In February 2012, the Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) released a white paper detailing three vital aspects of revitalizing manufacturing. The white paper—which references President Obama’s plan to revive the industry, as well as some recent, astounding statistics—explains why manufacturing is so critical to economic growth and determines that “Made in North America” is a priority.

The first part of AME’s four-part series focused on the challenges facing not only manufacturers, but North America as a whole. In the second installment, AME explores various examples of how companies and industry organizations are currently working toward a better future.

The public and private sectors must come together to build on the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) study, A Manufacturing Renaissance: Four Goals for Economic Growth, to revitalize the industry and grow the economy. The strategy calls for putting people, schools, businesses and the government to work; producing literate, career-ready citizens capable of joining the workforce; and enabling manufacturers to once again lead the designing, building and exporting of quality products and services around the globe. The National Council For Advanced Manufacturing and its alliance partners propose three top priorities for revitalizing manufacturing:

►Build a better educated, trained workforce

►Promote product and process innovation, as well as research and development

►Improve global competitiveness for companies

Each priority contains elements that must be considered in developing public policies that support the revitalization of the manufacturing sector, and policy-makers must consider these elements in shaping future public policy and legislation. Their goal should be to help public school systems and companies transform themselves to compete in more knowledge-intensive and information-fueled innovative processes, leading to more competitiveness by putting people back to work building things at home.

For more information, read the second installment, “Breathing New Life into Manufacturing,” and visit the AME website.