The summit was attended by CEO’s from the major USA Industries, University Vice Chancellors, academics and senior Public Sector representatives along with members of the Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils of which the Centre for Competitiveness is a member. The purpose of the summit was to launch a “MANUFACTURING CALL TO ACTION” in order to create an American manufacturing movement that would transform current manufacturing practices with a new approach underpinned by high performance computing. This was Manufacturing’s wake-up call, as structural changes in the global economy had created opportunities as well as challenges to achieving the next-generation productivity through smart innovation & manufacturing. Pilot projects had already been tested by companies such as General Electric, Proctor & Gamble and John Deere that demonstrated a step change in productivity improvement of up to 80% with significant cost reductions throughout the supply chain. The adoption of digital fabrication methods with the support of the national laboratories and the tera-grid communications network would provide the necessary support systems to create a 21st century manufacturing process and a skilled labour force.
This transformation is going well beyond 6 Sigma and Lean incremental improvement levels to breakthrough @ 80% – 90% improvement in process performance gaining profitable time to market with a much lower cost of entry. This new manufacturing transformation is the result of signification innovation and breakthrough thinking by the council and its members.
Innovation Drives:
- Technology – new platforms
- Business Process Innovation
- Business Model – grow new models
A comparative presentation was made by Cesar A Hidalgo – Assistant Professor, The Media Lab, MIT between Korea and Peru entitled “Economic Complexity of Nations” with a vision of challenging the next decade and how to navigate it by “Rebuilding America and Avoiding the Next Bubble.” The Assist Professor used a revolutionary way of looking at world trade and understanding variations in countries paths to prosperity based on the work of Professors Ricardo Hausmann, Harvard and Cesar Hidalgo, MIT. The presentation was based on the “Atlas of Economic Complexity” which is rooted in a set of ideas about how to measure economies based not just on the quantity of products traded, but also on the required knowledge and capabilities to produce them. Peru – Coffee, Korea – Hi Tech innovations. In 1974 Peru had a richer economy than Korea, the reverse is true today – what made the difference? Capabilities! In the end, building this new platform for integrated delivery of new products through software and high performance computing with transform USA manufacturing throughout the next decade.
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