For many years, U.S. manufacturers have identified innovation as the most critical factor in their ability to compete in the global marketplace, and an educated and skilled workforce as the most important component in their business success. Yet educational deficits, including the education system's slow response to the innovations shaping the business world, continue to threaten manufacturers' viability and growth. At a time when the U.S. manufacturing industry demands highly skilled workers, this failure of education risks both the future success of the U.S. industrial sector and the overall competitiveness of the U.S. economy. Manufacturers are now taking action.
On December 1, 2010, The Manufacturing Institute and the National Association of Manufacturers will host a National Manufacturing Talent Development Roundtable at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C. This invitation-only event will feature pioneers from the U.S. manufacturing sector, innovators from postsecondary education, and thought leaders from prestigious institutions from across the country.
The Roundtable will address several of the critical issues facing education including:
- Translating the economic and national security importance of the manufacturing sector into robust postsecondary programs of study;
- Incenting disruptive innovation in postsecondary education;
- Acquiring meaningful workplace credentials through competency-based education;
- Infusing technology leading to individualized education; and
- Addressing the new reality of working learners and the need to earn while learning.
The dialogue will also focus on how the key manufacturing business principles of lean dynamics, mass customization, supply chain agility, and aligned business and human resources strategies apply to education institutions and programs of study.
After the conclusion of the Roundtable, manufacturers will present a bold set of recommendations for Governors, Congress, and the Administration to drive innovation in secondary and postsecondary education and create a series of projects to demonstrate these recommendations in action.
For more information on the National Manufacturing Talent Development Roundtable, contact Gardner Carrick at The Manufacturing Institute at 202-637-3491 or gcarrick@nam.org.
About The Manufacturing Institute
The Manufacturing Institute is the 501(c)3 affiliate of the National Association of Manufacturers. As a non-partisan organization, the Institute is committed to delivering leading-edge information and services to the nation's manufacturers. The institute focuses on developing human capital strategies through education reform and workforce development, conducting applied research to provide critical information to public policy makers on challenges and opportunities for today's industry, and advancing the innovation capacity of manufacturers operating in a global market. Visit http://institute.nam.org.
About NAM
The National Association of Manufacturers is the nation's largest industrial trade association, representing manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states. Manufacturing has a presence in every single congressional district providing good, high-paying jobs. For more information, visit www.nam.org.
