Reinventing Manufacturing

Strengthening California’s Environment for Manufacturing
To address these losses, national manufacturing policies
are increasingly embracing regional cluster strategies.
These networks often include public research institutions,
such as universities and national laboratories. The goals
of recent national manufacturing policies have been
centered on rebuilding an industrial commons—a term
used to define the knowledge assets and physical
facilities that are shared between production firms;
suppliers of materials, components, and production
equipment; and research and development facilities,
which are often geographically concentrated.
A recent federal initiative highlights this industrial
commons approach. In 2014, Congress appropriated
$300 million over 10 years to the National Network for
Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) Program to build a
network of 15 institutes that would seek to bring together
regional manufacturing stakeholders from industry,
government, and academia with the goal of facilitating
advanced manufacturing processes from basic research
to implementation. With investments coming from the
Department of Defense and the Department of Energy,
seven NNMI Program institutes were established by the
end of September 2015.
America Makes: The National Additive Manufacturing
Innovation Institute, Youngstown, Ohio: Launched in
August 2012 with $30 million in federal funding and
opened in October 2012, this institute is devoted to
helping the US grow its capabilities in 3D printing by
fostering collaboration in design, materials, technology,
and workforce.
PowerAmerica: The Next Generation Power
Electronics Manufacturing Innovation Institute,
Raleigh, North Carolina: Opened in January 2015,
this institute is focused on enabling the manufacturing
of energy-efficient, high-power electronic chips
and devices, by making new semiconductor technologies
cost-competitive with current silicon-based
power electronics.
Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute,
Chicago, Illinois: Opened in May 2015, this
institute is focused on enabling interoperability across
supply chains and on developing enhanced digital
capabilities to design and test new products.
LIFT: Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow, Detroit,
Michigan: Opened in January 2015, this institute
works to speed the development of new lightweight
metal and manufacturing processes for products
with warfighting, aerospace, automotive, and
other applications.
Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing
Innovation, Knoxville, Tennessee: Opened in June
2015, this institute is focused on lowering the costs
and reducing the energy needed for the manufacturing
of advanced composites, in order to enable their
use in a broader range of products including lightweight
highly fuel-efficient vehicles and lighter, more
efficient industrial equipment.
AIM Photonics: American Institute for Manufacturing
Integrated Photonics, Rochester, New York:
Announced in July 2015, this institute will advance
technology development for the manufacturing of
integrated photonics circuits, which allow the placement
of thousands of photonic components (such as
lasers, detectors, waveguides, modulators, electronic
controls, and optical interconnects) on a single chip,
enabling faster data transfer capabilities.
NextFlex: Flexible Hybrid Electronics Manufacturing
Innovation Institute, San Jose, California: Announced
in August 2015, this institute’s activities will benefit
a wide array of markets including defense, automotive,
communications, consumer electronics, medical
devices, healthcare, transportation, and agriculture.
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