‘Made in the USA’ gets a high-tech makeover

The growing American manufacturing sector is in the midst of a technology-driven makeover. Over the next decade, 15 of the 20 fastest-growing jobs in America are going to be in science, technology, or engineering.  Within five years, there will be another 2.4 million STEM job openings in the U.S., according to an article in The Washington Post. Partially fueled by changing factors such as low energy costs and high U.S. worker productivity, the hero of this resurgence is software. Software optimizes the way materials, people, machines and profitability work together to make factories more productive, more efficient and more competitive in the global market.

As U.S. manufacturing enjoys its renaissance, these new, high-tech factories need a dependable supply of a well-trained, technically adept labor force, and this presents a significant opportunity for the American workforce. The workers of tomorrow will need to be highly skilled and dynamic, able to analyze data, problem-solve and think critically. Siemens believes the solution lies with increasing student enrollment in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields of study and offering those graduates real-world training opportunities and apprenticeships that help close the skills gap.

“We need to focus in the decade ahead on ways that we can make on-the-job training a central part of required, high school and higher education. I believe that educators need to be more tuned in to this reality.  But more importantly, business needs to partner more with educational institutions to make skills training, including STEM, a priority,” said Eric Spiegel, CEO of Siemens USA.

The United States is falling behind internationally, ranking 25th in mathematics and 17th in science among industrialized nations. With only about 26% of American students scoring proficient or higher in math, it’s clear that the U.S. is not producing enough students equipped with the skills needed for the jobs of tomorrow.  A recent report by the OECD found that America ranks 29th out of 29 countries in developing work-based skills for high school students.  To help address these challenges Siemens has made STEM programs a priority. Beginning in  1999 the Siemens PLM Software organization has provided in-kind grants of engineering and product management software through it’s GO PLM initiative to more than 12,000 global institutions, a third of which are in the U.S., including community colleges, technical schools, and high school STEM programs.

To ensure student get the on-the job training and experience they need, Siemens also partnered with Central Piedmont Community College to implement an apprenticeship program in North Carolina. Currently, there are several dozen recent high school graduates and veterans sitting in a classroom in Charlotte learning about advanced mechatronics.  When they graduate, they will have a mechatronics degree that combines expertise in the specialties of mechanical, computer, and electronic engineering with software control and system design engineering.

This critical focus on narrowing the skills gap is essential to ensure the U.S. holds onto its competitive edge in the global marketplace. Siemens is working to lay the foundation today to support the factory of tomorrow because a strong manufacturing sector is the backbone of a strong economy.

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