This past Friday, President Obama laid out plans for the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP), a public-private sector partnership that the Administration hopes will catalyze a “renaissance of American manufacturing.” 

In a statement about the President's speech, Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) Executive Director Scott Paul pointed out that although “the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership shows a lot of promise…the effort will be futile unless our manufacturers also have a solid foundation of support for challenges like unfair trade practices, currency manipulation, developing a skilled workforce, and a more efficient infrastructure.”

Though we believe that the introduction of a program like the AMP is just one of many steps we must take in order to revitalize America’s industrial base, we applaud the president for highlighting the importance of manufacturing in his remarks:

We’ve just got to reinvigorate our manufacturing sector so that it leads the world the way it always has –- from paper and steel and cars to new products that we haven’t even dreamed up yet.  That’s how we’re going to strengthen existing industries; that's how we’re going to spark new ones.  That’s how we’re going to create jobs, grow the middle class, and secure our economic leadership.

The AMP itself includes several provisions that could, if properly implemented, succeed in helping the U.S. regain its industrial stronghold. These include partnerships with Government agencies such as the Department of Defense, Homeland Security and Energy that will help crucial private industries thrive:

The U.S. Government has had a long history of partnership with companies and universities in developing and commercializing the new technologies that have been the foundation of our economic success – from the telephone, to the microwave, to the jet engine, to the internet.  The AMP will provide the platform for similar breakthroughs in the next decade, by building a roadmap for advanced manufacturing technologies, speeding ideas from the drawing board to the manufacturing floor, scaling-up first-of-a-kind technologies, and developing the infrastructure and shared facilities to allow small and mid-sized manufacturers to innovate and compete.

Building domestic manufacturing capabilities in critical national security industries: Starting this summer, the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Energy, Agriculture, Commerce and other agencies will coordinate a government-wide effort to leverage their existing funds and future budgets, with an initial goal of $300 million, to co-invest with industry in innovative technologies that will jumpstart domestic manufacturing capability essential to our national security and promote the long-term economic viability of critical U.S. industries.  Initial investments include small high-powered batteries, advanced composites, metal fabrication, bio-manufacturing, and alternative energy, among others.

Read more about AAM’s response to the introduction of the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership in IndustryWeek, Huffington Post, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and on the Campaign for America’s Future blog.