M Scott Breuer
Eventually, Love and his colleagues created a new method for making batches of certain types of drugs. That is manufacturing; It’s an innovation that leads directly to production, and the small size of the operation means it won’t be shipped overseas. And, as Love points out, his team’s innovation is hardly the first case of using living cells to create a product for nearby consumption. Your local craft brewery is actually a modest-sized producer that won’t even send its jobs overseas.
“The emerging generation of manufacturing has this new balance between automation (machines, robots), human work, and software and data.”
john hart
“Innovation can come from anywhere,” says Love. “You really need access to production. This is something Suzanne has been thinking about for a long time – that proximity. The same thing can happen in biomanufacturing. If I have a good idea for a new drug or food product or new material, if I have to send it somewhere to find out whether I can make it or not, I lose time, I lose speed, I lose financing. I need to get that manufacturing super close. Is.”
New manufacturing can come in many forms and yes, it may include robots and other forms of automation. The matter is complex. Overall, robots replace workers. But if they increase productivity, companies that adopt robots early grow more and employ more people than other companies, economic studies in France, Spain and Canada have found. The bet is that intelligent deployment of robots leads to greater overall development. Meanwhile, US companies will add more than 34,000 robots to workplaces in 2024; China added about 300,000. Berger hopes that American companies will not lag behind in technology, as this could lead to even greater decline in manufacturing. Instead, she encourages manufacturers to use robots productively to stay ahead of the competition.
“The emerging generation of manufacturing has this new balance between automation (machines, robots), human work, and software and data,” says Hart. “I think a lot of the interesting opportunities in manufacturing come from a combination of capabilities to improve productivity, improve quality, and make manufacturing more flexible.”
Another form of new manufacturing may occur in firms that, like the old giant corporations, see value in keeping research and development in-house. At the Initiative for New Manufacturing launch event in May, one of the speakers was JB Straubel, founder of Redwood Materials, which recycles rechargeable batteries. The company has figured out how to extract materials like cobalt, nickel and lithium that are commonly mined. To do this, the company has had to develop a variety of new industrial processes – again, one of the keys to reviving manufacturing here.
“Whether you’re building a new machine or trying a new process… acquiring a new technology is one of the most important ways a company can innovate,” says Berger. Although she acknowledges that “innovation is risky, and not everything succeeds,” she points out that “a single focus on adaptation (in companies) has not done us any favors.”
Manufacturing Success Stories
Then again, the future of American manufacturing could take many forms. But Berger, when visiting factories, is often amazed by the old machines on display. She tells the story of a manufacturer she visited over the years who not only uses milling machines made during World War II, but who buys them when other companies in the area discard them.
“If you have all the old equipment, your productivity is going to be lower, your profits are going to be lower, you’re going to want less-skilled workers, and you’re just going to be able to pay lower wages,” she says. “And each of those characteristics reinforces the others. It’s like a never-ending trap.”
