Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Arthur C. Clarke, “Profiles of The Future”, 1961

How do people describe manufacturing? Most recite some variation of the three Ds (dirty, dangerous, declining) that are remnants of the past.

Some think that manufacturing in the United State has completely disappeared or soon will.
It’s hard to think of a more misunderstood or unappreciated industry.

Use the hundred year test- imagine trying to explain a Boeing 777 to your 1911 counterpart.
“It’s a vehicle that can transport 300 people over 9000 miles and travels faster than a speeding bullet. It was created using tools (computers) and materials that don’t exist in your time.”

To your 1911 counterpart a Boeing 777, the tools used to create it,and knowledge to take it from concept to reality is magic.

And these tools and processes are commonplace in virtually every manufacturing sector today.

So why the bad rap for Manufacturing?

Sometimes we confuse the issue by separating and defining the each aspect of the manufacturing process- design, testing, assembly, etc. but make no mistake it’s all manufacturing.

Recently President Obama announced the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP) a national effort to invest in the emerging technologies to create manufacturing jobs and enhance the United States’ global competitiveness. This national recognition that manufacturing is important is a step in the right direction. But the manufacturing industry needs to step up efforts to inform the public.

The term “knowledge worker” is in vogue to describe new economy jobs. Imagine how much knowledge it takes for manufacturing companies to succeed? Every step of the manufacturing process requires in depth knowledge of engineering and materials science. Will the parts fit together? Will they be durable enough? And countless other questions necessary to complete the  cycle of innovation to bring that product into the real work and making it commercially available.

Every day, quietly and without fanfare American manufacturers are creating the magic that most take for granted.

And if we aren’t careful that magic will disappear.

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