Recently Andy Grove wrote a great article about the danger of marginalizing the domestic manufacturing sector- How to Make an American Job Before It's Too Late: Andy Grove.  Grove, who co-founded Intel in 1968, has first hand experience on how difficult it is for companies to grow and create jobs.

The underlying problem isn’t simply lower Asian costs. It’s our own misplaced faith in the power of start-ups to create U.S. jobs. Americans love the idea of the guys in the garage inventing something that changes the world. New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman recently encapsulated this view in a piece called “Start-Ups, Not Bailouts.” His argument: Let tired old companies that do commodity manufacturing die if they have to. If Washington really wants to create jobs, he wrote, it should back start-ups.

Andy is right and Thomas Friedman is wrong.  Do the math! Only about 2 in 10 start-ups succeed and most fail to employ more than five people in the first five years. A 20% business success rate only creates hundreds of jobs at best.  We would need tens of thousands of successful start-ups to make a substantial impact on our economy. 

My point isn’t that Intel was brilliant. The company was founded at a time when it was easier to scale domestically. For one thing, China wasn’t yet open for business. More importantly, the U.S. hadn’t yet forgotten that scaling was crucial to its economic future.  How could the U.S. have forgotten? I believe the answer has to do with a general undervaluing of manufacturing -- the idea that as long as “knowledge work” stays in the U.S., it doesn’t matter what happens to factory jobs.

Depending just on retaining "knowledge work" in the United States as a way of ensuring our economic future is both impossible and, frankly, foolish. If we lose the ability to scale manufacturing, we will soon lose the ability to design, and then innovate. You have to make things. Manufacturing is the foundation of an industrialized nation's economy, and we are currently reaping what we have sown by sending it overseas.

Talent, Investment and Infrastructure are the key elements in Innovation and also are required to scale for manufacturing.  Andy Grove understands this:

Each company, ruggedly individualistic, does its best to expand efficiently and improve its own profitability. However, our pursuit of our individual businesses, which often involves transferring manufacturing and a great deal of engineering out of the country, has hindered our ability to bring innovations to scale at home. Without scaling, we don’t just lose jobs -- we lose our hold on new technologies. Losing the ability to scale will ultimately damage our capacity to innovate. 

Many complain about the lack of highly educated workers in the U.S. – and we do need to be sure that pipeline is full, but highly skilled trades have a lot of innovation to contribute if they have a job. This is valuable stuff!  Grove continues:

The story comes to mind of an engineer who was to be executed by guillotine. The guillotine was stuck, and custom required that if the blade didn’t drop, the condemned man was set free. Before this could happen, the engineer pointed with excitement to a rusty pulley, and told the executioner to apply some oil there. Off went his head.

More than manufacturing is on the guillotine.  The basis of our economy is what's about to lose its head. We need to make sure that the blade doesn't fall on the American capacity for Innovation.

Rick Jarman is the President & CEO of the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. NCMS is the largest cross-industry collaborative manufacturing research consortium in the United States devoted exclusively to manufacturing technologies, process and practices. Formed in 1986, the NCMS mission is focused on the development of strategic initiatives and programs aimed at sustaining and enhancing the global competitiveness of North American manufacturing.

The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) today announced that project manager Dana Ellis has been elected Chairman of the Olympic College Manufacturing Technology Advisory Committee. The committee works to further the future careers of Olympic College students in a variety of technical field programs through building partnerships with local industry, providing internships through these partners, and critically reviewing course curriculum to maintain currency and relevance for manufacturing technology education.

“Kitsap County has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the state, and Olympic College with its regional technical employers is a strong contributing factor,” said Ellis. “As Chairman of the Advisory Committee, I’m using the same collaborative methods that are core to NCMS principles, as the Committee works with local industry to improve Olympic’s program. The creation of jobs is our long term goal.”

The Manufacturing Technology program allows Olympic College to tailor its curriculum to meet the needs of the local community, local employers, and the military in overcoming the challenges of the current recession and meeting the requirements of the 21st century. Other technical programs at the College include Welding, Technical Design, and Electronics. These programs have all been identified as leading to successful manufacturing careers, and together fall under the Department of Labor-Pipeline to Manufacturing Careers Program. Each program has an Associate of Technical Arts Degree and/or certificate awarded upon successful completion of the courses. Local partners include NCMS, SafeBoats, and the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.

NCMS is a national collaborative R&D organization which drives innovation through the rapid development and deployment of new manufacturing technologies and processes, while leveraging the strength of cross-sector collaboration. NCMS programs in the Pacific Northwest have addressed development of technology for security applications at military installations, vulnerability and risk assessment, emergency management processes and infrastructure protection. NCMS also manages sustainment and reset technology projects at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Naval Undersea Warfare Center Keyport.

The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) today announced that it has joined the Task Force for American Innovation. The Task Force is an alliance of America's leading companies, research universities and scientific societies with a mission to support investment in basic research in the physical sciences and engineering.

“Innovation occurs at the crossroads of talent, investment and infrastructure,” said NCMS President and CEO Rick Jarman. “For almost 25 years, NCMS’ almost 400 member companies have been bringing together these three key elements to develop leading edge technologies and manufacturing solutions to help industry remain internationally competitive. NCMS is proud to join the Task Force as it works to support innovations that are the key to long-term economic security and renewed American technology leadership.”

NCMS collaborative R&D model supports the nation’s system of innovation through the rapid development and deployment of new technologies and processes, while leveraging the strength of cross-sector collaboration. By bringing together the best from industry, government and academia to collaborate on new technology development, NCMS arrives at the solution faster and with less risk than traditional research models.

“We are pleased to have NCMS join the Task Force and bring their quarter century of expertise to bear on the issues and activities of the group,” said Doug Comer, Intel, Chair of the Innovation Task Force. “We look forward to working with NCMS to support the science and engineering enterprises that are so important to our continued competitiveness.”

The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) today announced that the Robotics Technology Consortium (RTC) has been named to the Advisory Committee to the Congressional Robotics Caucus. 

The Caucus focuses on key issues facing the nation's traditional industrial robotics industry as well as issues critical to growing companies, markets, and industries based on recent technological advances that enable robots to perform functions beyond traditional assembly line tasks and to operate in environments beyond the factory floor.  As part of the Advisory Committee, the RTC will help Congress understand the many challenges and issues likely to emerge in the robotics sector and help ensure that the United States can maintain global leadership as the robotics industry undergoes considerable expansion in the coming decades.

“RTC member companies represent a wide variety of industrial sectors and are leaders in developing the next generation of robotics systems,” said NCMS President and RTC Chairman Rick Jarman.  “The Congressional Caucus on Robotics will benefit from these companies’ insights and perspectives and will help Congress ensure that our nation remains globally competitive as the robotics industry rapidly expands and develops.”

The RTC is a non-profit, industry organization administered by NCMS and was formed in 2008 to speed the development and deployment of ground robotics technology for the Department of Defense (DoD).  The RTC has over 200 members made up of large and small commercial companies, academic institutions, and non-profit organizations and seeks to engage companies and organizations that may not have historically performed work for the Defense Department and other Government organizations in addition to traditional defense contractors.

“We look forward to working with members of Congress who understand how important robotics is to our national interests,” said Helen Greiner, President of the RTC. “A thriving robotics and unmanned systems sector is vital to maintaining both our global economic competitiveness and national security.”

The Congressional Robotics Caucus, chaired by Congressman Mike Doyle (PA) and co-chaired by Congressman Phil Gingrey (GA), was formed in 2007 to focus on key issues facing the nation's robotics industry and related emerging technology. Members of Congress will learn first hand about the use of robotics in agriculture, mining, logistics, defense, education, manufacturing and healthcare.

About NCMS

The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) is the largest cross-industry collaborative research and development consortium in North America, and is the only consortial effort in the U.S. devoted exclusively to manufacturing technologies, processes and practices. NCMS has 24 years of experience in the formation and management of complex, multi-partner collaborative R&D programs, and is backed by corporate members representing virtually every manufacturing sector.

For more information, visit http://www.ncms.org

About RTC

The Robotics Technology Consortium (RTC) is a non-profit, industry organization created in 2008 to speed the creation and deployment of ground robotics technology for the Defense Department and other Government organizations. The consortium was established to meet a need identified by the Office of the Secretary of Defense Joint Ground Robotics Enterprise (OSD/JGRE). The RTC currently has a membership of 200 large and small commercial companies, academic institutions, and non-profit organizations. The RTC seeks to solicit and engage companies and organizations that may not have historically performed work for the Defense Department and other Government organizations in addition to traditional defense contractors.

For more information, visit http://www.roboticstechc.org/

The following appeared online in Detroit Free Press 5/5/10

Neither Rain, nor Snow, nor Dark of Night  
How Michigan can Save the Mail

The U.S. postal service and the Detroit automakers have a lot in common. They’re both under intense pressure to transform their businesses to meet customer expectations driven by new technology. John E. Potter, Postmaster General of the United States, has already issued the dire pronouncement: drastic measures will be necessary to save the mail – in the form of either a significant rate increase or, even more severe, the elimination of Saturday delivery. As people adopt electronic communication for more activities, the cost of operating a postal infrastructure grows more and more difficult to bear.

Despite making great strides in quality and fuel economy over the last decade, the rising cost of fossil fuels, coupled with the recent global financial crisis, has devastated the domestic auto industry. Likewise, the postal service has been battered by rising delivery costs and fewer customers as people flock to e-mail for everyday communication.  For every penny fuel prices rise, the USPS pays an additional $8 million annually, and suddenly a $0.44 stamp doesn’t seem like such an extravagance after all.  Would you be willing to drive to New York, and then drop something off, for forty-four cents? But this remarkable capability requires the largest ground vehicle fleet in the world which is aging and costly to both the taxpayers and the environment.

Recently, the Detroit Free Press ran an article on Michigan's bet on batteries citing five Michigan-based companies that will begin producing lithium-ion batteries in the next two years. Batteries are the future when it comes to cheap, safe power for vehicles, but it’s a zero-sum game.  People only buy so many cars and trucks every year, and batteries are heavy, expensive, and slow to produce. The best way to drive down the cost of batteries in the short term is to increase demand by putting them in every car on the road. Is customer demand high enough to reduce battery cost through sheer volume?

And yet, among the gloom of expensive batteries, gasping automakers and mountains of junk mail, there is the spark of opportunity for massive innovation.

The Postal Service owns the largest fleet of vehicles in the world, operating nearly 220,000 ground vehicles in the U.S. Of them, nearly 90% are those ubiquitous white vans all Americans associate with home mail delivery. Stopping. Going. Stopping again, they rarely accelerate beyond 30 miles per hour.  Thus it should come as no surprise that those delivery trucks manage – at best – a paltry 16 miles per gallon (MPG) during normal operation; the same rating as an eight-cylinder sports car or the latest SUV monstrosity. Further, it costs $3.79 for each and every delivery truck to haul itself a meager 25 miles.

Now for the really good news: the postal fleet is nearing the end of its operational life. The vast majority of these vehicles (over 140,000) were built by a GM/Grumman partnership and introduced in 1988 with a projected 30-year maximum lifespan. The USPS needs to find an innovative solution - soon.

For any of these five Michigan battery companies to become profitable or create the forecasted jobs, they need demand and consumer vehicles will not create nearly enough demand to drive down battery cost. If only there were an organization with an immense vehicular infrastructure it needs to replace or retrofit soon; one that spends three billion dollars every year on highway transportation expenses alone; one that currently consumes more than one hundred twenty million gallons of fuel annually…

The postal fleet represents an ideal test environment for the development and deployment of new battery technology.  The vehicles are government owned, maintenance facilities are already in place, and mail routes and distance are well documented.  Further, the nature of mail delivery with low city speeds and stop/go movement are exactly where battery powered vehicles excel. 

Demand drives quantity; quantity drives down costs. The volume of batteries required by the Postal Service would all but ensure that Michigan battery manufacturers add staff, creating thousands of new jobs in the state. And with the sudden mainstreaming of battery powered vehicles in the form of those ubiquitous delivery trucks, it won’t be long before newly affordable (and technically innovative) battery technologies become more realistic in consumer vehicles as well. USPS savings will be so great that Saturday mail delivery will remain safe, even as the Postal Service’s massive vehicle fleet emits less pollution. Innovation exists at the crossroads of talent, infrastructure, investment, and need. There can be no argument that the Postal Service needs to do something if it is to continue with its appointed rounds. Of course, if the auto industries would agree initially on a standard battery, that would drive volume too!  But that’s for a different day…This unique opportunity for collaboration between technical innovators and the ideal customer can usher in an era of affordable, green power for vehicles of all kinds.

Rick Jarman

President & CEO, National Center for Manufacturing Sciences

Rick Jarman is the President & CEO of the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) the largest cross-industry collaborative manufacturing research consortium in the United States located in Ann Arbor, MI. 

Aerospace Engineering & Manufacturing Magazine has a great article highlighting the success of the award-winning NCMS-CTMA Volumetric Accuracy for Large Machine Tools (VALMT) project.

...One of the most vexing catch-22s in large-part machining appears to have finally been caught. Rapid volumetric compensation for high accuracy in large-scale five-axis machining is now within the grasp of the manufacturing community.

Why is this significant? Large components are often painstakingly crafted from numerous smaller components because the best machining technologies are not accurate enough to achieve the tight tolerances on large monolithic parts that could reduce part count and assembly time

...A joint project of the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences called Volumetric Accuracy for Large Machine Tools (VALMT)—involving Mag Industrial Automation Systems, Automated PrecisionInc. (API), Boeing, and Siemens—recently completed development of a rapid, and hence game-changing, approach to volumetric error compensation. Created especially for large and multi-axis machines, the system achieves the goals set by the design consortium: to reduce the downtime needed to determine necessary volumetric compensations from weeks to a day or less via a simple automated process that improves a machine tool’s volumetric performance by 50% or more.

Full Article

VALMT Podcast

The International Society of Automation (ISA) in its quest to recognize the most authoritative, entertaining, in the automation and manufacturing community has added NCMS Radio to its online resources.

ISA Automation Resources

Founded in 1945, the International Society of Automation is a leading, global, nonprofit organization that is setting the standard for automation by helping over 30,000 worldwide members and other professionals solve difficult technical problems, while enhancing their leadership and personal career capabilities. Based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, ISA develops standards; certifies industry professionals; provides education and training; publishes books and technical articles; and hosts conferences and exhibitions for automation professionals.

NCMS President and CEO Rick Jarman is featured prominently in the current issue of X-OLOGY magazine which highlights how Michigan companies are pursuing advanced manufacturing technologies on many fronts and driving the evolution of the industry.

"Manufacturing is important and people in Michigan know how to do that. They know how to design things, they know how to make things."

Full Article

The NCMS Volumetric Accuracy for Large Machine Tools (VALMT) project is the subject of an article in the latest issue of Quality Digest.

...The entire measurement process can be accomplished in a matter of hours rather than days, resulting in more accurate measurements and eliminating costly machine downtime. Calibration is performed in a single set-up with automated measurement of hundreds of points and is completed in just a few hours compared to alternate methods that can take much longer. By accomplishing the measurement task in such a short timeframe, the measurement data is far more reliable.

The VALMT project has pioneered an innovative process in establishing a new methodology in volumetric error compensation for large machine tools which can save the Department of Defense (DOD) and the commercial aircraft industry millions of dollars anually. 

Full Article

Congratulations to NCMS Director Dr. Thomas Kurfess who has been recognized with the SME Education Award. Renowned as one of the world's leading experts in the field of microscale manufacturing metrology, with research focused on the design and development of high-precision manufacturing and metrology systems, Kurfess began his career in academia at Carnegie Mellon University in 1988, where he rose to the rank of associate professor. 

Dr. Kurfess joined the NCMS Board of Directors which expanded as part of a long-term commitment to keeping the U.S. in a leadership position in global manufacturing.

Full SME Press Release