manufacturing

A recent project from the National Bureau of Economic Research used data from the Annual Survey of Manufactures to study the characteristics and geography of investments in robots across U.S. manufacturing establishments and find whether it revealed any impact on the economy. The team found that robotics adoption and intensity is more closely related to the size of the establishment than it is to its age. The study presents results on the distribution of robots in U.S. manufacturing by establishment characteristics and geography using new establishment-level data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of Manufacturers for reference year 2018. This is the first establishment-level analysis of the use of robots in U.S. manufacturing, leveraging data on approximately 35,000 establishments. Two thirds of the study’s sample size was from about 187,000 large manufacturing plants, and the remaining sample was a random selection of about 51,000 small manufacturing plants.

The NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), a national public-private partnership initiative within the US. Department of Commerce dedicated to serving small and medium-sized manufacturers through 51 state centers, including Puerto Rico, recently released its Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Client Impacts data following a survey of more than 9,000 manufacturing-related clients and businesses.  The MEP network reported assisting U.S. manufacturers in achieving the following: creating or retaining over 116,700 jobs; saving $2.5 billion in costs; generating $18.8 billion in new or retained sales; and, producing $6.4 billion in new client investments.

Last fall, the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) issued its report on the distributional effects of trade and trade policy on under-represented and under-served communities. The report, which had been requested in 2021 by the U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai, found a disparity in wage and employment among manufacturing workers by race and gender resulting from changes in trade policy. Distributional Effects of Trade and Trade Policy on U.S. Workers, released in October of 2022, was compiled from a series of roundtable discussions between March 1 and April 1, 2022, an academic symposium on April 5-6, 2022, and a public hearing on April 19, 2022. Tai had called for the investigation to better identify and measure the potential distributional effects of U.S. trade and trade policy on U.S. workers, by skill, wage and salary level, gender, race/ethnicity, age, and income level, especially as they affect under-represented and under-served communities.

A recent report outlines over 100 initiatives that could boost the semiconductor industry. The Arizona Commerce Authority and Boston Consulting Group recently collaborated on a National Semiconductor Economic Roadmap (NSER) to advance semiconductor competitiveness in the United States. The report features input from over 80 industry leaders, education institutions, and public sector leaders across the nation to outline a 10-year, industry-led action plan for the semiconductor industry, focusing on infrastructure, supply chain, workforce, and entrepreneurship.

Despite COVID-induced setbacks continuing to keep some people out of offices and laboratories, new Business Enterprise Research and Development Survey (BERD) data reveals that domestic research and development (R&D) spending, although slowing, is still on an uptrend. From 2018 to 2019, business R&D spending increased by 11.8% (from approximately $441 billion to $492 billion), with new data showing a further increase of 9.1% from 2019 to 2020 ($492 billion to $538 billion).

The National Institute of Standards of Technology (NIST) is seeking public input through Requests for Information (RFIs) for two programs under the CHIPS Act. Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Laurie E. Locascio refers to the U.S.’s leadership role in semiconductor manufacturing as “critically important to our prosperity and national security” as they are key components in artificial intelligence and quantum computing. Locasio notes that in order to achieve this, America needs a “whole-of-nation” approach, justifying the two RFIs under different CHIPS programs.

In a move to strengthen the domestic manufacturing of batteries for electric vehicles (EVs), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), announced $2.8 billion for 20 companies in 12 states to extract and process battery materials and manufacture components while creating good-paying jobs. The projects will be funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and will be matched by recipients to leverage more than $9 billion for the production of clean energy.

Creating a vison for United States leadership in advanced manufacturing, the National Science and Technology Council has released a strategy to grow the economy, create jobs, enhance environmental sustainability, address climate change, strengthen supply chains, ensure national security, and improve healthcare for the next four years. The 2022 National Strategy for Advanced Manufacturing, developed by the Subcommittee on Advanced Manufacturing (SAM), provides a number of recommendations to help achieve those goals.

As Manufacturing Week kicks off on Friday, Oct. 7, the U.S. Census Bureau and Manufacturing USA are providing valuable manufacturing statistics and data to help inform policymakers and businesses, while also highlighting careers in the industry.

The U.S. Department of Defense’s Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (OLDCC) recently announced the six winners under the Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program (DMCSP), with funding of approximately $30 million. Each organization received close to $5 million for long-term investments in critical skills, facilities, workforce development, R&D, and more with the goal of strengthening the national security innovation base. The six awards are listed below, while more information can be found on the OLDCC’s website.