Within the past couple of years, Rockwell Automation began sending press releases about speeches CEO Keith Nosbusch was giving in Washington, D.C. raising awareness of manufacturing in America and the need for a national manufacturing competitiveness strategy.
Last November at Automation Fair I got the opportunity to talk directly with him about this issue. Turns out it’s not just PR. He is sincerely passionate about this.
Tuesday I received an update from a Rockwell spokesman about all the progress made to date. There are many initiatives–so many I couldn’t write fast enough. He is active with the Council on Competitiveness (check out its Call to Action for U.S. manufacturing). Rockwell is continuing to work with the Smart Process Manufacturing Initiative.
Part of “your call to action” sent to, among others, congresspeople includes:
- Invest in public/private partnerships to establish smart manufacturing process innovation centers with “test beds” to catalyze and drive breakthroughs.
- Rebalance federal investments in research and development to restore equal funding for applied research at the same level as basic science.
- Prepare the country for the market-altering leaaps in manufacturing productivity and efficiency that smart manufacturing will bring about.
