Implementing 21st Century Smart Manufacturing

Overview:

This report describes a framework for a proposed path forward for Smart Manufacturing in a number of priority areas. The report reflects the views of a national cross-section of industry leaders involved in planning the future of the process industries, vendors supplying technology solutions for manufacturing operations, and academic researchers engaged in a range of associated systems research. The report is based on information generated during the workshop on Implementing 21st Century Smart Manufacturing held in Washington, D.C. in September 2010, and from subsequent discussions among members of the Smart Manufacturing Leadership Coalition. A complete list of participants who contributed their valuable ideas at the workshop is shown on the facing page.

21st Century Smart Manufacturing applies information and manufacturing intelligence to integrate the voice, demands and intelligence of the 'customer' throughout the entire manufacturing supply chain. This enables a coordinated and performance-oriented manufacturing enterprise that quickly responds to the customer and minimizes energy and material usage while maximizing environmental sustainability, health and safety, and economic competitiveness. Innovations that allow diverse devices, machines, and equipment to communicate seamlessly are opening the door for much wider use of system simulation and optimization software in the operation and control of advanced manufacturing systems. Today, smart tools and systems that both generate and use greater amounts of data and information are being used to innovate, plan, design, build, operate, maintain, and manage industrial facilities

Executive Summaryand systems in dynamic ways that significantly increase efficiency, reduce waste, and improve competitiveness.

While industry is making progress in developing and using smart manufacturing, the infrastructure and capabilities needed to deliver the full potential of this knowledge-based manufacturing environment have yet to be developed. Challenges include incorporating and integrating customer intelligence and demand dynamics and the needs for greater affordability, operator usability, protection of proprietary data, systems interoperability, and cyber security.

To identify and prioritize the actions needed to overcome some of these challenges in smart manufacturing, a workshop on Implementing 21st Century Smart Manufacturing was held in Washington, D.C., on September 14-15, 2010.