Leveraging University Support
The Importance of Universities to American Reshoring
HermitCrab has already discussed the importance of all forms of education to close the perceived skills gap in the United States as it relates to manufacturing reshoring. Universities, community colleges, trade schools, industry groups, online training providers, and even equipment manufacturing offer both general manufacturing education as well as specific skills training to properly equip workers to get up-to-speed quickly on the skills needed to be successful. We have no shortage of ways to get a manufacturing-ready workforce ready for the reshored jobs of the future.
That is not the aim of today’s class.
Today, we will discuss how Universities provide essential services around the actual process of reshoring products back to the United States. Let’s face it – when corporations decided to offshore their real reason for existing (making stuff) for any of the reasons we’ve already discussed, they did not plan to bring it back. There’s no muscle memory for reshoring, we will need the help of the academic community to round out the skills gaps to make sure the reshoring occurs smoothly. They are happy to help – there’s just not enough companies asking!
In no particular order, here is a list of 10 essential activities that Universities can support during the reshoring process, and continue to support after the reshoring has occurred:
Reshored Product Optimization: Universities assist in optimizing product designs for domestic manufacturing by focusing on efficient material use and streamlined processes. This enhancement reduces costs and boosts quality, making US-based production more viable and competitive against international alternatives, ultimately encouraging companies to bring manufacturing operations back home.
Modern Manufacturing Practices: Universities provide insights into lean, agile, and sustainable practices, which help companies enhance productivity and reduce waste. These practices are crucial for reshoring as they enable businesses to improve efficiency and competitiveness, ensuring that domestic manufacturing can meet the high standards of the global market.
International Trade Regulations and Management: Universities educate businesses on navigating trade laws and tariffs, which is vital for avoiding costly mistakes during the reshoring transition. Understanding these regulations helps companies minimize risks and capitalize on opportunities, making the move back to the US smoother and more strategic.
Factory Layout and Equipment Setup: Universities offer expertise in designing efficient manufacturing spaces and integrating state-of-the-art machinery. This guidance is crucial for optimizing production workflows and reducing costs, helping businesses set up their reshored facilities for maximum productivity and operational efficiency.
The Economics of Reshoring - Total Cost of Ownership: By analyzing all factors, including hidden costs and benefits, universities help companies understand the long-term financial advantages of reshoring. This includes resilience to global disruptions and responsiveness to local demand, ensuring sustainable and profitable manufacturing operations within the US.
Using Latest Technologies to Improve Efficiency: Universities provide guidance on adopting technologies like robotics and IoT, which can significantly boost production efficiency. These innovations enable reshored facilities to operate more competitively by reducing labor costs and improving the precision and speed of manufacturing processes.
Industry 4.0 and 5.0 Approaches: Teaching the integration of digital and human-centric systems, universities prepare companies to adopt smart manufacturing. These approaches enhance flexibility and customization, key to meeting diverse consumer needs and maintaining a competitive edge in reshored production.
Modern Delivery of Just in Time Training: By providing tailored, immediate training solutions, universities ensure a skilled workforce ready to support new manufacturing technologies and processes. This adaptability is crucial for the swift transition of reshored operations, helping maintain productivity and meet market demands.
Using AI as the New Plant Manager: Universities demonstrate how AI can optimize processes and predict maintenance needs, enhancing operational efficiency. By leveraging AI, reshored facilities can achieve improved management and reduced downtime, making domestic manufacturing more competitive and reliable.
Maximizing the Benefit of Public/Private Partnerships: Universities facilitate collaborations that integrate resources and innovative solutions between academia, government, and industry. These partnerships bolster research and technology transfer, positioning US manufacturing for growth and success in a globally competitive market.
Not a bad start, but this list is a set of activities Universities could do for reshoring in the future. Now let’s look at some examples of what’s already been done.
Examples of University Collaboration
Consulting Firm Collaboration
There are several great companies dedicated to manufacturing reshoring (in different ways than HermitCrab) that already collaborate with universities to bolster their expertise and drive out innovative solutions.
The first is The Reshoring Institute (https://reshoringinstitute.org/), whose mission is “to support companies starting, restarting, or expanding manufacturing in the United States.” They accomplish this mission through a variety of ways, but they highlight their university collaboration as a key success factor. I’m happy to see my alma mater, Purdue, is a participating member!
Figure 1: Reshoring Institute University Partnerships
Re:Build Manufacturing
Another reshoring focused company (coincidentally run by a former colleague from early in my career) is Re:Build Manufacturing (https://rebuildmanufacturing.com). While the Reshoring Institute provides wisdom and guidance, Re:Build is actually doing the HermitCrab Vision in real-time, converting dilapidated factories outside Pittsburgh into a high-tech manufacturing hub(2). These guys fly at a higher altitude than HermitCrab in terms of their focus, but their desire to restore America’s manufacturing greatness is inspiring and matches HermitCrab’s. Their mission is also profound – it includes a list of 16 Guiding Principles that ensures all stakeholders benefit from their work. MIT is partnering with Re:Build on creating the high-tech jobs of the future, and keeping those jobs in America where they belong.(3)
Corporate Collaboration with Universities
Corporations have long sought-out university expertise within the manufacturing sector. When I was an undergraduate at Purdue, a large trucking company engaged the Mechanical Engineering department to help design and justify adding aerodynamic cowlings and covers to make the power rig more energy efficient – this was in the late 80’s! Those designs are commonplace on tractor trailer power rigs today, and I like to think Purdue is where it all began.
On the topic of reshoring, Universities help corporations improve their manufacturing techniques to build a case for reshoring and/or reducing the costs of making products in the US and thereby keeping more jobs in the US as well. Here’s some examples:
Georgia Tech and Delta Air Lines: Made possible by a $5 million gift from the Delta Air Lines, the facility is designed to be an integrated physical and cyber manufacturing technology testbed. (4)
MIT and Boeing: A collaboration aimed at advancing aerospace manufacturing technologies and clean energy, making reshoring in the aerospace sector more feasible.(5)
University of Michigan and Ford: UM and Ford open world-class robotics complex to accelerate future of advanced robotics and mobility for manufacturing automobiles and beyond. (6)
Purdue University and Rolls-Royce: Purdue and Rolls-Royce officials signed a research and testing agreement that will bring $75 million over 10 years; focused primarily at Purdue’s Zucrow Labs, the largest academic propulsion laboratory in the world.(7)
Rutgers University and Campbell Soup Company: Their work together on food innovation supports local manufacturing and supply chain improvements.
North Carolina State and IBM: This 40-year partnership includes IBM’s membership in NC State’s IBM has been a member of several of NC State’s Center for Innovation Management Studies and Integrated Manufacturing Systems Engineering Institute. (9)
Arizona State University (ASU) and Intel/TSMC/Atomera: Through the Microelectronics Industry Council, ASU is rapidly evolving its infrastructure and facilities to anticipate industry needs and stay at the cutting edge of innovation.(10)
HermitCrab’s University Crown Jewels
Every state interested in manufacturing excellence and increasing the American Industrial Plant has at least one university at the forefront of supplying research support and numerous other services that support manufacturing within that state. While the sponsoring company is often located in that same state (U of Michigan & Ford, Georgia Tech and Delta Air Line, etc.), others support foreign companies that seek their specific expertise (Purdue and Rolls-Royce, for example). HermitCrab sees at least a dozen universities inside the three-state region that provide manufacturing labs to support companies in the development of new products and technologies, as well as support reshoring programs. For this class, we selected the top school for each state.
North Carolina: North Carolina State University has a menu of interdisciplinary departments focused on advanced manufacturing. They include:
Edward Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE) (https://ise.ncsu.edu/research/advanced-manufacturing/): ISE is the catch-all for the numerous advanced manufacturing sub-disciplines included in the department.
CAMAL: The Center for Additive Manufacturing and Logistics (https://camal.ncsu.edu/): The center was born from ISE’s strong manufacturing tradition, a legacy that included a pre-eminent Furniture Manufacturing and Management Center and the groundbreaking Rapid Prototyping Lab.
Integrated Manufacturing Systems Engineering Institute (https://imsei.ncsu.edu/): By combining academic and industry experts, resources, and ideas, IMSEI offers cutting-edge manufacturing systems, research, and education.
ISE Processes Lab (https://ise.ncsu.edu/processes/): The Processes Laboratory is equipped with the latest technologies in material forming/shaping, molding, removal, casting and joining equipment.
South Carolina: Clemson University Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CU-CAM) consolidates all interdisciplinary education, research, innovation and engagement manufacturing-oriented activities under one umbrella with the overarching goal to improve manufacturing effectiveness, quality, and sustainability. This unique confluence of expertise and infrastructure enables CU-CAM to provide timely and relevant translation of innovation directly to our industry partners, and supports several advanced manufacturing sub-disciplines, including:
Clemson Composites Center
Clemson Advanced Robotics Manufacturing Center
Product Life Cycle Management
Clemson University Center for Workforce Development (CUCWD)
Center for Automotive Aviation and Virtual E-Schools (CA2VES).
Clemson University Vehicle Assembly Center
Georgia: Georgia Tech has the best Manufacturing facilities seen by this author. The Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute’s major areas of research and development focus on the design and development of advanced manufacturing systems targeting secure digital manufacturing, additive and subtractive processes, and large-scale production enterprises. GTMI is focused on the scale-up of manufacturing capabilities from laboratory and bench-top scale to pilot plant operations. (https://research.gatech.edu/manufacturing)
But Georgia Tech doesn’t stop there – they are also a provider of an Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility (https://ampf.research.gatech.edu/), a 20,000 square foot reconfigurable research and development high bay manufacturing facility in Midtown Atlanta, supporting industrial, academic, and government stakeholders while also serving as a teaching laboratory. AMPF is a resource and key partner for SBIR/STTR development. Guess who paid for this awesome space? Delta Air Lines – see the reference earlier in this article.
Conclusion: Thank heavens for the university system in America! There's no way to count the ways that our universities are helping corporations develop new manufacturing techniques, improve existing manufacturing processes, and provide the arms and legs research needed to identify and implement reshoring opportunities. As this paper discussed, universities benefit governments, industry organizations, advisory services firms, and large corporations by providing services that these entities no longer have in house since they outsourced manufacturing over the last few decades. Their influence will continue to grow as globalization declines and the need to rebuild the US manufacturing plant steadily increases.
Thank you for Reading! Today was another larger-than-planned post because there was so much good news to discuss! Hopefully, tomorrow’s topic, Day 21: Financial Support: Navigating Grants, Loans, and Financial Incentives. There are oceans of money out there, but how you get it and when you get it are just as important as how much you ask for!
Thanks for reading,
The HermitCrab Team
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