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 annualreview and analysis of Federalresearch and developmentin budgets, and serves

as a source of scientific and technological analysis and judgmentforthe President with respectto 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, 

theNSTC 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 informationsharing, 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

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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 

Assure 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

Strengthen 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

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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 manufacturing—which includes both new

manufacturing methods and production of new products enabled by innovation—is 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 20th

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 strategic 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 United 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

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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, competencybased credentials—one of the highest priorities of the Trump Administration.

Federal, State, and local governments must work togetherto 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

DOCHHS 

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

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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 manufacturing—which includes both new manufacturing

methods and production of new products enabled by innovation—is 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 America’s spirit.” 

“There 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 20th

century. However, the 21st 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 manufacturing—and 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-strengtheningmanufacturing-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-andcouncil-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

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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 Information8 and a series of regional roundtables held with a diverse array of stakeholders.

Factors That Impact Innovation and Competitiveness for Advanced Manufacturing9

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 chain—the 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-subchapIIsec6622.pdf

8 https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/02/05/2018-02160/national-strategic-plan-for-advancedmanufacturing 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-manufacturingtechnology

11https://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-knowledgetransfer-and-innovation/innovation-indicators-united-states-and-other-major-economies.
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING

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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 11th 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-Trendsin-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-againas-u-s-falls 19 https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2018/nsb20181/report
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING

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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 manufacturingfocused 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-andinternational-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-StateFederal-STEM-Education-Summit.pdf 23 https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-committed-preparingamericas-workers-jobs-today-tomorrow/
STRATEGY FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING

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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: 

American 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

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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 leaderin 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: 

• 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; 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
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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. Technology‐based 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 manufacturing26 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.
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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 oftheir environments, making their vicinities hazardous to humans and

precluding their use as assistants to human workers, or cobots. 28 In addition, because human coworkers 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 sectorrepresents a particularly inviting targetfor 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

managementfor 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 theirintegrated 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-cybersecurityfederal-networks-critical-infrastructure/ 30 https://www.nist.gov/cyberframework
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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 forthe 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/
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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 techniques—is 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

betweenmaterial and processing technology to better understand thematerial-process-structure

relationship. Establish newstandards to supportthe 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 ExecutiveOrder 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-ensuresecure-reliable-supplies-critical-minerals/ 34 https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/05/18/2018-10667/final-list-of-critical-minerals-2018
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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 criticalmaterials 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 pharmaceuticals, 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 of “orphan” diseases 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
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Expand domestic drug production capability to lessen the risk of drug shortages and provide costeffective, 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. 

Develop 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

semiconductortechnology are critical for almost every sector ofthe economy and many critical systems

for national security. Innovations in complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology
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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 semiconductor 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 notrepresent prudentinvestment choices forindividual 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 investmentin capabilities to ensure that newmicroelectronics technologies are retained

and manufactured domestically. Beginning with the prototyping stage, investigate ways to

provide agilemanufacturing capabilities that allowthe 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 3Dsystems-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 flexiblehybrid 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.
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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 willtranslate 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, highspeed 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 oftheU.S. food supply. Appropriate Federal agencies will work closely and engage

in public-private partnerships to accelerate advancements in food manufacturing through coinvestments.

 36 https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/rural-prosperity-report.pdf 37 https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=84757
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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

fortheUnited 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.
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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, laborintensive, 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 education—across elementary, high school, career and technical education (CTE),

community colleges, universities, academic laboratories—and include diversified platforms for handson 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-preparingamericas-workers-jobs-today-tomorrow/
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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 competencybased 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 nearfuture. Available evidence also suggests thatformal

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, publicprivate partnerships—have 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-manufacturingindustry.html

41 https://www.manufacturingusa.com/
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Manufacturing Engineering Education. America’s manufacturers need highly-skilled technical

workers with excellent criticalthinking 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.
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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 difficultfor even highly motivated individuals. The Workforce Innovation andOpportunity 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-preparingamericas-workers-jobs-today-tomorrow/ 44 https://www.doleta.gov/wioa/

45 https://www.dol.gov/apprenticeship/docs/task-force-apprenticeship-expansion-report.pdf
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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 ourNation’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.
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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 notline up with many ofthe 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
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Goal 3: Expand the Capabilities of the Domestic Manufacturing Supply Chain

TheU.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

paramountimportance to recognize thatin orderforthe 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 impacttheirlocal communities. Itis 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 manufacturers—which often rely on complex, decentralized supply

chains—as 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-securesupply 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 ecosystems—where 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 manufacturingbusiness development and fasterR&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 expandingdual-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
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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 ofthe 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

commodity—our 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

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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 International55 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-networkprocess
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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 Government—particularly agencies that support advanced system

development such as DoD and NASA—could 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-CorpsTM) 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 ofthe 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-protegeprogram
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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 manufacturing—it 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 CrossAgency Priority (CAP) Goal.60 Federal agencies will ramp up their coordination efforts through the Labto-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 shortterm 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 nontraditional 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

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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 spurinnovation and technology development in both the defense

and commercial supply chains, contributing to economic stability, long-termgrowth, 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 commercialmanufacturers.Buy Americanpolicies 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 (50USC 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 specialrequisition 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 forthe 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

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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, nonprofits, and the private sector to increase efficiency and effectiveness at facilitating rural

prosperity through manufacturing development and growth.

Capital Access, Investment, andBusiness 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 Understanding69

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 theUSDA RuralUtility 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.

71 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 benefitthe 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.

 71 https://www.manufacturing.gov/sites/default/files/2018-01/nstc_feb2012.pdf
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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 Industry–University

Cooperative Research Centers and Engineering Research Centers.
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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-ReuseRecovery 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 meritreview boards for grantreviews 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)theirinvestments 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 2013–2017. 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.

 72 https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/manufacturing/articles/manufacturing-usa-programassessment.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