or more years to move from materials
discovery to the market. Because material properties drive performance, the definition of advanced
materials depends on the intended application for the materials. For example, advanced materials may
include extreme-temperature composites used in hypersonics, energetic materials, high-strength
lightweight metal alloys, synthetic biologic materials, anti-corrosion membranes for advanced
filtration systems, ultra-high temperature structures for more efficient turbines in power generation,
and many others. Advanced processes for shaping and enhancing the performance of these materials
can increase the cost-effectiveness and competitiveness of entire sectors by replacing prevailing
methods with faster, more efficient, precise, and robust technologies. Advanced processing techniques
under development or on the horizon that offer potential breakthroughs include chemical and thermal
process intensification, advanced remanufacturing and recycling technologies, and atomically precise
manufacturing.
The technical priorities for this objective are high-performance materials; additive manufacturing; and
critical materials.
High-Performance Materials. The discovery and development of lightweight and modern metals,
composites, and other classes of advanced materials have the potential for significant performance
enhancements in defense, energy, transportation, and other sectors. There are unrealized
opportunities for sharing expertise across sectors. Many American high technology companies use
expensive materials and processing methods to keep their products on the forefront of performance,
while others are proven leaders in high-volume, low-cost production, with deep experience in reducing
production costs. Transfer of expertise between high-tech and high-volume non-competitors can
reduce the cost of high-performance products and increase the performance of low-cost products,
providing significant benefits across all sectors.
Powerful new methods for predicting material behavior using high-performance computing will
facilitate this knowledge transfer. Emphasis is needed on transitioning to practice advanced
computational methods, such as those being pioneered in the Materials Genome Initiative.
31
Those
methods compute the likely properties of advanced materials systems in processing and in service,
thereby minimizing costly and time-consuming experimentation currently needed to design new
materials.
31
https://www.mgi.gov/
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
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Promote a materials genome and systems-level computational approach to material design,
optimization, and implementation to significantly reduce design time and cost in identifying,
developing, qualifying, and scaling production of high-performance materials.
Additive Manufacturing. Additive manufacturing (AM)the ability to directly create structures using
three-dimensional (3D) printing and related techniquesis now beginning to realize its revolutionary
potential to impact the commercial and defense manufacturing sectors, in terms of both cost per part
and system performance. For example, AM of monolithic, high-performance metal parts can provide
huge weight savings and performance gains for the aerospace sector. Similarly, printing of biological
cells promises to produce future human tissues and organs. However, producing reliable and safe parts
may require the accurate and reproducible printing of millions of particles of metal powder or living
cells, and this precision is not yet easily achieved.
The adoption of AM into manufacturing sectors depends on the ability to dependably set processing
parameters that result in reliable and repeatable production across different machines and across
different sites, requiring machine/process standardization and reliable constituent material quality. AM
creates a new design paradigm, as parts can be made without the constraints of traditional machining,
casting, or forging processes. Designers must learn how to incorporate AM technology in their future
systems to remain competitive. As the production capacity of AM expands, new standardization efforts,
supported by fundamental research, are needed to ensure the repeatability and reliability of
production parts.
Continue advancements in process control and process monitoring to secure AM technologies as
viable production alternatives. Develop new methods to measure and quantify the interactions
between material and processing technology to better understand the material-process-structure
relationship. Establish new standards to support the representation, presentation, and evaluation
of AM data to ensure part quality and reproducibility. Expand research efforts to establish best
practices for applying computational technologies to AM, including simulation and machine
learning.
Critical Materials. Critical materials, including critical minerals, are key building blocks subject to
supply risk in a number of advanced technologies that underpin America’s energy production, defense
technologies, manufactured products, and the overall economy. Such materials often have unique and
exceptional properties that are difficult to replicate using alternative material systems. However, lack
of a robust and resilient domestic production industry has created distinct supply chain
vulnerabilities.
32
To help ensure a more robust supply of critical minerals, President Trump issued Executive Order 13817,
A Federal Strategy to Ensure Secure and Reliable Supplies of Critical Minerals.
33
In response, Federal
agencies developed a list of 35 minerals that are critical to the United States and for which the supply
chain is vulnerable to disruption.
34
The assessment indicated that production of many critical minerals
is concentrated in just a few foreign countries, creating a risk of price spikes and supply disruptions that
threaten our economy and national security.
32
https://defense.gov/StrengtheningDefenseIndustrialBase
33
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-executive-order-federal-strategy-ensure-
secure-reliable-supplies-critical-minerals/
34
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/05/18/2018-10667/final-list-of-critical-minerals-2018
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
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R&D is needed on the cost-effective processing and separation of critical materials, including critical
minerals, that are very similar chemically but have dramatically different properties and therefore can
be used in different applications. In parallel, materials research is required to find new ways to more
efficiently use these materials in existing and future applications, reduce materials loss during
manufacturing of down-stream components, and recycle and recover these materials for reuse where
appropriate. These efforts strengthen our ability to mine, process, refine, recycle and substitute critical
materials affordably and reduce our reliance on foreign sources, ensuring material availability to our
manufacturers.
Advance cost-effective processing and separation technologies to reduce the cost of production.
Reduce reliance on critical materials by investigating substitutes and material alternatives where
possible, and develop the means to recycle critical elements by innovating manufacturing
processes.
Assure Access to Medical Products through Domestic Manufacturing
Advanced manufacturing for health-regulated pharmaceutical and biotechnology products, including
drugs, biologics, and devices, has significant economic and national security implications. According to
one industry study, medical device manufacturers and the pharmaceutical industry contribute over $1
trillion annually to the U.S. economy in direct sales and high-wage jobs.
35
In addition to their direct
contributions to the U.S. GDP, these industries make substantial indirect contributions to improved
public health outcomes that are more difficult to quantify.
The United States needs to fully leverage existing approaches and catalyze new efforts to address gaps
in the end-to-end innovation ecosystem for the domestic manufacturing of health-regulated products.
Research, measurements, and standards that promote pre-competitive, cross-cutting technologies to
support faster and more cost-effective development cycles are needed to de-risk the transition of
industry to a more flexibly scaled and modular infrastructure. These advances will ensure a more
responsive domestic manufacturing capability.
The technical priorities for this objective are low-cost distributed manufacturing; continuous
manufacturing; and biofabrication of tissue and organs.
Low-Cost, Distributed Manufacturing. Manufacturing of traditional, small molecule pharmaceu-
ticals, such as generic antimicrobial drugs and to a lesser extent, vaccines, has been offshored, largely
to India and Asia, as the U.S. pharmaceutical industry has transitioned to biologically-produced
advanced therapies with higher complexity and market value. This creates a potential national security
risk, since these medical countermeasures may be needed at times when foreign supplies are
inaccessible. There is an additional public health need for a scalable, responsive, cost-effective, and
distributed domestic capability to manufacture enough drugs and biologics so all U.S. citizens have
affordable, local access to the best available therapies. These small-scale production capabilities are
also critical to making precision medicine and treatment oforphandiseases accessible.
Although philanthropic foundations with the goal of global access to medicines in low-resourced
countries are investing in more cost-effective manufacturing for drugs and biologics, there is a need to
push for manufacturing innovation that strengthens the business drivers for domestic production of
drugs and biologics with high public health value but low commercial value.
35
http://phrma-docs.phrma.org/files/dmfile/PhRMA_GoBoldly_Economic_Impact.pdf
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
14
Expand domestic drug production capability to lessen the risk of drug shortages and provide cost-
effective, small-scale manufacture of drugs and biologics. Encourage development of new
therapies and devices by providing a faster production pathway from bench to clinic.
Continuous Manufacturing. Drug manufacturing is traditionally accomplished in large batches, with
extensive testing of each batch to ensure consistent quality of the final product. In batch production,
any problem with raw material ingredients or processing can scrap entire batches of medicine or result
in expensive product recalls.
Continuous manufacturing (CM) is the integration of manufacturing process elements into a single
computer-controlled system that constantly regulates the product flow and recovery as raw materials
are input to and flow through the manufacturing process. CM is a new production paradigm in specialty
chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing that improves product uniformity, increases
sustainability, and achieves the flexibility to produce a greater variety of drug products and critical
specialty chemicals using smaller, more efficient manufacturing sites. CM also enables shorter
production runs, making small volume runs of specialty drugs and on-demand production of
commodity drugs possible. There are challenges to CM adoption that justify a concerted effort to make
the continuous manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and specialty chemicals a national priority. In
particular, research is needed to overcome the technological challenges of integrating sensors and
processing hardware with the control software that allows computers to continuously verify product
quality from millisecond to millisecond.
Develop new approaches to change current “batch-centric” pharmaceutical manufacturing to a
seamlessly integrated, continuous unit operations manufacturing production model that
maintains consistent product quality.
Biofabrication of Tissue and Organs. The United States holds a strong lead in biotechnology and
biofabrication technology at the basic science and academic levels. The biggest challenges to ensuring
technological superiority in healthcare and bio-based security are in transitioning federally funded
R&D breakthroughs into manufacturable, scalable products and retaining the associated advanced
manufacturing facilities and expertise within the United States. Development of processes and
platform technologies for reproducible and scalable tissue manufacturing should be a primary focus.
At the fundamental level, much progress has been made in biological additive manufacturing (i.e., the
precision placement of viable human cells for tissue engineering), but the manufacture of artificial
biological organs depends on the discovery of the fundamental biomolecular signaling mechanisms
that instruct cells to assemble into functioning organs that integrate multiple cell types. As these
challenges are overcome, a future benefiting all citizens emerges where organ donor lists are short
and manageable due to the ability to manufacture organs using a patient's own cells.
Dev
elop standards, identify starting materials, and automate manufacturing processes to
enhance biofabrication technologies and advance a vision of manufactured tissues and organs
using a patient's own cells.
Maintain Leadership in Electronics Design and Fabrication
Semiconductors are the foundation of the microelectronics that power information and
communication technology, consumer electronics, online business, and social media. Advances in
semiconductor technology are critical for almost every sector of the economy and many critical systems
for national security. Innovations in complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
15
have been the driving force behind the exponential increase in transistor density and, concurrently,
reduction in the power per transistor. The industry is now facing fundamental performance limitations
of the CMOS technology, diversification of the market beyond processors and memory, and intense
global competition. Therefore, there is a critical need to develop fundamental materials, devices, and
interconnect solutions to enable future computing and storage paradigms beyond conventional CMOS
semiconductors and the ubiquitous von Neumann computer architecture and classical information
processing/storage methods.
The technical priorities for this objective are semiconductor design tools and fabrication; and new
materials, devices, and architectures.
Semiconductor Design Tools and Fabrication. A significant barrier to innovation in the semi-
conductor and microelectronics industry is a lack of affordable access to design tools and fabrication
foundries for integrated circuits that use advanced semiconductor materials and processes. The
specialized equipment needed to design and produce multilayer structures with novel materials is
extremely costly to purchase and maintain and requires highly-trained operators. For these reasons,
such facilities do not represent prudent investment choices for individual design firms, as the machines
must be engaged in continuous production to justify their high cost.
The continuous production requirement limits the exploration of new fabrication materials and
designs, since the time required for a changeover to new processes interrupts high-value production.
In addition, introducing new materials into a conventional semiconductor foundry can contaminate an
entire facility, making it unsuitable for further production. There is a need to establish semiconductor
foundries and the associated design tools to give designers throughout the United States access to the
fabrication services needed to experiment with and commercialize circuit designs in advanced
semiconductor materials. Broad access to facilities for fabricating computing hardware from exotic
materials, insulators, and biological cells is needed to research, develop, and efficiently implement the
new computer architectures that will be used in future neural computers.
Prioritize investment in capabilities to ensure that new microelectronics technologies are retained
and manufactured domestically. Beginning with the prototyping stage, investigate ways to
provide agile manufacturing capabilities that allow the creation of new devices and testing of new
materials. Create models that give more access to design tools and domestic microelectronics
foundries.
New Materials, Devices, and Architectures. For over 50 years, much of the increased computing
capabilities, advances in communication, and improved standard of living around the globe has been
enabled by the exponential growth in electronics performance, captured in Moore’s law, which states
that computing performance will double every two years by doubling the number of transistors on a
chip. Since 2012, the ability to continue this growth has been challenged by theoretical limitations on
the smallest manufacturable feature size of transistors. The quest for continued performance gains
requires further development of new technologies, including 3D systems-on-chip integration, tunneling
field-effect transistors, spintronics, integrated photonics, integration of III-V compound
semiconductors with silicon-based devices, and quantum information systems. Board-level
technologies are also a priority, including 3D printing with integrated electronics, die-bonded flexible-
hybrid circuits, and roll-to-roll manufacturing. Research should also include precision sensing
(including time, space, gravity, and electromagnetism), health and asset monitoring sensors,
photovoltaics, and medical devices. Finally, investment in quantum computing must continue to be a
priority to maintain global leadership in future complex electronics design and computing capabilities.
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
16
Prioritize support for semiconductor and electronics research and expand the scope of investment
to include board-level manufacturing technologies.
Strengthen Opportunities for Food and Agricultural Manufacturing
Manufacturing of food and agricultural products is critical for resilient production of safe and nutritious
foods and vitally important for the domestic rural economy. As stated in the recent report from the
Interagency Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity,
36
by 2050 the U.S. population is projected
to increase to almost 400 million people, and rising incomes worldwide will translate into historic global
growth in food demand. To feed a hungry world, we will need to harness innovation to increase output
across American farmlands. In addition to increased crop yields, technological innovation can improve
crop quality, nutritional value, and food safety.
Manufacturing provides a higher share of jobs and earnings in rural areas than in urban areas of the
country, and food manufacturing is the largest subsector of rural manufacturing, accounting for over
18 percent of rural manufacturing employment in 2015. The United States will develop technologies to
enable U.S. food production and manufacturing to feed an ever-growing population, protect the food
supply chain, and improve bio-based product manufacturing.
37
The technical priorities for this objective are processing, testing, and traceability in food safety;
production and supply chain for food security; and improved cost and functionality of bio-based
products.
Processing, Testing, and Traceability in Food Safety. Advanced manufacturing plays an important
role in agricultural production, food processing and food safety. The safety of the food supply is vitally
important, and improved food manufacturing practices are needed to reduce uncertainty, improve
inspection, and instill traceability into the supply chain. Food manufacturing encompasses
engineering, processing technologies, packaging, sanitation, robotics, nanotechnology, sensors, high-
speed automation, mathematical modeling, digital imaging, quality/safety inspections, and other
disciplines. There are opportunities to adapt new technologies to streamline and improve quality in
conventional manufacturing processes to improve food production. These advances have the potential
to increase food quality, lower the cost of safe and nutritious foods, and improve the environmental
sustainability of food production.
Facilitate and transfer smart and digital manufacturing concepts to food manufacturing,
including the use of digital imaging, automation, advanced detection, and digital threads to
improve supply chain integrity.
Production and Supply Chain for Food Security. Americans take the security of their food supply for
granted, but growing demand, climatic change, and geopolitical pressures increasingly put our food
security at risk. The Nation must treat food security as an important aspect of national security to
strengthen access to sustainable agriculture and nutritious foods. Considering the rapid growth in the
technologies and engineering involved in food production and processing, advanced food
manufacturing can help the United States maintain the high safety, quality, and nutritional value we
have come to expect of the U.S. food supply. Appropriate Federal agencies will work closely and engage
in public-private partnerships to accelerate advancements in food manufacturing through co-
investments.
36
https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/rural-prosperity-report.pdf
37
https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=84757
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
17
Support strengthening domestic food production a key manufacturing sector by ensuring a
robust supply chain with efficient and equitable distribution. Implement next generation quality
control systems to ensure that nutritious and safe food is available to all U.S. citizens.
Improved Cost and Functionality of Bio-Based Products. In addition to food safety and food security,
the United States produces a wide array of non-food agricultural products, including textiles, building
materials, bioenergy, and bio-based chemicals and materials. New manufacturing approaches are
needed to drive down the cost and improve the functionality of these products. Innovation priorities
for the United States include multi-product biorefineries, cellulose nanomaterials, added-value forestry
products, protected agriculture, and other technologies. Other manufacturing priorities are equally
important for food and non-food applications, such as advances in seed production from the
mathematical optimization of plant breeding, improving plant productivity and resilience, lowering
costs of processing and conversion, ensuring worker safety, and improving efficiencies throughout the
supply chain. Advanced processing and supply chain integration are needed to improve the
functionality and lower the cost of bio-based products.
Conduct R&D at the junction of plant breeding, genomics, and bio-based product development.
Adapt high-throughput automation to develop and screen for plant characteristics, such as
improved yield of added-value products and increased crop resilience in regionally-appropriate
environments.
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
18
Goal 2: Educate, Train, and Connect the Manufacturing Workforce
The manufacturing sector is facing wide gaps between emerging jobs and workers with the needed
skills. Traditional educational and technical skills are no longer sufficient. New technological literacies
and cognitive capacities such as data competence and systems thinking will be needed for the work of
tomorrow. One recent study estimates that by 2025, 3.5 million new jobs will open in manufacturing
2.7 million of which will be created from baby boomer retirements, and 2 million of which will go
unfilled.
38
Yet many young people who may benefit the most from those high-skill, high-paying jobs are
missing out due to outdated presumptions that all manufacturing jobs are still repetitive, labor-
intensive, and low-paying, or concerns about the future of such jobs in America. Many students and
their families undervalue or misunderstand technical careers and the growing need for a skilled,
technical workforce, thus dismissing valuable options at community colleges and technical schools.
To address these challenges, the United States must pay attention to enhancing and developing key
human capital strategies that will support the next generation of advanced manufacturing
technologies, with an emphasis on developing educational pathways that reflect the current
environment of integrated manufacturing in engineering and science programs. The advanced
manufacturing workforce needs to have the capability to effectively design, customize, and implement
advanced manufacturing methods to increase productivity and develop new products.
To achieve sustained economic growth, it is vital that efforts to enhance a globally competitive U.S.
manufacturing talent pipeline grow and are directed towards the workforce needs for advanced
manufacturing priorities outlined above for Goal 1. The Administration is committed to educating
tomorrow’s manufacturing workforce; expanding technical career education; promoting training,
apprenticeship, and access to valid, industry-recognized, competency-based credentials; and
matching skilled workers with industries that need them.
39
To prepare the STEM workforce for future manufacturing jobs, national investments should prioritize
life-long STEM educationacross elementary, high school, career and technical education (CTE),
community colleges, universities, academic laboratoriesand include diversified platforms for hands-
on learning and self-directed learning. Other priorities for investment include apprenticeships,
internships, traineeships, and other applied earn-and-learn models. These programs fill a critical role
for building an educated talent pipeline and allow members of the current or displaced workforce
opportunities to re-train in a new field or advance within their current profession. Some of these
programs are already being facilitated through private-public partnerships among industry,
government, and educational institutions. However, U.S. Federal, State, and local policymakers need
to pursue workforce strategies that build up smart and digital manufacturing ecosystems and deliver
effective returns on investment.
The following strategic objectives for the next four years have been identified under Goal 2:
1. Attract and grow tomorrow’s manufacturing workforce;
2. Update and expand career and technical education pathways;
3. Promote apprenticeship and access to industry-recognized credentials; and
4. Match skilled workers with the industries that need them.
38
http://www.themanufacturinginstitute.org/~/media/827DBC76533942679A15EF7067A704CD.ashx
39
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-committed-preparing-
americas-workers-jobs-today-tomorrow/
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
19
Attract and Grow Tomorrow’s Manufacturing Workforce
Building the future STEM workforce requires a commitment to primary and secondary schools, CTE,
postsecondary, graduate, and postgraduate programs. Access to populations that are
underrepresented should be expanded, especially by increasing mathematics/science/technology
magnet programs at the middle-school level, and improving curricula for business, information
technology, data management and protection, software design, automation, and student technology
leadership programs, among others. In CTE, specific attention should be applied to curricula in additive
manufacturing, computer-aided design, and engineering.
The private sector will benefit by collaborating with educational institutions and sharing competency-
based needs so that future workers can encompass a wide array of core and technical STEM-oriented
skills needed for advanced manufacturing. In addition to improving training and the resulting pathways
to employment, such partnerships should also work to better educate students and their parents about
the benefits of advanced manufacturing careers. For example, participating in Manufacturing Day (the
first Friday of October) can contribute to improved public perceptions about manufacturing and
promote technical career pathways. Each October, manufacturers nationwide open their doors to
communities, educators, students, and parents to showcase today’s manufacturing and inspire future
generations of innovators to join the manufacturing workforce.
The program priorities for this objective are manufacturing-focused foundational STEM education;
manufacturing engineering education; and industry and academia partnerships.
Manufacturing-Focused Foundational STEM Education. As evident by one 2017 study,
40
there is a
troublesome disconnect between what schools teach and the types of skills needed in the
manufacturing job market both now and in the near future. Available evidence also suggests that formal
and informal engineering education both in and after school can stimulate broader interest and
improve learning in mathematics and science, as well as improve understanding of engineering and
technology. However, only one third of parents encourage their children to pursue a manufacturing
career because of perceptions that manufacturing jobs are not strong career paths.
The educational outreach efforts of the Manufacturing USA institutes
41
—Federally funded, public-
private partnershipshave helped to transform the image of manufacturing from “dirty, dark, and
dangerous to “smart, sustainable, and safe for students and their parents. In fiscal year (FY) 2017,
nearly 200,000 students, teachers and manufacturing practitioners were engaged in an institute
project, internship, certification, or training program in a range of advanced manufacturing
technologies. Additional activities to increase public awareness initiatives are required to show that
manufacturing provides a variety of exciting and creative careers.
Provide school districts with the appropriate resources to incorporate manufacturing and
engineering technology education programs into their science standards, engage and retain
younger students in STEM, particularly across underrepresented groups, and better inform
parents and other members of the public on the benefits of manufacturing and advanced
technology careers.
40
https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/manufacturing/articles/public-perception-of-the-manufacturing-
industry.html
41
https://www.manufacturingusa.com/
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
20
Manufacturing Engineering Education. America’s manufacturers need highly-skilled technical
workers with excellent critical thinking and innovation skills to maintain a competitive advantage in the
global marketplace and adequately support the development of advanced manufacturing
technologies. It is clear that education beyond high school is required for high-paying manufacturing
jobs. Continued investments in Federal initiatives like the DoD Manufacturing Engineering Educational
Program and the NSF Advanced Technological Education program are needed to provide education
beyond high school and expand the talent pipeline.
Establish a strong talent pipeline ready for advanced manufacturing by increasing investments in
manufacturing engineering education that leads to two-year, four-year, and advanced degrees.
Create more technical curricula and research programs that prepare graduates to tackle real-life
challenges and innovate future novel manufacturing technologies.
Industry and Academia Partnerships. Investments should encourage public-private collaboration to
ensure relevance of the curricula for the manufacturing sector. New technologies like robotics, laser
cutters, engravers, and 3D printers have become more in demand and accessible to students and
consumers through school-based competitions and community-based technology centers (e.g.,
makerspaces and fab labs). These technologies have created a tremendous impact on non-traditional
education by promoting critical thinking and problem-solving skills among students and teachers.
Community-based digital fabrication initiatives, especially with entrepreneurship components, are
changing small batch manufacturing, producing innovative products, and have the potential of
retaining the associated advanced manufacturing activities and expertise within the United States.
Strengthen public-private partnerships to include industry-relevant training in advanced
manufacturing curricula with opportunities for students and teachers to receive mentorship from
industry members, keep up to date on new technologies, and share educational materials.
Update and Expand Career and Technical Education Pathways
To be successful in the manufacturing workforce, individuals need strong technical skills, a solid
academic foundation, and core employability skills, whether they enter the workforce directly from
high school or after completing some further education after high school. The recent recession
impacted how the U.S. population and younger generations are investing in education. Entrepreneurial
thinking and creative ways to access capital using technology platforms or IIoT are placing the issue of
skyrocketing college tuitions at the forefront of many household conversations. Unlike most other
advanced economies, the United States lacks formal mechanisms that require governments,
educators, labor representatives, and employers to coordinate on workforce development policies and
practices at the national level. This lack of coordination makes it crucially important to support
secondary-to-postsecondary CTE, project-based curricula, competency-based training, career
pathways, and self-directed learning programs. These non-traditional learning pathways are critical to
advanced manufacturing and enable better mobility for workers to transition from declining industries
into new, growing technologies. Further coordination is also needed with two-year community college
programs and four-year university and college programs, particularly in the areas of software design,
engineering technology, systems engineering, robotics, and more
science/technology related fields
such as biotechnology.
The program priorities for this objective are career and technical education; and training a skilled
technical workforce.
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
21
Career and Technical Education. Student exposure to hands-on, project-based learning approaches
builds the critical skills needed to support the U.S. manufacturing sector’s increased emphasis on
product design and customization, and encourages students to imagine, create, innovate, and
collaborate through the process of R&D, testing, and demonstrating their ideas. The Strengthening
Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act,
42
signed into law in July 2018 by President
Trump,
43
amends and extends the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, which is the
principal source of support for CTE at the high school and postsecondary levels. The new law offers
States, communities, and manufacturing industry leaders an important opportunity to rethink and
revitalize CTE to address the skills gap. Importantly, the new law gives States, school districts, and
community colleges greater flexibility in how they use their Federal funds. Prioritizing programs such
as the revised Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act will increase student access across
secondary and postsecondary levels to high-quality technical education and credentialing. These
efforts will ensure that educated, trained, and credentialed individuals will be able to effectively fill
tomorrow’s high-demand and well-paying occupations in advanced manufacturing. State and local
workforce boards have the responsibility to increase hybrid activities integrating science/engineering/
CTE programs that create pathways to teach high school students, displaced workers, and unemployed
individuals.
Leverage opportunities in the reauthorized Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act to
promote high-quality advanced manufacturing programs aligned to local demands and
incorporating strategies allowing students to work and learn through apprenticeships.
Training a Skilled Technical Workforce. The current U.S. system for accessing training is complex,
making it difficult for even highly motivated individuals. The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act
(WIOA) is providing a strong State-administered and locally-implemented job training system that
assists with implementing many identified solutions that have proven results.
44
The United States
should focus on enhancing WIOA’s support for the manufacturing sector by utilizing Federal
investments already in place that can effectively train and retrain a skilled manufacturing workforce.
Promote a renewed focus on apprenticeship programs, work-based learning, and technical
training that offers pathways for workers to gain advanced manufacturing competencies and
technical skills through increased coordination among Federal, State, and local governments,
educational institutions, and the private sector.
Promote Apprenticeship and Access to Industry-Recognized Credentials
Apprenticeships provide an opportunity for individuals to earn while they learn and obtain relevant
workplace skills and industry-recognized, competency-based credentials without incurring the debt
that can come with a four-year degree. However, apprenticeships are underutilized, with only 0.3
percent of the workforce in the United States going through registered apprenticeship programs.
45
President Trump has called for the expansion of apprenticeship programs and reform of ineffective
42
https://www.congress.gov/115/bills/hr2353/BILLS-115hr2353enr.pdf
43
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-committed-preparing-
americas-workers-jobs-today-tomorrow/
44
https://www.doleta.gov/wioa/
45
https://www.dol.gov/apprenticeship/docs/task-force-apprenticeship-expansion-report.pdf
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
22
education and workforce development programs with the goal of promoting affordable education and
rewarding jobs for American workers.
46
Individuals who complete apprenticeship programs should
receive nationally portable, industry-recognized, and stackable credentials. The industry-recognized
model is especially important for the advanced manufacturing sector where registered apprenticeship
programs are lacking or nonexistent. It is also important to modify apprenticeship grant funding to
include all apprenticeship models that enable States, educational institutions, and the private sector
to work together to grow apprenticeships across in-demand sectors of the economy. In addition, a
registry of apprenticeship and credentialing programs should be made available for those who are
seeking further training in advanced manufacturing.
The program priorities for this objective are manufacturing apprenticeships; and registry of
apprenticeship and credentialing programs.
Manufacturing Apprenticeships. The accelerated development of high quality, industry-recognized
apprenticeship programs will open new opportunities in advanced manufacturing for American
workers, allowing them to earn portable, industry-recognized credentials and certifications. Obtaining
advanced credentials can give workers access to family-sustaining jobs, while reviving the strength and
vitality of our Nation’s manufacturing base. The Task Force on Expanding Apprenticeships,
47
comprised
of members from industry, labor, education, and non-profit organizations, recently provided
recommendations to the President on how to build and take to scale apprenticeships in industries that
have not traditionally used the apprenticeship model. These recommendations aim to promote
effective paths to implementing earn-and-learn strategies, as needed for a skilled workforce.
Accelerate the development of quality industry-recognized apprenticeship programs to provide
manufacturing workers with greater access to portable, industry-recognized, competency-based
credentials.
Registry of Apprenticeship and Credentialing Programs. Many apprenticeship programs are
available through local, regional, and national organizations, including both the public and private
sector. However, it is often difficult for individuals to identify a program that fits her or his needs and
schedule. A central repository or registry could assist employers in finding job seekers with the right
credentials to fulfill workforce needs. It could also further increase exposure to credentialing programs
for U.S. veterans like SkillBridge, a program that provides training in areas such as welding, pipe-fitting,
and IT, or apprenticeship-like programs such as the Veterans to Energy Careers, which provides paid
internships in alternative energy research to veterans. Establishing such a repository will need
prioritized support from States and local communities to increase the number of individuals
participating in and completing these programs.
Establish and maintain a central repository or registry that assists job seekers with identifying
manufacturing-related apprenticeships and industry-recognized credentials.
48
46
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/3245/
47
https://www.dol.gov/apprenticeship/task-force.htm
48
Apprenticeship.gov was launched during the final preparation of this plan.
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
23
Match Skilled Workers with the Industries that Need Them
While worker preparation is essential, the value of these efforts will diminish if the Nation fails to
establish platforms that connect skilled manufacturing workers to employers. Workers looking for
employment should be able to seamlessly connect with employers looking for skilled employees in
their communities, regional districts, and States. Leveraging existing programs, such as the WIOA
American Job Centers (also known as One-Stop Career Centers),
49
is the key to matching regional
opportunities like apprenticeships, training, and credentialing to build skilled workers and connect
them with in-demand manufacturers.
The program priorities for this objective are workforce diversity; and workforce assessment.
Workforce Diversity. Systems for workforce preparation are having trouble keeping up with the rapid
rate of innovation and up-skilling in industry. Employers will need specific strategies for increasing
efforts to engage minorities. To reach those populations, there must be outreach to Historically Black
Colleges and Universities, Minority Serving Institutions, and disadvantaged-focused non-profits, along
with entities that target and encourage career development among women. Additionally, more than
200,000 U.S. service members return to civilian life each year. Veterans are well trained, have extensive
skills and technical aptitude, and show up on time, ready to work. But the skills of a tank mechanic or a
Patriot missile battery technician do not line up with many of the skills manufacturing companies need.
Collaborate with industry and other stakeholders to diversify the advanced manufacturing
workforce by developing more effective strategies for training and recruiting underrepresented
groups, and for transitioning veterans out of the service into this workforce.
Workforce Assessment. Maintaining and sustaining a competitive manufacturing workforce requires
national policies that encourage and provide opportunities for workers to gain the education and skills
needed in a technologically advanced economy. Protocols for analyzing the manufacturing workforce
should be periodically evaluated and improved to better align States and the Federal Government with
the skills that will be in demand in the future. Data is also needed to ensure that more evidence-based
practices are incorporated into the development of a manufacturing workforce, thereby capturing
strong returns on Federal investments.
Continue assessing the state of U.S. manufacturing and the national approach to producing a
workforce that is self-sustaining and globally competitive.
49
https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/training/onestop
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
24
Goal 3: Expand the Capabilities of the Domestic Manufacturing Supply Chain
The U.S. manufacturing supply chain is a complex system of large and small manufacturers, integrators,
raw materials producers, logistics firms, and companies providing other support services (accounting,
finance, legal counsel, etc.). These companies, many of them outside the United States, form
interdependent networks that provide a wide variety of finished goods to U.S. and global customers.
The advent of digitization and the IT revolution caused manufacturing supply chains to become less
location-specific and increasingly globalized. Although this revolution has generated many benefits, in
some sectors offshoring has made it difficult for manufacturers to operate domestically. It is of
paramount importance to recognize that in order for the technology and talent developed in the United
States to benefit the Nation, there must be a healthy domestic supply chain able to absorb them.
Virtually all manufacturing establishments in the United States, and especially those involved in the
supply chain, are small and medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs) with fewer than 500 employees.
50
These manufacturing establishments are critical to local and regional economies in the country, and at
times of economic hardships, their decline can negatively impact their local communities. It is therefore
crucial to ensure that these companies can fully participate in advanced manufacturing.
As discussed above and in the report Assessing and Strengthening the Manufacturing and Defense
Industrial Base and Supply Chain Resiliency of the United States,
51
U.S. manufacturers face a diverse
array of challenges that includes foreign competition (often subsidized by foreign governments), lack
of sufficient access to skilled labor, keeping up with the rapid pace of technological change and
innovation, cybersecurity threats, financial constraints, loss of domestic supply chains, and more.
Challenges also vary for large manufacturerswhich often rely on complex, decentralized supply
chainsas well as small manufacturers that have limited resources.
Action is required on several fronts to ensure that the Nation has the robust, advanced manufacturing
supply chains it needs to be secure and prosperous. First, the SMMs need to be the primary Federal
focus for supply chain development. This focus should include growing a larger and more cyber-secure-
supply chain, supported through federally convened public-private-partnerships. Second, the United
States must foster new business development and connect our fragmented silos of innovation with
advanced manufacturing ecosystemswhere pre-competitive applied research can be done by
multiple members of the supply chain, thus pooling risk to achieve greater returns. These innovation
ecosystems and related efforts need to foster new manufacturing business development and faster R&D
transition to advanced manufactured products. Third, the United States must strengthen the supply
chains that support our defense industrial base. This objective will require better leveraging of existing
authorities such as Buy American and Foreign Military Sales as well as expanding dual-use technologies.
Finally, it is important that America’s rural communities, where advanced manufacturing technologies
and processes can be tailored for the important agricultural sector, can be sustained and thrive.
The following strategic objectives for the next four years have been identified under Goal 3:
1. Increase the role of small and medium-sized manufacturers in advanced manufacturing;
2. Encourage ecosystems of manufacturing innovation;
3. Strengthen the defense manufacturing base; and
4. Strengthen advanced manufacturing for rural communities.
50
https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/library/visualizations.html
51
https://defense.gov/StrengtheningDefenseIndustrialBase
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
25
Increase the Role of Small and Medium-Sized Manufacturers in Advanced Manufacturing
SMMs represent key parts of all supply chains. No product gets made that does not require inputs from
another supplier, and many of the outputs go into the creation of components, assemblies, subsystems,
and systems that make up simple and complex products and services. SMMs can be key sources of
innovation in the form of new products, new processes, and new business models. It is imperative that
SMMs be connected to sources of technologies, technical infrastructure, and specialized knowledge
through vendors, universities, Federal laboratories, Manufacturing USA institutes, and others. SMMs
also need trusted advisors who can provide appropriate advice on the real possibilities of new
technologies.
52
The program priorities for this objective are supply chain growth; cybersecurity outreach and
awareness; and public-private partnerships.
Supply Chain Growth. New technologies will impact what future manufacturing supply chains look
like and how they will function. Previous Federal investments have resulted in a wide variety of
technologies that, when brought together, fundamentally changed how manufacturers exchange
business and production information and data through the supply chain, as well as within companies.
Preparing for these changes at the SMM level means understanding and leveraging new technologies
that expand and enhance production, such as additive and biological-based manufacturing; uses of big
data, digital logistics and the IIoT; leveraging networked commerce to improve access to
manufacturing services; and accessing secure and reliable high-speed communication.
Enhance outreach and education efforts consistent with how SMMs learn about and adopt
innovations. This enhancement will ensure that agency technology transition programs have a
focus on small and medium-sized manufacturers.
Cybersecurity Outreach and Awareness. Cybersecurity is a national problem for which public-private
partnerships like USDA’s Rural Development Cooperative Services (Research and Extension)
53
and the
DOC’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership are readily available conduits to reach SMMs throughout
the country. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office also provides outreach and education to
stakeholders seeking patent protection in the cyber and network security sectors. The recently
announced Cyber Hub for Manufacturing within the DoD Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation
Institute (one of the Manufacturing USA institutes) will address manufacturing-related cybersecurity
vulnerabilities and conduct outreach to support adoption of best practices.
54
These programs should
be accessed more broadly to conduct outreach events to raise the awareness and understanding of the
need for good cybersecurity, help companies with voluntary self-assessments, and transfer research
findings and expertise from the Federal Government’s experts (e.g., NIST) to SMMs. Incentives for small
manufacturers to assess and mitigate their cybersecurity risks such as small business vouchers could
be provided to get SMMs on the path to better cybersecurity. Additional outreach and education is
required for SMMs via new or existing business assistance programs.
Provide cybersecurity expertise and tools to SMMs for protection of the Nation’s most valuable
commodityour intellectual property. Promote greater awareness and understanding of the
52
Some of these services are available to SMMs through the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP); see
https://www.nist.gov/mep
.
53
https://www.usda.gov/topics/rural/cooperative-research-and-extension-services
54
https://www.manufacturingusa.com/resources/dmdii-launches-cyber-hub-manufacturing
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
26
unique problem of securing highly connected manufacturing facilities and explore incentives for
SMMs to assess and mitigate their cybersecurity risks.
Public-Private Partnerships. SMMs are often not aware of the formation of public-private
partnerships, and those that are do not always see the benefits of participation in these collaboratives
and consortia. The benefits include becoming aware of major and minor technological changes that
will affect their businesses; providing input into the research agenda of the consortium/collaborative
so the results can be adopted by SMMs; being able to track the trajectory of a new technology to know
when to make an investment in it; and engaging in R&D activities with potential customers, thus
enhancing the SMM’s reputation as an innovative supplier to those customers.
Use of a process similar to that developed by RTI International
55
and used as part of a series of projects
with the Federal Laboratory Consortium would ensure consistent engagement of a wide variety of
advanced manufacturing ecosystem players, understanding of the technologies and the associated
industry value chains, identification and alignment with industry needs, and leveraging of Federal and
regional programs and assets.
Continue to use Federal convening powers to ensure that all relevant parties, particularly SMMs,
are fully engaged during the formative stages of public-private consortia and collaboratives.
Encourage Ecosystems of Manufacturing Innovation
The manufacturing ecosystem comprises a rich tapestry of manufacturing enterprises of all types and
sizes, with each having an important role to play. In addition to large manufacturers, start-up
companies and high-tech enterprises can be sources of disruptive innovations, leading to new
products, new processes, new business models, and the creation and development of new markets.
Such companies frequently have challenges in scaling from prototype to commercial practice, if they
decide to become manufacturers, or in finding production partners, if they decide to outsource their
production. Government agencies at the State and Federal level can and should support efforts with
both funding and advice on “Making it in America.” Services such as technology-driven market
intelligence can help companies identify customers and markets for products and services based on
their technology assets.
Public-private partnerships engage with the complete spectrum of ecosystem players, understand and
align with industry needs, and leverage existing regional assets. Regions form collaboratives or
consortia to either drive economic development in a particular place and/or advance a particular
technology. It is important to distinguish between research consortia (precompetitive research
initiatives formed to fill particular gaps in knowledge or technology development), economic
development cluster initiatives (based on assets in a particular sector focused on growing that sector
through retention and attraction), and collaboratives for advanced manufacturing innovation (focused
on dissemination, adoption, and commercialization of advanced manufacturing technologies to drive
innovation and economic growth). The United States needs a mix of these types of consortia in order to
be the global leader in advanced manufacturing.
The program priorities for this objective are manufacturing innovation ecosystems; new business
formation and growth; and R&D transition.
55
https://www.nist.gov/blogs/manufacturing-innovation-blog/getting-state-wide-manufacturing-network-
process
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
27
Manufacturing Innovation Ecosystems. In the past, the Federal Government has formed R&D
consortia around a technology or capability that they funded and primarily directed, only to witness
the capability being diminished or lost once the Federal funding ceased. This failure in large part was
due to the consortia not being industry-focused, and therefore not receiving critical sustaining funding
by industry. The Federal Governmentparticularly agencies that support advanced system
development such as DoD and NASAcould not rely on a vibrant supply chain without continuing to
supply the majority of the funding.
Public-private partnerships, primarily driven by industry and with a focus on both commercial and
defense manufacturing processes and products, can minimize this problem caused by an ecosystem
tethered only to Federal funding. The dual commercial-defense focus helps sustain the manufacturing
innovation ecosystems and keep them vibrant in the United States. DoD can harvest the fruits of these
public-private partnerships without having to rely solely on its own funding. These partnerships not
only are able to provide cutting-edge technology solutions but also lower cost as the initial applied
research is shared by a number of parties.
Expand the creation and utilization of manufacturing collaboratives and consortia for both
technology and economic development. Create additional public-private partnerships focused on
technologies critical to America’s future competitiveness.
New Business Formation and Growth. It takes too long for breakthrough technologies to find their
way to market. Federal programs aimed at assisting small business are particularly important in
manufacturing, where private capital is scarce. The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and
Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs provide capital to small companies with new
ideas. The SBIR and STTR programs are entrepreneur-friendly, as the government does not take an
equity stake, preferring the long-term payoff from tax revenues generated from sales of successful
products. SBIR and STTR programs are indigenous to many government agencies.
56
The NSF Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Program is complementary to SBIR/STTR in providing intensive
training in the market discovery required to move new discoveries toward commercialization.
57
Many
other agencies have adopted the I-Corps model by developing similar programs that are focused on
supporting translational research, so that agency-supported research can be commercialized as
products or services to benefit the public. The DoD Rapid Innovation Fund is designed to transition
small business technologies into defense acquisition programs by funding mature technology ideas.
58
The goals of the Rapid Innovation Fund reflect DoD’s emphasis on rapid, responsive acquisition and the
engagement of small business innovative technologies that resolve operational challenges or address
critical national security needs. The Mentor-Protégé Program is the oldest continuously operating
Federal program in existence that partners small businesses with larger companies.
59
Prioritize programs that provide key support for new business formation and growth, including
entrepreneurial training and mentoring for scientists and engineers.
56
https://www.sbir.gov/sites/default/files/FY15_SBIR-STTR_Annual_Report.pdf
57
https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/i-corps/
58
https://business.defense.gov/Programs/RIF/
59
https://www.sba.gov/federal-contracting/contracting-assistance-programs/all-small-mentor-protege-
program
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
28
R&D Transition. The manufacturing sector must be able to rapidly adapt manufacturing capabilities
that leverage the advances occurring at a fast pace in the R&D sector. This priority is not unique to
advanced manufacturingit is a priority across all R&D areas supported by the Federal Government.
The critical role of technology transfer and the importance of facilitating the transition of technologies
from the laboratory to the market is recognized in the President’s Management Agenda as a Cross-
Agency Priority (CAP) Goal.
60
Federal agencies will ramp up their coordination efforts through the Lab-
to-Market CAP Goal to tackle the challenge of improving technology transfer. They will focus on five
strategies: (1) identify regulatory impediments and administrative improvements in Federal
technology-transfer policies and practices; (2) increase engagement with private sector technology
development experts and investors; (3) build a more entrepreneurial R&D workforce; (4) support
innovative tools and services for technology transfer; and (5) improve understanding of global science
and technology trends and benchmarks.
Within the advanced manufacturing R&D community, it will be particularly important to proactively
engage with the companies likely to further develop and implement new technologies to facilitate
effective paths forward. Standards are also an important priority for accelerating the widespread
commercialization of new technologies in the global manufacturing industry. Similarly, advancements
in measurement science capabilities are an essential element to advances in manufacturing
technology, required to support their repeatability and wide-spread adoption.
Coordinate across the agencies and between Federal technology transfer-related policy groups to
identify technologies suitable for transition from laboratory to market within the United States.
Prioritize funding for research into measurement science and standards development to speed
the transition of R&D to commercial practice.
Strengthen the Defense Manufacturing Base
For more than 50 years the DoD has led development of the game-changing technologies that have
ensured U.S. military dominance and underpinned economic competitiveness and innovation in the
private sector. Technologies such as advanced composites, microelectronics, radar, global positioning
system (GPS), the internet, and advanced alloys have touched the lives of almost every person on the
planet and made America a global leader. Each of these disruptive technologies resulted from short-
term military requirements paired with far-reaching science and technology objectives, and each
featured advanced manufacturing technologies that enabled their game changing development.
Helping SMMs understand the dynamics of Federal contracts is crucial for those wanting to work in the
defense sector, requiring more outreach from DoD assistance programs. The DoD has the authority to
conduct pilot efforts to acquire innovative commercial items, technologies, and services using Other
Transaction Authority. More initiatives like these need to occur to fully utilize the talents of non-
traditional manufacturers.
The program priorities for this objective are disruptive dual-use capabilities; buy American; and
leveraging existing authorities.
Disruptive Dual-Use Capabilities. Dual-use technologies provide larger markets for domestic
manufacturers, allowing them to engage in more R&D for new products. There are strong advantages
that accrue to the DoD through widespread adoption of dual-use technologies: a broader and more
60
http://www.performance.gov/pma
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
29
stable defense industrial base; dramatic procurement cost reduction; and reduced risk. An example is
high-performance microelectronics, where the DoD annual demand is often less than one day of
production and the cost of a semiconductor foundry is $5 billion. The production of consumer products
underwrites the cost of manufacturing defense products by using the same manufacturing facilities. In
the case of microelectronics, DoD can use these facilities as trusted foundries, secure in the knowledge
that the products are certified at source and there are no counterfeits in the supply chain for critical
systems.
Effectively pursuing dual-use technologies will spur innovation and technology development in the
commercial sector as well, contributing to economic stability, long-term growth, and prosperity.
Pursue dual-use technologies to spur innovation and technology development in both the defense
and commercial supply chains, contributing to economic stability, long-term growth, and a robust
national defense.
Buy American. President Trump’s “Buy American and Hire American” Executive Order
61
specifies
increased enforcement of “Buy American” laws in the United States by all Federal agencies. This policy
can be used to support domestic supply chains in important areas. Such support can revitalize certain
supply chains necessary for both defense and commercial manufacturers. Buy American policies should
also be harmonized and updated, to reflect the components and materials that are critical to the
military today. These policies should be reviewed to ensure they keep pace with the technologies and
materials that are critical to our defense industrial base today.
Expand technology and supplier scouting programs to identify domestic sources capable of
producing parts identical or similar to those being imported in order to alleviate the need for
waivers.
Leveraging Existing Authorities. There are a number of special financial authorities that could be
more widely exercised for advanced manufacturing within the defense manufacturing base. The
Defense Production Act of 1950 (DPA), as amended (50 USC 4502)
62
was enacted in response to domestic
manufacturing challenges to ensure the vitality of the domestic industrial base. The DPA provides the
President with an array of authorities to shape national defense preparedness programs and to take
appropriate steps to maintain and enhance the domestic industrial base. Currently DoD is the only
Federal agency with an existing capability to execute the special requisition authorities under DPA Title
III, but other Government agencies can partner with the DoD to address their needs.
The Homeland Security Act of 2002, as amended (6 USC 101),
63
provides incentives for the development
and deployment of anti-terrorism technologies by creating systems of risk and litigation management.
These incentives ensure that the threat of liability does not deter potential manufacturers or sellers of
effective anti-terrorism technologies from developing, manufacturing, and commercializing
technologies that could save lives.
American defense manufacturers rely on strong foreign military sales to help complement their DoD
business. These sales help sustain advanced manufacturing ecosystems and build sufficient surge
capacity, providing a buffer when DoD acquisitions are reduced, and spreading development and other
61
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-executive-order-buy-american-hire-american/
62
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2009-title50/html/USCODE-2009-title50-app-defensepr.htm
63
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/granule/USCODE-2010-title6/USCODE-2010-title6-chap1-sec101, which includes
the Support Anti-Terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies Act, commonly known as the SAFETY Act
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
30
overhead costs across a wider customer base. Unfortunately, unnecessary obstacles due to outdated
policies continue to inhibit growth in foreign military sales, eroding rather than extending our defense
industrial base. More of such sales leads to more domestic manufacturing, which translates into lower
costs for DoD weapons systems by virtue of the higher volumes being produced.
Expand use of existing authorities to ensure domestic manufacturing sources for commercial
products critical to national security. Evaluate Foreign Military Sales policies and processes to
ensure that they are streamlined without compromising national security.
Strengthen Advanced Manufacturing for Rural Communities
The manufacturing sector anchors rural economies across the country and is especially important to
rural America, where it accounts for a larger share of employment and earnings than in urban areas.
64
The Federal Government supports programs that are specifically tailored to increasing the strength and
resilience of the manufacturing sector in rural regions. For example, facilitating rural prosperity and
economic development is identified as one of USDA’s principal Strategic Goals.
65
USDA programs
provide a comprehensive support system for rural prosperity, including many programs that are also
important to advanced manufacturing, such as STEM education, workforce development, rural
infrastructure, and grants and loans for businesses and research organizations involved in rural
development.
The program priorities for this objective are advanced manufacturing for rural prosperity; and capital
access, investment, and business assistance.
Advanced Manufacturing for Rural Prosperity. The 2017 report from the Task Force on Agriculture
and Rural Prosperity highlighted the importance of the manufacturing sector to rural America and
identified the following five key priority areas for rural prosperity: e-connectivity for rural America;
improving quality of life; supporting a rural workforce; harnessing technological innovation; and rural
economic development.
66
The USDA is actively working to support these priority areas.
The USDA’s Economic Research Service released a suite of research on rural manufacturing resilience
and the importance of manufacturing to the rural economy,
67
and this data should be considered by
regional, State, and Federal policymakers to better understand the manufacturing sector in rural
America. Other USDA programs, such as the Rural Business-Cooperative Service,
68
are providing
technical assistance grants for manufacturers developing innovative value-added agricultural products
for broader markets.
Leverage strategic partnerships among Federal agencies, State and local governments, non-
profits, and the private sector to increase efficiency and effectiveness at facilitating rural
prosperity through manufacturing development and growth.
Capital Access, Investment, and Business Assistance. A thriving rural advanced manufacturing sector
depends on timely access to capital and other forms of business assistance. In an effort to advance
64
https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=80893
65
https://www.usda.gov/our-agency/about-usda/strategic-goals
66
https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/rural-prosperity-report.pdf
67
https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=84757
68
https://www.rd.usda.gov/about-rd/agencies/rural-business-cooperative-service
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
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Federal support in these areas, the USDA and SBA recently entered a Memorandum of Understanding
69
building on priorities identified by the Interagency Task Force on Rural Prosperity. The interagency
collaboration will work to improve capital access and investment in rural areas, establish innovation
clusters, improve rural technical assistance, enhance tools for rural businesses to access global
markets, and increase the benefits of the Tax Cuts and Job Act of 2017, among other goals. Advanced
manufacturing programs should echo these priorities and those identified in the Interagency Task
Force on Rural Prosperity, such as improved tax codes, infrastructure, and programs that support
increases in agricultural, forestry, and food production. These priorities are critical support systems for
manufacturers in rural communities. Direct investments are needed in community and commercial
infrastructure that supports rural economies, such as those provided by the USDA Rural Utility Service,
70
including broadband high-speed internet connectivity for schools and libraries, healthcare and
wellness facilities, as well as power, telecommunications, water, and waste-management systems.
Assist rural areas in developing the planning, leadership, technical, and professional expertise
needed to sustain and grow rural economies, leverage multi-sector or multi-jurisdictional
partnerships, and advance regional collaboration.
69
https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/usda-sba-mou.pdf
70
https://www.rd.usda.gov/about-rd/agencies/rural-utilities-service
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
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Progress Made in Achieving the Objectives from the 2012 Strategic Plan
The National Science and Technology Council published a National Strategic Plan for Advanced
Manufacturing in February 2012.
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This section summarizes the progress made in each of the major
objectives defined in that plan.
Objective 1: Accelerate investment in advanced manufacturing technology, especially by small and
medium-sized manufacturing enterprises, by fostering more effective use of Federal capabilities and
facilities, including early procurement by Federal agencies of cutting-edge products.
Various Federal Government programs have been successful in promoting technology development
and transfer to manufacturing enterprises, especially those that are considered small and medium
sized. These programs include Manufacturing USA institutes, NIST MEP, and DOE’s Manufacturing
Demonstration Facilities and Embedded Entrepreneurship program. In addition, the SBIR/STTR
programs in DoD, DOE, HHS, NSF, NASA, and DOC have provided entrepreneurial assistance for
manufacturing R&D.
NIST MEP Centers have embedded personnel in each of the 14 Manufacturing USA institutes to link the
technologies developed and matured by the institutes to SMMs throughout the United States. The
embedded personnel also identify companies that can be part of each institute’s research projects, and
needs that companies have for the technologies being developed by the institutes.
Objective 2: Expand the number of workers who have the skills needed by a growing advanced
manufacturing sector and make the education and training system more responsive to the demand for
skills.
Mission-focused Federal investments in education and workforce development are integral to many
Federal agencies. While DOEd focuses on K-12 education and DOL on workforce development and
certifications, other agencies, such as DoD, NASA, and NSF, support STEM education and related
workforce training and development programs that more specifically benefit the manufacturing sector.
The Manufacturing USA institutes, in cooperation with MEP Centers, have also been active in education
and workforce development. In FY 2017, educational and workforce programs across Manufacturing
USA touched nearly 200,000 students and manufacturing practitioners across the Nation, helping to
convince many to pursue careers in manufacturing. The DOL, under WIOA, has helped train displaced
manufacturing workers and those who desired to enter the workforce. DOEd, under the Carl D. Perkins
Career and Technical Education Act, has helped attract high school and community college age
students to manufacturing.
Below is a list of programs across relevant Federal agencies that have contributed to the progress in
manufacturing education, training, and workforce development.
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https://www.manufacturing.gov/sites/default/files/2018-01/nstc_feb2012.pdf
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
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Agency Education and Workforce Development Programs
DHS
DHS HS-STEM Summer Internship
Program
DOC
Manufacturing USA Institutes, Education
and Workforce Programs
MEP Centers, Workforce Development
Programs
DoD
Army Educational Outreach Program
STARBASE
Manufacturing USA institutes, Education
& Workforce Programs
Veterans To Energy Careers
Manufacturing Engineering Education
Program
Science, Mathematics, and Research for
Transformation Defense Education
Program
STEM Outreach Programs
Systems Engineering Capstone
Transition Assistance Program
SkillBridge
National Defense Education Program
DOEd
Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical
Education Act
DOE
Manufacturing USA institutes, Education
Workforce Programs
Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship
Programs
Advanced Manufacturing Traineeships
EERE Robotics Internship Program
Industrial Assessment Centers
DOL
Apprenticeship Programs
Trade Adjustment Assistance
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity
Act
NASA
Space Technology Research Grants
Program
Faculty Fellowship Program
Established Program to Stimulate
Competitive Research Program
NSF
Advanced Technological Education
Program
Broadening Participation in Engineering
Program
Research Experiences for
Undergraduates Program
Research Experiences for Teachers
Program
USDA
Academic Scholarships and Aides
4-H Science Program
Enhancing Agricultural Opportunities
for Military Veterans
Objective 3: Create and support national and regional public-private, government-industry-academic
partnerships to accelerate investment in and deployment of advanced manufacturing technologies.
Public-private partnerships developed as an integral part of Manufacturing USA institutes have been
effective in developing, implementing, and transferring new advanced manufacturing technologies.
Other programs that have contributed to this goal include the NIST MEP and NSF IndustryUniversity
Cooperative Research Centers and Engineering Research Centers.
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
34
The establishment and growth of the Manufacturing USA institutes has been the central
accomplishment under this goal. The institutes have created a set of neutral collaboration spaces for
industry and academia for manufacturing innovation and transfer of new technology to enterprises of
all sizes, thereby elevating the whole ecosystem. Each institute has a dual mission to perform high
impact pre-competitive research in critical emerging technologies, and to address the education and
workforce gaps in these technologies. According to a recent assessment, the institutes have
significantly accelerated and de-risked the development of new technologies for U.S. manufacturers.
72
Institutes are currently addressing the following 14 technologies: Additive Manufacturing, Digital
Manufacturing and Design, Lightweight Metals, Wide Bandgap Electronics, Composites Manufacturing,
Integrated Photonics, Flexible Hybrid Electronics, Process Intensification, Smart Manufacturing, Fibers
and Textiles, Biopharmaceuticals, Biofabrication, Robotics in Manufacturing, and Recycling-Reuse-
Recovery Technologies.
In FY 2017, Manufacturing USA institutes had 1,291 members. These included 844 manufacturing firms
(65 percent); 297 educational institutions (23 percent), including universities, community colleges, and
other academic institutions; and 150 other entities (12 percent), including Federal, State, and local
government, Federal laboratories, and not-for-profit organizations. Of the manufacturers, 549 (65
percent) were small businesses with 500 or fewer employees and 295 (35 percent) were large
manufacturers.
Objective 4: Optimize the Federal Government’s advanced manufacturing investment by taking a
portfolio perspective across agencies and adjusting accordingly.
The Federal Government invests in a portfolio of manufacturing R&D activities within many agencies,
which coordinate their efforts to avoid duplication, while ensuring that their investments meet mission
needs and complement one another, where appropriate. One component of interagency coordination
is cross-agency service of subject matter experts on technical merit review boards for grant reviews and
other source selection activities. Under the guidance of the interagency Advanced Manufacturing
National Program Office at NIST, the agencies participating in the NSTC Subcommittee on Advanced
Manufacturing (SAM) have coordinated (and continue to coordinate) their investments and oversight of
the Manufacturing USA institutes. Under the NSTC, the SAM has worked across administrations to
coordinate and optimize Federal investments in advanced manufacturing R&D.
Objective 5: Increase total U.S. public and private investments in advanced manufacturing R&D.
Although Federal R&D spending in advanced manufacturing is not centrally and consistently tracked,
and related R&D is not tracked globally by the National Science Board’s Science and Engineering
Indicators, available data indicate that investments have increased since the last strategic plan was
released in FY 2012. For example, NSF awards mentioning “advanced manufacturing” in the title or
abstract totaled $5 million in FY 2012, and reached nearly $50 million in FY 2015, with the annual total
awards from FY 2013 through FY 2017 averaging $34 million. Appropriations for advanced
manufacturing at DOE totaled $117 million in FY 2012, and rose to $291 million for FY 2017, averaging
$176 million per year from FY 20132017. Finally, there were no Manufacturing USA institutes when the
last plan was released; in FY 2017, six new institutes were added to make a total of 14 institutes, and the
total program commitment has grown to more than $3 billion, comprised of $1 billion of Federal funds
matched by over $2 billion of non-Federal investment.
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https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/manufacturing/articles/manufacturing-usa-program-
assessment.html
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
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Below is a list of Federal programs that have contributed to progress in advanced manufacturing R&D.
Agency Manufacturing and Related Programs
DOC
(NIST & ITA)
Manufacturing USA
Manufacturing Extension Partnership
Additive Manufacturing
Smart Manufacturing Systems
Robotics for Smart Manufacturing
Advanced Materials Measurements
Standard Reference Materials
Materials Genome Initiatives
Physical Measurements
Biomanufacturing
ITA Global Markets
ITA Industry & Analysis
ITA Enforcement and Compliance
DoD
Manufacturing Technology Programs
Manufacturing USA institutes
Defense Industrial Base Modernization
Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment
Program
Defense industrial base scale-up
Defense Production Act Title III
DOE
Clean Energy Manufacturing Institutes
High Performance Computing for
Manufacturing
Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship
Energy Innovation Hubs
Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Critical Materials Hub
HHS/FDA
Advanced Research and Development
of Regulatory Science for Continuous
Manufacturing
Centers for Innovation in Advanced
Development and Manufacturing
Bio-Medical Advanced Research and
Development Authority
Medical Countermeasures Advanced
Development and Manufacturing
NASA
Game Changing Technology Program
Advanced Exploration Systems
Program, In-Space Manufacturing
Project
Advanced Manufacturing Technology
Project
National Center for Advanced
Manufacturing
NSF
Engineering Research Centers
Industry/University Cooperative
Research Centers
Advanced Manufacturing
National Robotics Initiative 2.0
Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace
Cyber Physical Systems
Cellular and Biochemical Engineering
Designing Materials to Revolutionize and
Engineer our Future
USDA
Biorefinery, Renewable Chemical, and
Biobased Product Manufacturing
Assistance Program
Business and Industry Guaranteed
Loan Program
Biofuel Infrastructure Partnership
Rural Utility Service
Rural Business-Cooperative Service
Research grants
Small Business Innovation Research
Support for export-related activities and
marketing, including USDA BioPreferred
Program