Biden-Harris Administration Announces $22 Million to Support Smart Manufacturing at Small- and Medium-sized Facilities Across the Nation.
Funding Will Support State Efforts to Improve Manufacturing Processes to Create New Good-Paying Jobs, Cut Costs, and Combat the Climate Crisis
In support of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, a key pillar of Bidenomics, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $22 million to 12 state-run programs to accelerate smart manufacturing at small- and medium-sized facilities. Funded by the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the State Manufacturing Leadership Program aims to make smart manufacturing technologies and high-performance computing more accessible for use across the domestic manufacturing sector, which accounts for over one-sixth of U.S. carbon emissions and nearly a quarter of the nation’s energy usage. This funding will help states remove existing barriers that inhibit the ability of small- and medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs) to utilize innovative, data-driven tools and technologies—improving production efficiency to reduce costs, support new domestic manufacturing opportunities, and cut harmful emissions. Advancing sustainable, next-generation tools and resources in the manufacturing sector is key to achieving the Biden-Harris Administration’s ambitious goal of a net-zero economy by 2050 and will help revitalize and strengthen America’s global leadership in manufacturing.
“America’s manufacturing sector is the backbone of our nation’s economy, and President Biden is laser-focused on ensuring this industry—and the workforce it supports—prospers well into the 21st Century,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “Thanks to the President’s Investing in America agenda, DOE is helping provide the innovative tools needed to improve efficiency and reduce costs—supporting state efforts to bolster manufacturing competitiveness while combatting the climate crisis.”
Smart manufacturing advances interconnectivity to improve production and increase the overall efficiency of the manufacturing process. These fully integrated and collaborative manufacturing systems respond in real time to changing demands and conditions in production facilities and within the supply network. High-performance computing can enable dramatically faster and more accurate modeling, simulation, and data analysis to solve technological problems and reduce costly “trial and error” steps during development. The majority of SMMs currently do not employ smart manufacturing or high-performance computing technologies due to expensive costs, and a mismatch between staffing and access to training resources.
The 12 selected states will either create new or expand existing state-run programs to support over 3,500 SMMs in accessing smart manufacturing technologies and practices and/or high-performance computing resources. Collectively, the programs will provide a wide variety of resources to SMMs such as technical assistance, training, facility assessments, apprenticeships, and direct financial assistance to implement smart manufacturing improvements. Program descriptions and a full list of selections can be found here.
These programs will also expand the smart manufacturing ecosystem, resulting in a more robust deployment of smart manufacturing technologies among SMMs. Programs will aim to promote their efforts through national collaborations with partners like United Steel Workers, National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership Centers, Manufacturing USA Institutes, DOE’s Industrial Assessment Centers and national laboratories as well as community-centric organizations such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities and community colleges.
The funding for the State Manufacturing Leadership Program will be administered by DOE’s Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC). Learn more about MESC’s mission to strengthen and secure manufacturing and energy supply chains needed to modernize the nation’s energy infrastructure and support a clean and equitable energy transition.
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