The Competitive Edge

To maintain competitiveness in the emerging global economy, U.S. manufacturing must rise to new standards of product quality, responsiveness to customers, and process flexibility. This volume presents a concise and well-organized analysis of new research directions to achieve these goals. Five critical areas receive in-depth analysis of present practices, needed improvement, and research priorities: Advanced engineered materials that offer the prospect of better life-cycle performance and other gains. Equipment reliability and maintenance practices for better returns on capital investment. Rapid product realization techniques to speed delivery to the marketplace. Intelligent manufacturing control for improved reliability and greater precision. Building a workforce with the multidisciplinary skills needed for competitiveness. This sound and accessible analysis will be useful to manufacturing engineers and researchers, business executives, and economic and policy analysts. Table of Contents Front Matter Executive Summary Overview Intelligent Manufacturing Control Equipment Reliability and Maintenance Manufacturing of and with Advanced Engineered Materials Product Realization Process Manufacturing Skills Improvement Bibliography Appendix A: Selected Employment Data Appendix B: Panels of the Committee on Analysis of Research Directions and Needs in U.S. Manufacturing Index