Skip to Main Content

RTI uses cookies to offer you the best experience online. By clicking “accept” on this website, you opt in and you agree to the use of cookies. If you would like to know more about how RTI uses cookies and how to manage them please view our Privacy Policy here. You can “opt out” or change your mind by visiting: http://optout.aboutads.info/. Click “accept” to agree.

Accept
RTI International
  • About
    • Office Locations
    • Executive Leadership
    • Corporate Governance
    • Partner with Us
      • U.S. Government
      • Clients and Funding Agencies
      • Industry and Commercial Clients
      • Foundations and Associations
      • Bilateral Agencies and Multilateral Banks
      • Universities and Academic Research Institutions
      • Suppliers and Small Businesses
    • Commitment to Quality
      • RTI's Client Listening Program
    • Ethics and Human Research Protection
    • Living Our Mission
    • Open Science Initiative
    • Veteran Opportunities at RTI

    About

  • Practice Areas
    • Health
      • Public Health and Well-Being
      • Health Care Transformation
      • Behavioral Health
      • Health Behavior Change
      • Precision Medicine
      • RTI Health Solutions (RTI-HS)
      • Health Equity
      • Community & Workplace Health
      • Public Health Economics
      • Child and Adolescent Research and Evaluation Program
      • RTI Health Advance
    • Transformative Research Unit for Equity​
      • Equity Capacity Building Hub
      • Social and Economic Justice Research Collaborative
      • Narrative Research and Community Engagement Lab
    • Education and Workforce Development
      • Early Childhood
      • K-12 Education
      • Postsecondary Education
      • Career and Adult Education and Workforce Development
      • Education Policy, Systems, and Governance
      • Education Research Methodologies
      • Education Technologies
      • International Education
    • International Development
      • Climate Change
      • Energy for Development
      • Environment
      • Global Food Security, Agriculture, and Nutrition
      • Global Health
      • International Education
      • Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, Learning, and Adapting (MERLA)
      • Youth and Economic Opportunity
      • Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH)
      • RTI Center for Global Noncommunicable Diseases
      • RTI Center for Governance
      • RTI Center for Thriving Children
    • Climate Change
      • Clean Energy Technology and Renewables
      • Climate Finance
      • Climate Justice and Equity
      • Climate Planning, Preparedness and Resilience
      • Climate Policy
      • Climate Vulnerability, Adaptation, and Mitigation
      • Economic Impacts of Climate Change
    • Water
      • Food-Energy-Water Nexus
      • Water Quality
      • WASH (Water, Sanitation, Hygiene)
      • Water Resources Management
    • Energy Research
      • Carbon Capture and Utilization
      • Biomass Conversion
      • Natural Gas
      • Energy Efficiency
      • Industrial Water
      • Syngas Processing
    • Environmental Sciences
      • Air Quality
      • RTI Center for Water Resources
      • Urban Sustainability
      • Toxics
      • Building Resiliency in the FEW Nexus
      • Climate Change Sciences and Analysis
      • Environmental Policy
      • Environmental Justice
      • Sustainable Materials & Waste Management Solutions
    • Justice Research and Policy
      • RTI Center for Community Safety and Crime Prevention
      • RTI Center for Policing Research and Investigative Science
      • Child Well-Being and Family Strengthening
      • RTI Center for Forensic Sciences
      • Evidence-Based Strategies to Reduce Firearm Violence
    • Food Security and Agriculture
      • Food Security and Food Assistance
      • Nutrition, Physical Activity, & Obesity
      • Food Safety
      • Food Systems and Policy Analysis
      • Food Loss and Waste Research
      • Market Systems Strengthening
      • Global Food Security, Agriculture, and Nutrition
      • Climate-Smart Agriculture
      • Agricultural Innovation
    • Innovation Ecosystems
      • Innovation Advising
      • Innovation for Economic Growth
      • Innovation for Emerging and Developing Economies
      • Innovation for Organizations
      • Research, Technology, and Innovation Policy
      • Technology Acceleration
    • Military Support
      • Military Behavioral Health
      • Military Health and Human Performance
      • Military Sexual Assault, Harassment, and Domestic Violence Prevention
      • Wearable Sensor Technologies
      • Military Health System Transformation
      • North Carolina Center for Optimizing Military Performance

    Practice Areas

  • Services + Capabilities
    • Surveys and Data Collection
      • Survey Design
      • Instrument Development
      • Survey Methodologies
      • Data Collection
      • Establishment Surveys
      • Health Registries
      • Data Analysis and Reporting
      • Research Operations Center
    • Statistics and Data Science
      • Survey Statistics
      • Environmental Statistics
      • Coordinating Centers for Multisite Studies
      • Analysis and Design of Complex Data
      • Biostatistics
      • RTI Center for Data Science
    • Evaluation, Assessment and Analysis
      • Evaluation Design and Execution
      • Advanced Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods
      • Evaluation, Monitoring, and Assessment
      • Economic Analysis
      • Evaluating Communication Interventions and Campaigns
      • Evidence Synthesis for Policy and Practice
      • Risk Assessment and Prediction
    • Program Design and Implementation
      • Systems Strengthening and Scaling
      • Capacity Assessment and Building
      • Policy Reform Support
      • Curriculum and Teacher Professional Development
      • Interventions and Prevention Programs
      • Implementation Science
    • Digital Solutions for Social Impact
      • Human-Centered Design of Digital Solutions
      • Digital Product Development
      • Digital Communication Campaigns
      • Digital Data Analytics
    • Research Technologies
      • Survey Technologies
      • Data Management and Decision Support Systems
      • Geospatial Science, Technology, and Visualization
      • ICT for Limited-Resource Settings
      • Mobile Applications
      • Web Applications
      • Bioinformatics
      • Interactive Computing
    • Drug Discovery and Development
      • Medicinal Chemistry
      • Molecular Design and Cheminformatics
      • Behavioral Pharmacology
      • Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics (DMPK)
      • In Vitro Pharmacology, Bioassay Development, and High-Throughput Screening (HTS)
      • Isotope Labeling
      • Regulatory Consulting and Support for Medical Products
    • Analytical Laboratory Sciences
      • Bioanalytical and Toxicology Research
      • Forensic Sciences
      • Physicochemical Characterizations
      • Metabolomics
      • Proficiency Testing and Reference Materials
      • Microbiology
      • Analytical Chemistry and Pharmaceutics
    • Engineering & Technology R&D
      • Biomedical Technologies
      • Decarbonization Sciences
      • Environmental Exposure & Protection
      • Materials & Environment
      • Sustainable Energy Solutions

    Services + Capabilities

  • Impact
    • Newsroom
    • Insights Blog
    • Events
    • Publications
    • RTI Press
      • About the RTI Press
      • Instructions for Authors
      • RTI Press Collections
    • Projects
    • Global Reach
      • Asia
      • Eastern Europe and Central Asia
      • RTI International India
      • Africa
      • Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
      • Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)

    Impact

  • Experts
    • Our Experts
    • In-Depth With Our Experts
    • Related News
    • Experts In the Media
    • RTI Fellow Program

    Experts

  • Emerging Issues
    • COVID-19 Research
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Global Health Security
    • Cannabis Research
    • Opioid Research
      • Interventions for Opioid Use Disorders
      • Preventing Opioid Misuse and Overdose
      • Treating Opioid Use Disorders
    • Policing Research and Investigative Science
    • Drone Research and Application
    • E-cigarette Research
    • Zika Virus Research
    • Integrated Governance

    Emerging Issues

  • Global Reach
  • Insights Blog
  • Newsroom
  • RTI Press
  • Publications
  • Partner With Us
  • Careers
  • Facebook IconTwitter IconInstagram IconYouTube IconLinkedin Icon
Impact

Economic Analysis of Technology Infrastructure Needs for Advanced Manufacturing

  • Home
  • Impact
  • Economic Analysis of Technology Infrastructure Needs for Advanced Manufacturing

Identifying infrastructure investment needs for advanced manufacturing technologies in the United States

Advanced manufacturing was identified by the Obama Administration as an essential component to reinvigorating America’s manufacturing competitiveness. Advanced manufacturing refers to knowledge- and technology-intensive production that pushes the boundaries of not only what can be produced but how it can be produced, drawing on gains in physical and material sciences, biotechnology, computing, advanced robotics, and artificial intelligence. It both feeds and prospers from achievements in research and development and has the potential to provide valued employment opportunities and strengthen communities.

In support of the White House’s advanced manufacturing initiative, and its own mission “to promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness,” in 2014 the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) convened an integrated team to investigate the infrastructure needs of advanced manufacturing. RTI was a key member of the team, providing economic analysis and research support.

We engaged with industry and quantified the needs for technology infrastructure—a term that encompasses the foundational suite of standards, measurement technologies, and general purpose technology that empowers and underlies all of industry. We analyzed how overcoming gaps in this infrastructure could support the efficient development and adoption of advanced manufacturing systems and production methods.

Identifying Common Challenges across Vital Growth Areas

The primary challenges in studying this expansive, complex subject were managing the scope of the project, keeping a clear line of sight to our research questions, and keeping our analysis methods aligned with data collection efforts.

Rather than delve into the specifics of product development, we needed to stay focused on common challenges—challenges in which market failure may be inhibiting the development of the necessary technology infrastructure to support all companies. The question we sought to answer was “What are the technology needs across all industry sectors, and why are companies not addressing these needs on their own?”

In collaboration with our client, we focused on four key areas integral to the growth of advanced manufacturing in the United States:

  • Smart manufacturing
  • Use of advanced robotics and automation
  • Additive manufacturing, or 3-D printing
  • Roll-to-roll manufacturing.

In each of these areas, we conducted more than 260 interviews with R&D directors, corporate executives, manufacturing engineers, industry associations, research centers, technology developers, and other key stakeholders in advanced manufacturing.

Industry Insights Derived from Stakeholder Interviews

Smart manufacturing, which, in simple terms, involves the integration of technological and human systems to produce data-driven decision making and performance optimization, can be found across a broad range of manufacturing industries—from food processing to electrical power generation to aerospace manufacturing. Through our interviews, we identified six primary infrastructure development opportunities with substantial economic potential:

  • Managing digital data streams through quantitative models
  • Sensing and monitoring
  • Seamless transmission of digital data
  • Advanced data and trend analysis
  • Communicating data to decision making systems
  • Determining and implementing required action (e.g., when to notify or engage humans).

As we examined the potential for robotics to drive growth, we found that the new era of automation in manufacturing goes beyond boosting production efficiencies and cutting labor costs. As robots become increasingly mobile and autonomous, they can operate in less structured environments. One challenge, however, is the need to establish standards and basic technology platforms for new robotics. Doing so at the individual manufacturer level would be cost-prohibitive.

Measurement technologies and standards are also needed to fortify the additive manufacturing industry—more commonly known as 3-D printing—by improving confidence in reproducibility and the reliability of raw materials. We found that additive manufacturing would also benefit from advancements in real-time measurement capabilities, design optimization tools and protocols, better modeling and simulation, improved surface finishing, and new mechanical testing procedures.

Roll-to-roll manufacturing—the process of manufacturing goods on a flexible substrate (such as a plastic film) as it moves from one roll to another—likewise needs standards, technology platforms, and other basic infrastructure to realize its market potential.

Billions in Potential Savings through Reduced Production Costs

Our economic impact estimates focused on the potential of these infrastructure improvements to reduce production costs and are, therefore, conservative measures. Investment in infrastructure would likely produce additional economic value through reduced research and development costs, improved product attributes, increased sales, and accelerating the introduction of new products to market.

Our estimates show that, conservatively,

  • Investing in technology infrastructure to support smart manufacturing would generate an estimated $57.4 billion impact. The greatest potential for savings were found in labor and energy costs, with additional benefits to be realized in capital and materials.
  • Advancements in robotics and automation could benefit U.S. manufacturing by as much as $40 billion annually. This factors some offset accrued through initial capital investment and reflects an average 5 percent reduction in production cost, driven primarily by material and labor savings.
  • Addressing the technology infrastructure needs of the additive manufacturing industry could generate an impact of $4.1 billion per year. This would represent an 18 percent reduction in cost of goods sold, with the greatest impact coming in the form of a 27 percent reduction in labor costs.
  • Roll-to-roll manufacturing could realize an estimated benefit of $353 million per year through investment in improved technology infrastructure. This would equate to about 15 percent of the total cost of roll-to-roll goods sold in 2015. The most significant benefits would come in reduction of labor and materials costs, which could be cut by 25 percent and 12 percent, respectively.

Our experts presented the results of our analyses to NIST in November 2016. The information will inform decisions about whether and how to invest scarce public funds and support the necessary research and development needed to strengthen advanced manufacturing in the United States.

Share

Clients

  • National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Our Experts

Alan O'Connor Senior Economist
Michael P. Gallaher Director, Technology, Energy, and the Environment
Kirsten Rieth
Kirsten Rieth Director, Research and Insights

Practice Areas

Innovation for Economic Growth Research, Technology, and Innovation Policy

Services

Economic Analysis

Learn More

Economic Analysis of Technology Infrastructure Needs for Smart Manufacturing

Economic Analysis of Technology Infrastructure Needs for Advanced Robotics and Automation

Economic Analysis of Technology Infrastructure Needs for Roll-to-Roll Manufacturing

Economic Analysis of Technology Infrastructure Needs for Additive Manufacturing

65 Years
Partner With Us
  • US Government
  • Commercial
  • Foundations & Associations
  • Multilateral Donors
  • Universities
  • Suppliers
Site
  • Privacy Policy
  • Security Policy
  • Site Map
  • Terms of Use
  • Accessibility
  • Contact Us
Contact Us
Facebook Icon Twitter Icon Instagram Icon YouTube Icon Linkedin Icon
delivering the promise of science
for global good
RTI International Logo
RTI Health Solutions RTI Innovation Advisors RTI Health Advance

© 2023 RTI International. RTI International is a trade name of Research Triangle Institute. RTI and the RTI logo are U.S. registered trademarks of Research Triangle Institute.