Jane Edwards
A new Deloitte study has found that Manufacturing USA’s network of institutes works to facilitate manufacturing innovation through research and development and helps mitigate the shortage of skilled manufacturing workers.
The study also showed that the first eight manufacturing institutes formed by the departments of Defense and Energy from 2012 through 2016 have helped establish relationships among 1,200 participating firms, government agencies and academic institutions and have contributed $1.3 billion in private investment combined with $600 million in federal funds, Deloitte said Friday.
The findings are based on interviews with the institutes’ leaders, chief executives of companies, manufacturing experts from industry groups and universities as well as site visits to the eight institutes conducted between August 2016 and January 2017.
The report also offered seven recommendations for the Manufacturing USA program, such as emphasis on deployment and transition efforts to increase commercialization and alignment of the institutes’ workforce programs with government strategies and resources.
Deloitte also noted the manufacturing institutes have established public-private partnerships and that collaboration among companies through the institutes has helped reduce the risk and cost of experimentation.
The institutes also launched initiatives to help address the talent gap such as post-secondary apprenticeship programs, community engagement activities and industry workforce assessments, Deloitte added.
