| |
|
|
Federal Policies and National Trends in Manufacturing
The NACFAM Weekly Blog posts the top stories on
federal policies and national trends targeting the advanced manufacturing community.
Receive a summary of the news each week by email for FREE — subscribe now!
 |
|
|
NACFAM Weekly Blog
|
 |
|
 |
|
| House Democrats’ Upcoming "Made in American" Manufacturing Agenda | National Association of Manufacturers (Wood) - Speaker of the House Steny Hoyer (D-MD) joined other Democrats Thursday at a news conference to promote next week’s legislative emphasis on manufacturing, the “Make it in America” agenda. Rep. Hoyer issued a statement on next week’s agenda, and majority leader’s website now lists the bills that constitute it. Excerpt from the statement:
“Make it in America” is a new legislative initiative from House Democrats to increase American manufacturing and create new American jobs. The American public strongly supports a renewed focus on American manufacturing. This effort builds on House Democrats’ actions since the start of the Great Recession to create jobs and lay the foundation for a strong economy.
“Make it in America” bills that have passed the House:
“Make it in America” bills that are scheduled to come to the House Floor the week of July 26th, 2010:
We thought it might be helpful to provide more context on the bills as well as the NAM’s position where applicable. On the already enacted legislation, then... | | 7/27/2010 5:36:00 PM |
|
| Supply Chain Risks, Backshoring Rise; Small Manufacturers Add Jobs, Large Manufacturers Cut |  Mfg.com (AJ) - has conducted the latest MFGWatch survey of North American manufacturers (select this link for the complete survey results and a downloadable PDF). The survey focused on their activities in the second quarter of 2010, and on their expectations for the third quarter. Highlights of this most recent survey include a significant rise in the number of large North American manufacturers that have seen significant supply chain risks in the second quarter and a rise in the number of buyer manufacturers that are planning to investigate backshoring of production back from low-cost countries. Also of note, while larger manufacturers in the region have indicated they’ve shed jobs since April small supplier manufacturers say they’ve added jobs during the same period. | | 7/27/2010 5:27:00 PM |
|
| U.S. Automakers Back on Top |  IndustryWeek (Katz) - Plant-floor and engineering quality improvements pay off for domestic OEMs...It was the first time in the 24-year history of the J.D. Power report that U.S. brands as a whole scored higher than foreign competitors, though Chrysler still lags near the bottom with 122 defects.
Some of the quality improvements come from the significant strides U.S. automakers have made in the area of lean manufacturing, says Ron Atkinson, past president and current fellow at the American Society for Quality in Milwaukee. Detroit automakers have been practicing lean for several years, but it appears that the companies' continuous-improvement efforts are finally beginning to mature, says Atkinson. The workforce has begun to accept that lean is beneficial and that it doesn't mean firing employees, he says. The waste reduction enabled by lean eventually leads to good quality. "If lean is done properly right from design to the customer receiving the product, you will have a quality product," Atkinson says.
General Motors has benefited from increased collaboration between its engineering department and assembly operations, along with more standardized production processes, says Joe Mazzeo, GM's executive director of global operations quality. "There is less and less separation than in the past where the organization tended to work in silos," he says. "Now we tend to work more across the organization to make sure we're successful as a whole. While we've had a lot of progress and success in manufacturing, it really doesn't come about without having good, capable product designs."
...Vido says "serious adherence" to standards has driven quality improvements at Ford. He often reverts back to a Henry Ford quote from 1926 when he said the company must standardize what works and enhance standards if there's a more effective way to perform the task. The company has a set of about 60 "minimum-mandatory" procedures it expects plants to follow, Vido says.
The standards are taken seriously enough that each month CEO Alan Mulally reviews a management and problem-solving document, known in lean terminology as an A3, with quality team members to ensure the plants are meeting their goals and requirements, Vido says. | | 7/27/2010 5:19:00 PM |
|
| Vital Signs of the Med Tech Industry |  ThomasNet News (Leybovich) - While most sectors of the economy experienced a slowdown or decline during the recession, research shows that the medical technology industry fared better than most and continues to be a major contributor to U.S. economic health. In fact, the industry has emerged as one of the strongest drivers of the rebound. While challenges remain for the med tech field, technological and business advances paint a promising future.
The downturn took a sizable toll on many segments of the United States economy, with lingering effects that can be seen in the still-unstable employment market and sluggish revenue growth for a wide range of businesses. However, the medical technology industry has weathered the recession surprisingly well and will be able to continue its successes by developing new technologies to meet the nation's health needs. | | 7/27/2010 5:12:00 PM |
|
| Book Review: “The Responsibility Revolution: How the Next Generation of Businesses Will Win” |  Environmental Defense Fund (Bennet) - In Jeffrey Hollender’s latest book, “The Responsibility Revolution: How the Next Generation of Businesses Will Win,” the co-founder and chairman of Seventh Generation lays out a compelling set of principles and practices for shaping environmental and social responsibility within an organization. Hollender offers sharp criticism of how the term, “corporate social responsibility” or “CSR” has become an abused catch-phrase for many companies, and he encourages the reader to go one step beyond the day-to-day operations of their business practices and to think seriously about the longer term innovations that will truly revolutionize their companies and the markets in which they operate.
These days, bookstore shelves are growing crowded with texts on sustainable business management, but few are written by pioneers like Jeffrey Hollender who has created and continues to foster a leading brand built on the values of sustainability...The most significant contribution that this book makes is providing a detailed examination of companies such as Marks & Spencer, Nike and Timberland that in some cases have gone from zero to ten in terms of adopting sustainability strategies to innovate, increase market share and further customer loyalty. The transformation of an organization from one that thinks about the short-term, internal aspects of sustainability to one that embraces a long-term, external approach is what the Responsibility Revolution is all about.
So, whether you’re an entrepreneur who’s starting from scratch and seeking guidance on how to build sustainability into the DNA of your business or, if you’re a seasoned manager motivated to deliver increased value to your organization, The Responsibility Revolution is worth the read. For a limited time, the first chapter is available for free, online | | 7/27/2010 5:07:00 PM |
|
| Brookings: U.S. Metro Areas Need Exports Push | Wall Street Journal (Reddy) - The Obama administration wants to double U.S. exports in five years. But most of the nation’s metropolitan areas aren’t properly equipped to ramp up export sales, says a new Brookings Institution report.
...Like many other studies, the Brookings report to be released Monday says exports can be a key source of U.S. growth and job creation. And it concludes that the federal government needs to push harder on negotiations around exchange rates, trade agreements and enforcement of existing trade laws.
But it also offers recommendations specific to local and regional concerns: 1) Federal and state governments should give metro areas support on export promotion, innovation through research and development, freight planning and data-collection policies. 2) Metro leaders must improve their exporting abilities and learn from the few metro areas that actually developed and implemented successful export strategies.
The report quantifies for the first time the level of export production (in both goods and services) in the top 100 U.S. metro areas, along with profiles for each area showing key industry sectors for exports and growth rates. | | 7/27/2010 4:52:00 PM |
|
| Industries Find Surging Profits in Deeper Cuts |  New York Times (Schwartz) - Many companies are focusing on cost-cutting to keep profits growing, but the benefits are mostly going to shareholders instead of the broader economy, as management conserves cash rather than bolstering hiring and production. Harley, for example, has announced plans to cut 1,400 to 1,600 more jobs by the end of next year. That is on top of 2,000 job cuts last year — more than a fifth of its work force.
In some ways, the ability to raise profits in the face of declining sales is a triumph of productivity that makes the United States more globally competitive. The problem is that companies are not investing those earnings, instead letting cash pile up to levels not reached in nearly half a century. “As long as corporations are reinvesting, the economy can grow,” said Ethan Harris, chief economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. “But if they’re taking those profits and saving them, rather than buying new equipment, it hurts overall growth. The longer this goes on, the more you worry about income being diverted to a sector that’s not spending.”
“There’s no question that there is an income shift going on in the economy,” Mr. Harris added. “Companies are squeezing their labor costs to build profits.”
Profit margins — the percentage of revenue left over after expenses — crumble in most recessions, as overall sales fall but fixed costs like infrastructure, commodities and rent remain the same. In 2002, during the recession that followed the bursting of the technology bubble in addition to the Sept. 11 attacks, margins sank to 4.7 percent. Although the most recent downturn was far more severe, profit margins bottomed out at 5.9 percent in 2009 and quickly rebounded. By next year, analysts expect margins to hit 8.9 percent, a record high.
The difference this time is that companies wrung more savings out of their work forces, said Neal Soss, chief economist for Credit Suisse in New York. In fact, while wages and salaries have barely budged from recession lows, profits have staged a vigorous recovery, jumping 40 percent between late 2008 and the first quarter of 2010.
Harley-Davidson’s profit gain last quarter was helped by a turnaround in its financing unit, as well as more efficient production, but the company is still cutting. Harley has warned union employees at its Milwaukee factory that it would move production elsewhere in the United States if they did not agree to more flexible work rules and tens of millions in cost-saving measures.
“The last thing we’re worried about is when are we going to have to add more capacity, because what we’re really doing is reconfiguring our entire operational system for greater flexibility,” Keith Wandell, the company’s chief executive, said on a conference call with analysts last week. | | 7/27/2010 4:49:00 PM |
|
| India Debuts $35 Tablet Computer | Manufacturing.Net (Kinetz, Associated Press) - It looks like an iPad, only it's 1/14th the cost: India has unveiled the prototype of a $35 basic touchscreen tablet aimed at students, which it hopes to bring into production by 2011. If the government can find a manufacturer, the Linux operating system-based computer would be the latest in a string of "world's cheapest" innovations to hit the market out of India, which is home to the 100,000 rupee ($2,127) compact Nano car, the 749 rupees ($16) water purifier and the $2,000 open-heart surgery.
The tablet can be used for functions like word processing, web browsing and video-conferencing. It has a solar power option too -- important for India's energy-starved hinterlands -- though that add-on costs extra...Mamta Varma, a ministry spokeswoman, said falling hardware costs and intelligent design make the price tag plausible. The tablet doesn't have a hard disk, but instead uses a memory card, much like a mobile phone...Varma said several global manufacturers, including at least one from Taiwan, have shown interest in making the low-cost device, but no manufacturing or distribution deals have been finalized. She declined to name any of the companies...India plans to subsidize the cost of the tablet for its students, bringing the purchase price down to around $20. | | 7/27/2010 4:43:00 PM |
|
| Clean Energy 1.0: Moving Beyond Green to Create Sustainable Jobs and a Long-term Energy Strategy |  SupplyChainBrain - So-called “green” initiatives aren’t a panacea but a step in the right direction, says Joseph A. Stanislaw, a senior advisor to Deloitte LLP and founder of the JA Stanislaw Group LLC. Such initiatives, he says, aren’t the “magic bullet” that will resolve the world’s energy concerns. But he doesn’t dismiss such initiatives. Rather, he feels they can provoke a necessary next phase of global development in energy and economic sectors.
In a recent paper, he focused on the three interconnected mandates driving clean-energy evolution in the United States: environmental protection, creation of sustainable jobs and enhanced national security. Read Paper | | 7/27/2010 4:39:00 PM |
|
| Gov Contractors Must Track Emissions or Risk Losing Contracts |  Environmental Leader - Contractors for the federal government that do not track their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions could risk losing their contracts, according to a report in the Federal Times about new rules by the General Services Administration (GSA).
The new rules are a part of the GSA’s response to an executive order by the Obama administration issued in October which directed federal agencies to find ways to reduce their GHG emissions. Potentially, the new rules could have far-reaching consequences through the entire economy, not just government contractors.
Once the new rules go into effect, preference will be given to suppliers that are tracking and reducing their GHG emissions. Third-party accreditation and reductions in supply chain emissions would also be taken into effect when the GSA decides on awarding contracts.
Currently, few companies, including government contractors, track their emissions. Threatening suppliers with the potential loss of lucrative government contracts could create a sea-change among American companies as they try to conform to federal demands for carbon accounting.
...Vendors are not being asked to report Scope 3 emissions, which would include emissions generated by employee commuting and business travel, but would be limited to only those emissions generated b the company’s own energy and manufacturing needs. The GSA also said it has begun testing a new energy auditing tool to evaluate the energy efficiency of green building projects. It also recently issued a blanket purchase agreement to Shaw, for purposes of performing audits, reviews and consumption surveys to help the GSA optimize building energy efficiency. | | 7/27/2010 4:22:00 PM |
|
| Weighing the Impact of the National Export Initiative | IMTI Insider - It’s been months since President Obama first announced his administration’s goal of doubling exports over the next five years. In this first four months of 2010, U.S. exports have grown 17% from the same period a year ago. Has his National Export Initiative made an impact?
Formally unveiled by Executive Order in March, the National Export Initiative (NEI) sets forth five administration objectives for doubling exports: improve advocacy on behalf of U.S. exporters, increase access to export financing, reinforce efforts to remove trade barriers, enforce trade rules, and international cooperation of policies leading to sustained and balanced economic growth. Earlier this month, the President released a progress report on the NEI to discuss what actions have been taken in each of these five categories and their effect on U.S. exporting.
The president used that opportunity to also announce the formation and members of his Export Council. The president’s council is composed of business and labor leaders who will offer advice on how to promote U.S. exports, jobs, and growth. James McNerney, president and CEO of Boeing, will be the council’s chairman. Ursula Burns, CEO of Xerox, was tapped to be vice chairman. It is the latest in a series of actions that the administration hopes will show that it is committed to its plan to boost U.S. exports. An Export Promotion Cabinet, made up of cabinet secretaries and other high-level administration officials, is already working on developing and implementing the NEI.
Part of the administration effort to improve the environment for exporting is to significantly reform our current Cold War-era export control policy. National Security Advisor James Jones laid out the administration’s three-phase plan for modernizing the U.S. export control system in a speech last month before the Aerospace Industries Association. (You can view General Jones’ speech on Administration export control proposal.) According to Gen. Jones, implementation of Phase I and II of the reform plan are already in progress, where the focus has been on streamlining the current licensing process and updating and harmonizing the two control lists. Eventually, a new single control list will be created, using a tiered system with the most serious threats (i.e., weapons of mass destruction) at the top tier and then cascading down tiers as technology or product life cycle matures. The aim is to resolve the current jurisdictional disputes between agencies and provide exporters with clear guidelines to follow.
Phase III of the plan establishes a "single licensing agency" (SLA) to replace the divided functions between the Commerce, Defense and State Departments. This independent agency would be run by a Cabinet-level board of directors to include those departments currently involved in licensing decision making. The president would nominate a chairman, subject to Senate confirmation. The announcement of an SLA was welcome news to AMT and other groups that have advocated for a single licensing entity for years. Phase III of this proposal will require congressional legislation to implement.
The President has called on Congress to act on the Phase III of the NEI this year. However, considering the full legislative agenda and the November elections, it is highly unlikely Congress will take this up in 2010. However, it is clear the administration is serious about moving the National Export Initiative and related reforms and will continue to push forward with this effort. | | 7/27/2010 4:16:00 PM |
|
| House Approves Economic Development Legislation | IndustryWeek (Cable) - 'SECTORS' Act would provide grants for public-private partnerships to address training needs. The U.S. House of Representatives on July 19 approved bipartisan legislation that aims to help industries meet their skilled workforce needs by connecting public- and private-sector stakeholders in various industry clusters.
The “Strengthening Employment Clusters to Organize Regional Success” (“SECTORS”) Act, H.R. 1855, would set up a grant program through the Department of Labor to provide funding for partnerships between businesses, unions, educators and the public workforce system to coordinate training activities in “high-demand and emerging industries,” according to the House Education and Labor Committee. Eligible partnerships could receive up to $2.5 million in grants for the first three years and up to an additional $1.5 million thereafter.
The grants will enable “industry players to plan for the future, allowing them to conduct research into market trends, potential new technologies and workforce needs, and develop shared capacity for joint training centers and research and development work,” according to Loebsack.
A survey conducted last year of 779 industrial companies by the National Association of Manufacturers, the Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte found that 32% of companies reported “moderate to serious” skills shortages. Sixty-three percent of life science companies and 45% of energy firms cited such shortages.
| | 7/27/2010 4:13:00 PM |
|
| Innovation Acceleration or Deceleration? |  Blogging Innovation (Brands, Zbar) - In the pursuit of innovation, many “enlightened” companies try to follow what they believe are established morays and best practices. They install someone to manage new product development or innovation. They set up a litany of rules. And they select only the “best” ideas for further development. Then they wonder why innovation falls fallow.
A recent study [Manage Ideas Lightly, Manage Process Precisely] from The Nielsen Company. found that companies with acknowledged, successful innovation practices also have limited involvement from senior management. The teams are guided, but freed of stifling controls.
Hat Tip: Innovation Daily | | 7/27/2010 4:05:00 PM |
|
| Obama says U.S. will make 40% of advanced vehicle batteries in five years |  autobloggreen (Blanco) - President Obama was in Michigan today to visit the construction site of LG Chem/CPI's new advanced battery plant in Holland. The federal government is involved in the plant through a $151.4-million grant, and the visit gave the President the chance to promote American manufacturing...As for where the U.S. will be going in the plug-in vehicle space, Obama said this country will make 40 percent of the world's automotive batteries in five years. Right now, the U.S. makes around two percent.
The feds have put money into nine battery manufacturing projects around the country. Most of the government's $2.4 billion help for advanced batteries went to Michigan. [Source: Lansing State Journal] | | 7/27/2010 3:59:00 PM |
|
| Tesla to build electric Toyota Rav4 |  CNNMoney (Valdes-Dapena) - Tesla Motors will produce electric Rav4 crossover SUVs for Toyota Motor Co. beginning in 2012, the two companies announced Friday. Toyota announced in May that it planned to invest $50 million in Tesla Motors upon the completion of the electric car maker's initial public offering, which took place on June 29.
A fleet of electric Rav4 prototypes will be delivered later this year, the two automakers said. The first prototype has already been built, the automaker said, and is undergoing evaluation. "Tesla seeks to learn and benefit from Toyota's engineering, manufacturing, and production expertise, while Toyota aims to learn from Tesla's EV technology, daring spirit, quick decision-making, and flexibility," the automakers said in the joint announcement. | | 7/27/2010 3:54:00 PM |
|
| A Manufacturing Strategy for Jobs and a Competitive America | National Association of Manufacturers - An open letter to Congress Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has declared that the U.S. House of Representatives will dedicate itself to a manufacturing plan, and the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) welcomes the focus on this critical sector of the U.S. economy. We urge House members to use this opportunity for a substantive discussion of what it takes for manufacturers in the United States to succeed in the global marketplace. The NAM believes such deliberations will lead to one inevitable conclusion: The United States must develop and enact a comprehensive manufacturing strategy.
The hard truth is that manufacturers in the United States are too often at a disadvantage. Governments of other countries craft consistent policies to support their industries, and their officials stand by manufacturers as they compete around the world. In America, regulations, taxes and government mandates pile up one after another, making the country a less attractive place to do business.
In Europe, Asia and South America, policymakers think strategically about manufacturing. It is time the United States does the same.
The NAM recently released a call to action that embraces this vision—a “Manufacturing Strategy for Jobs and a Competitive America.” The Strategy proposes three goals:
- The United States will be the best country in the world to headquarter a company.
- The United States will be the best country in the world to innovate, performing the bulk of a company’s global research and development.
- The United States will be a great place to manufacture, both to meet the needs of the American market and serve as an export platform for the world.
A strategy requires substance. It must do more than play at the policy margins. Accordingly, the NAM’s “Manufacturing Strategy” lays out the fundamental, essential policies manufacturers believe are necessary to improve America’s competitive position. On taxes, trade, energy and the environment, there are clear policy choices Congress can make to strengthen the manufacturing economy in the U.S. and create good, high-paying manufacturing jobs. Making other choices can cause harm.
The NAM is pleased the House of Representatives will give much-deserved attention to manufacturing in the coming weeks. The United States remains the No. 1 manufacturing economy in the world, producing 21 percent of all manufactured products. Manufacturing has also proved to be the workhorse of the current recovery, driving growth with increased exports and economic activity.
Still, as the House closes out its July by focusing on manufacturing, the NAM sends this message from our members: Every week, every day, is one in which manufacturers in the United States face unprecedented competitive challenges. A strategy for succeeding in that competitive global environment already exists. It is the “Manufacturing Strategy for Jobs and a Competitive America.” | | 7/27/2010 3:48:00 PM |
|
| Sustainable Manufacturing Initiative and Public-Private Dialogue |  Department of Commerce - The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Forum on Industrial Water Use is a no-cost event that will focus on water supply and related quality issues affecting the U.S. manufacturing sector. Water quantity is a growing concern in the U.S., and companies across a range of industry sectors are raising questions about water scarcity now and in the future. These questions highlight the potential risk water scarcity poses to business continuity and the need to include the issue in company sustainability strategies.
Presenters at this forum will discuss the current state of industrial water use, including trends, challenges, and needs from the government, NGO and industry perspectives. Attendees will also be encouraged to share their views and experiences. Representatives from U.S. manufacturers, industry and trade associations, academia, non-governmental organizations and other federal and state government agencies are encouraged to attend.
The Forum will be held on September 23rd, 2010 from 8:30am – 12:00pm at Department of Commerce headquarters in Washington, D.C. (1401 Constitution Ave. NW, Room 4830). For additional information on the Forum, or to register for this free event, please click here. | | 7/27/2010 3:38:00 PM |
|
| Hearing on H.R. 4692, the National Manufacturing Strategy Act of 2010 | U.S. House of Representatives - The Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection held a hearing on H.R. 4692, the National Manufacturing Strategy Act of 2010, on Wednesday, July 14, 2010, in 2322 Rayburn House Office Building. Representative Lipinski introduced the bill on February 25, 2010.
The National Manufacturing Strategy Act of 2010 will require the President to undertake a deep and broad analysis of the nation’s manufacturing sector, including the international and economic environment, related technological developments, workforce elements, the impact of governmental policies, and other relevant issues affecting domestic manufacturers. Based on this analysis, the President will develop a national manufacturing strategy that identifies goals and recommendations for how the federal government, as well as state, local and private institutions, can best support the improvement and growth of our nation’s manufacturers and support their efforts to move into the markets of the future. This process will recur every four years, in order to assess the implementation of prior recommendations, review changes in markets, adjust for changes in technology and the economic climate, and respond to any other influences that may arise.
The President’s development of a national strategy for manufacturing will be informed by members of the Administration and the private sector. The act requires the President to convene a Manufacturing Strategy Task Force, comprised of federal officials and two governors, to make recommendations for the strategy. The task force may also convene subgroups, with additional governmental and private members, to address particular industries, policy topics, or other matters. In addition, the President must convene a Manufacturing Strategy Board to make recommendations. The board will be made up of 21 individuals from the private sector, representing a broad range of regions and industries.
Excerpts from the written testimonies...
Aneesh Chopra Associate Director for Technology and Chief Technology Officer Office of Science and Technology Policy [White House Talking Points]
For the record, I will not be commenting on H.R. 4692, but rather my testimony will provide a perspective on the challenges the United States faces in manufacturing…The Obama Administration’s policies and initiatives that support manufacturing can be broken into seven parts that draw on the lessons from analyzing the manufacturing process and government’s role in each cost driver. We must:
1. Provide workers with the opportunity to obtain the skills necessary to be highly productive. 2. Invest in the creation of new technologies and business practices. 3. Develop stable and efficient capital markets for business investment. 4. Help communities and workers transition to a better future. 5. Invest in an advanced transportation infrastructure. 6. Ensure market access and a level playing field 7. Improve the general business climate, especially for manufacturing.
Through the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), the Administration is able to gain invaluable insight…on Advanced Manufacturing. The PCAST subcommittee on Advanced Manufacturing plans to release a report in the coming months outlining their findings and recommendations.
Bill Hickey President and Chief Executive Officer Lapham-Hickey Steel Co. [Supportive of Legislation]
I am Bill Hickey, President of Lapham-Hickey Steel Corp. of Chicago. Lapham-Hickey Steel is a family owned and managed steel service center founded in Chicago in 1926. Today we have seven locations in the states of Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, Connecticut, and Alabama. We currently employ approximately 550 people.
A focus of this Act, that I believe is needed today, is the manufacturing strategy task force. As a member of the DOC ITAC 12, I find it very difficult, at times, to understand what our nation’s strategy is on manufacturing. I actually think the strategy today is a policy of reacting to a crisis instead of planning for the future. A recent example of this lack of focus on national economic goals was the Import-Export Bank refusing to finance mining equipment for a Wisconsin based company for reasons that seem to be the whim of the appointed official.
Scott N. Paul Executive Director Alliance for American Manufacturing [Supportive of Legislation]
We are a partnership formed in 2007 by some of America’s leading [steel] manufacturers and … the United Steelworkers.
The decline of manufacturing employment and manufacturing’s share of GDP is not inevitable, desirable, nor can it be explained solely through theories of churning capitalism, advances in productivity and technology, compensation costs or inefficiency. For instance, Germany’s global shares of manufacturing output and exports have held steady over the past decade, while America’s have declined and China’s have risen sharply. Yet, Germany is not a low-cost nation for manufacturing. But, Germany has an integrated strategy for boosting manufacturing, focusing on skills, technology, investment, labor-business-government collaboration, and aggressive trade policies, which allow it to successfully compete.
Owen E. Herrnstadt Director, Trade and Globalization International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers [Supportive of Legislation]
While there are many reasons for the decline in manufacturing, one of the fundamental reasons is that the U.S. does not have a national manufacturing strategy and has not established a framework for creating one. A national manufacturing strategy could establish general and specific programs for coordinating related policies as well. Policies related to tax and investment, research and development, trade, employment, currency valuation, export initiatives, domestic procurement, and others must be integrated to produce a cohesive and effective strategy to restore our manufacturing sector and ensure the growth of jobs with good wages. Other countries have embraced manufacturing strategies. A few years ago, the European Commission presented its new industrial policy noting, “A flourishing manufacturing industry is key to fully exploiting the European Union’s potential for growth and sustaining its economic and technological leadership.” Separately, over 20 European countries have adopted sophisticated offset policies.
Kevin A. Hassett Senior Fellow and Director of Economic Policy Studies American Enterprise Institute [Non Supportive]
In my view, the economic science supporting this Act is essentially nonexistent. Accordingly, passing it into law would be a policy error. Whether the policy error is major or minor would depend on whether the Strategy Task Force and Strategy Board are, like most such entities in Washington, irrelevant. If they are not, then the Act could significantly harm the business environment in the United States.
The language of the Act seems to invite antitrade actions and to glorify central planning. Many of the catch words used by protectionists are present in the charges to monitor specific industries that face “critical” challenges and the “identification of emerging or evolving markets, technologies and products that the Nation’s manufacturers could compete for.” Is the government to pick winners and losers within the manufacturing sector? While it is clear that at some point a manufacturing capability has national defense implications, even this angle is subject to abuse by protectionists. Are we to make sure that we have a vibrant clothing manufacturing industry for fear our troops might be forced to fight without uniforms? | | 7/18/2010 9:40:00 PM |
|
| Andy Grove is Right about Manufacturing |  National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (Jarman) - Recently Andy Grove wrote a great article about the danger of marginalizing the domestic manufacturing sector- How to Make an American Job Before It's Too Late: Andy Grove. Grove, who co-founded Intel in 1968, has first hand experience on how difficult it is for companies to grow and create jobs.
"The underlying problem isn’t simply lower Asian costs. It’s our own misplaced faith in the power of startups to create U.S. jobs. Americans love the idea of the guys in the garage inventing something that changes the world. New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman recently encapsulated this view in a piece called “Start-Ups, Not Bailouts.” His argument: Let tired old companies that do commodity manufacturing die if they have to. If Washington really wants to create jobs, he wrote, it should back startups." Andy is right and Thomas Friedman is wrong. Do the math! Only about 2 in 10 start-ups succeed and most fail to employ more than five people in the first five years. A 20% business success rate only creates hundreds of jobs at best. We would need tens of thousands of successful start-ups to make a substantial impact on our economy... | | 7/18/2010 7:58:00 PM |
|
| EU-US to collaborate on 'rare earths' |  EurActiv - The US Congress and the European Parliament could hold parallel hearings and produce a joint communiqué on crucial raw materials as part of efforts to cooperate on areas of strategic interest, according to a senior Washington policymaker.
Congressman Bart Gordon, chairman of the Committee on Science & Technology of the House of Representatives, wants parliamentarians on both sides of the Atlantic to identify common ground on rare earth minerals, which are vital for green technologies. Gordon told the European Parliament's committee on industry, research and energy (ITRE) that China's near-monopoly on key raw materials is "very troubling" and could hamper advances in alternative energy and telecoms products.
Collaboration on rare earths could be a template for further cooperation in areas such as intellectual property, cyber security, clean water, energy security and carbon capture and storage (CCS), according to the congressman...He added that the chairpersons of other House of Representatives committees would be willing to look at how they can work more closely with MEPs, particularly in light of the new powers conferred on the European Parliament by the Lisbon Treaty. | | 7/18/2010 7:49:00 PM |
|
| Tech Transfer Project Opportunity |  National Center for Manufacturing Sciences - NCMS seeks assistance for ongoing project related to web-based access to high performance computing tools. The optimal scope requires part time support (1-2 days / month) to review and document the generic steps followed to validate a computer model. These generic steps must then be embodied in an “application” that can be broadly used to validate computer models in simulations such that the information generated can confidently leveraged. The respondent should have a strong understanding of computer modeling, simulation and engineering, design space exploration methods, and particular knowledge of the use of complexity as a design metric. Understanding the complexity-based methods used by the Ontospace software tools as supplied by Ontonix LLC is required.
NCMS is looking for a partner that has the right technical capabilities, can work with experienced people in this field, and offer best overall process to accomplish the goals and objectives of this project. All interested parties must reply by July 24th. | | 7/18/2010 7:44:00 PM |
|
| Degrees of Perfection, Part 2 |  Green Manufacturing (Dornfeld) - The degree of perfection discussion in the last posting was centered on the term "buy to fly" ratio popular in the aerospace industry to indicate material utilization. I stated that we need to consider all the peripheral "stuff" associated with a product like electronics, appliances, clothing, food, etc. which usually comes packaged so we might want to consider a sort of "buy to fly" ratio for conventional products.
I am aiming in this series to get to a more engineering discussion of exergy (or available energy and useful work) to address this. But, I want to play with this more fascinating buy to fly concept for manufacturing a bit more... | | 7/18/2010 2:55:00 PM |
|
| Design Engineering Salary and Career Insight |  Design News (Greenfield) - To say 2009 was a difficult year for most economically and in terms of employment would be considered a "sky is blue" statement. That is, it would be difficult to make a more obvious statement. Despite the bleak realities encountered across the board in the past couple of years, results from Design News' most recent survey of subscribers clearly indicates that the scene for design engineers is improving. Granted, responses to the survey also indicated that plenty of work-related pain remains. The good news is that the bright spots were just as readily apparent.
Despite the not-insignificant number of engineers unhappy with their current job situation, only 10 percent said they are actively seeking other employment...The most telling statistic for any product, service or job lies in how many of those currently involved with it would recommend it to a close friend or relative. When it comes to design engineering, 70 percent of respondents said they would recommend their field of work to a son, daughter or friend. Click here for a link to the full survey. Click here to view more related charts and graphs. | | 7/18/2010 2:42:00 PM |
|
| Webcast: Achieving Total Employee Engagement in Energy Efficiency |  Department of Energy - On Thursday, August 5, 2010, from 2:00-3:00p.m Eastern time, the Industrial Technologies Program (ITP) Thursday Webcasts for Industry series will feature Steven Fugarazzo, Manager, Facilities Engineering, Integrated Defense Systems (Raytheon Company) and Mary Alice Kurtz, Global Best Practices Lead, Worldwide Facilities Group (General Motors Company). Mr. Fugarazzo and Ms. Kurtz will deliver the Webcast "Achieving Total Employee Engagement in Energy Efficiency." The presentation will provide information on how to motivate employees to participate in energy efficiency, including:
- Employee engagement programs
- Energy awareness programs
- Incentive and awards programs
- Training and education
- Communication and outreach
- Implementing best practices.
Register now at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/899879456
Raytheon and General Motors have partnered with ITP as Save Energy Now Leader Companies, pledging to reduce their facilities' energy intensity 25% or more in 10 years. To learn how your company can become a Save Energy Now Leader, visit: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/saveenergynow/leader.html. | | 7/18/2010 2:36:00 PM |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 The National Council for Advanced Manufacturing | 2025 M Street, NW Suite 800 | Washington, DC 20036 | (202) 367-1178
|
|
|
|