Advanced Manufacturing: The New American Innovation Policies

by William B. Bonvillian, Peter L. Singer

Overview

How to rethink innovation and revitalize America's declining manufacturing sector by encouraging advanced manufacturing, bringing innovative technologies into the production process.

The United States lost almost one-third of its manufacturing jobs between 2000 and 2010. As higher-paying manufacturing jobs are replaced by lower-paying service jobs, income inequality has been approaching third world levels. In particular, between 1990 and 2013, the median income of men without high school diplomas fell by an astonishing 20% between 1990 and 2013, and that of men with high school diplomas or some college fell by a painful 13%. Innovation has been left largely to software and IT startups, and increasingly U.S. firms operate on a system of “innovate here/produce there,” leaving the manufacturing sector behind. In this book, William Bonvillian and Peter Singer explore how to rethink innovation and revitalize America's declining manufacturing sector. They argue that advanced manufacturing, which employs such innovative technologies as 3-D printing, advanced material, photonics, and robotics in the production process, is the key.

Bonvillian and Singer discuss transformative new production paradigms that could drive up efficiency and drive down costs, describe the new processes and business models that must accompany them, and explore alternative funding methods for startups that must manufacture. They examine the varied attitudes of mainstream economics toward manufacturing, the post-Great Recession policy focus on advanced manufacturing, and lessons from the new advanced manufacturing institutes. They consider the problem of “startup scaleup,” possible new models for training workers, and the role of manufacturing in addressing “secular stagnation” in innovation, growth, the middle classes, productivity rates, and related investment. As recent political turmoil shows, the stakes could not be higher.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262343404
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	01/12/2018
Series:	The MIT Press
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	416
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

William B. Bonvillian is a Lecturer at MIT, former Director of the MIT Washington Office, and the coauthor of Structuring an Energy Technology Revolution (MIT Press).

Peter L. Singer has been a Policy Advisor in the MIT Washington Office, studied international political economy at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced Information Studies, and authored studies of entrepreneurship, infrastructure policy, and federal R&D innovation.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii
1 Introduction: Social Disruption, Legacy Barriers, and Innovation Challenges in U.S. Manufacturing 1
2 The Backdrop: Manufacturing's Economic History 15
3 International Competition and the Decline of U.S. Manufacturing 37
4 Economic Perspectives on Manufacturing 65
5 Advanced Manufacturing Emerges at the Federal Level 101
6 The Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Institute Model 131
7 Start-up Scale-up: Addressing the Manufacturing Challenge for Start-ups 187
8 Workforce Education and Advanced Manufacturing 217
9 Manufacturing and the Future of Work 243
10 Conclusion: Manufacturing Matters More Than Ever 265
Notes 277
References 345
Index 389

What People are Saying About This

Susan Hockfield

American manufacturing suffered a severe setback during the 2008-09 Great Recession, and its decline has continued since then. Bonvillian and Singer trace the causes of the ongoing decline, as well as its destructive consequences on middle income wages. Importantly, their analysis also offers a prescription for recovery. While the complexity of 'legacy economic sectors' like manufacturing makes them resist change, this book describes an innovation agenda that could renew the competitiveness of American manufacturing.

Ira Moskowitz

An extraordinarily complete and important treatment of why U.S. manufacturing declined in the twenty-first century, and the new production paradigms that can transform it into a robust and productive sector again. A fascinating must-read for business and government leaders on how to re-establish manufacturing in the U.S., and the pathways that offers towards improving our economic prosperity.

John A. Elliott

Bonvillian and Singer link economic history and theory, in a well-documented analysis of centuries of progress followed by fifty years of U.S. manufacturing decline. They illuminate a path forward. Well worth the read.

Fred Block

In this timely book, Bonvillian and Singer tell the vitally important but unknown story of the Obama administration's advanced manufacturing initiative. In stark contrast to the conventional economic and political wisdom, they delineate a set of policies that would significantly strengthen the U.S. economy. If only Washington would pay attention.

Endorsement

An extraordinarily complete and important treatment of why U.S. manufacturing declined in the twenty-first century, and the new production paradigms that can transform it into a robust and productive sector again. A fascinating must-read for business and government leaders on how to re-establish manufacturing in the U.S., and the pathways that offers towards improving our economic prosperity.

—Ira Moskowitz, Director, Advanced Manufacturing Programs, Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, former Vice President and General Manager, U.S. Operations, Analog Devices, Inc.

From the Publisher

On factory floors across our country, workers are pushing the boundaries of what our manufacturing sector can create. Within these pages, William Bonvillian and Peter Singer tell the past, present, and future story of American manufacturing, an enduring story of resilience, ingenuity, and pride.

—Congressman Joseph P. Kennedy III

American manufacturing suffered a severe setback during the 2008-09 Great Recession, and its decline has continued since then. Bonvillian and Singer trace the causes of the ongoing decline, as well as its destructive consequences on middle income wages. Importantly, their analysis also offers a prescription for recovery. While the complexity of 'legacy economic sectors' like manufacturing makes them resist change, this book describes an innovation agenda that could renew the competitiveness of American manufacturing.

—Susan Hockfield, President Emerita, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

In this timely book, Bonvillian and Singer tell the vitally important but unknown story of the Obama administration's advanced manufacturing initiative. In stark contrast to the conventional economic and political wisdom, they delineate a set of policies that would significantly strengthen the U.S. economy. If only Washington would pay attention.

—Fred Block, Research Professor, University of California, Davis

Bonvillian and Singer link economic history and theory, in a well-documented analysis of centuries of progress followed by fifty years of U.S. manufacturing decline. They illuminate a path forward. Well worth the read.

—John A. Elliott, Dean, University of Connecticut School of Business, and Fox Chair in Management

An extraordinarily complete and important treatment of why U.S. manufacturing declined in the twenty-first century, and the new production paradigms that can transform it into a robust and productive sector again. A fascinating must-read for business and government leaders on how to re-establish manufacturing in the U.S., and the pathways that offers towards improving our economic prosperity.

—Ira Moskowitz, Director, Advanced Manufacturing Programs, Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, former Vice President and General Manager, U.S. Operations, Analog Devices, Inc.

Congressman Joseph P. Kennedy III

On factory floors across our country, workers are pushing the boundaries of what our manufacturing sector can create. Within these pages, William Bonvillian and Peter Singer tell the past, present, and future story of American manufacturing, an enduring story of resilience, ingenuity, and pride.