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U.S. Leadership in Manufacturing
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Courtland Perkins described the reasons for NAE to focus on manufacturing, and I would like to set the stage with a few more comments. But before I do that, let me acknowledge at the outset the work done by the various members of the steering committee. Without their efforts and their insight into this topic--a difficult topic I should say--today's program could not have taken place. New technologies and technological innovation are the major driving forces behind productivity increases. I can best illustrate this point by showing the result of a study by the Brookings Institution (see Figure 1) that quantifies the point that technological innovation is the biggest contributor to productivity--more than scale economics, training, and capital investment. Many times we forget this truth. This could be the reason why, in fact, U.S. industry is experiencing a lower rate of productivity growth compared to our trading partners. Similarly, our plants are aging because our capital investment is falling behind that of other countries (see Figure 2). What is shown here are facts that we are going to discuss at length during today's program. While employment of science and engineering people is increasing in U.S. industry, their employment in the manufacturing sector, is, at best, staying constant or maybe even decreasing (see Figure 3). This is particularly a bad sign because we are at the threshold of a significant change in manufacturing, one based more on science and technology activity. This requires the participation of science and engineering professionals in the manufacturing process more than in the past.
National Academy of Engineering - Personal Name
0309290988
NONE
Leadership
English
1983
1-149
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