Smart Manufacturing Leadership Act

Bill: 114-hr-3266
Sponsor: Rep. Welch, Peter [D-VT-At Large]
Introduced: 2015-07-28 in the House
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Advanced technology and technological innovations
Competitiveness, trade promotion, trade deficits
Computers and information technology
Energy efficiency and conservation
Government studies and investigations
Industrial facilities
Industrial policy and productivity
Manufacturing
Materials
Research administration and funding
Research and development
Small business

Summary:
action_date: 2015-07-28
text: 

Smart Manufacturing Leadership Act

 
This bill requires the Department of Energy (DOE) to complete a national plan for smart manufacturing technology development and deployment to improve the productivity and energy efficiency of the U.S. manufacturing sector. Smart manufacturing is a set of advanced sensing, instrumentation, monitoring, controls, and process optimization technologies and practices that merge information and communication technologies with the manufacturing environment for the real-time management of energy, productivity, and costs across factories and companies.
 
DOE must expand the scope of technologies covered by Industrial Assessment Centers to include smart manufacturing technologies and practices and to equip the centers' directors with the training and tools necessary to provide technical assistance in smart manufacturing technologies and practices.
 
 DOE must: (1) study how it can increase access to existing high-performance computing resources in the National Laboratories, and (2) facilitate access to the laboratories by small and medium manufacturers so that they can fully use the laboratories' high-performance computing resources to enhance manufacturing competitiveness.
 
DOE may make grants to states for establishing state programs to be used as models for supporting the implementation of smart manufacturing technologies. States must use those grants to: (1) provide access to shared supercomputing facilities to small and medium manufacturers, (2) fund research and development of transformational manufacturing processes and materials technology that advance smart manufacturing, and (3) provide tools and training to aid the adoption of energy management systems and implement smart manufacturing technologies in the manufacturers' facilities.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-08-18
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Research and Technology.
action_date: 2015-07-31
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Power.
action_date: 2015-07-28
text: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2015-07-28
text: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2015-07-28
text: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2015-07-28
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2015-07-28
text: Introduced in House