Cranking out complex drawings on a supercomputer?

Can metal fabricators gain an advantage by accessing “big data”?

The Smart Manufacturing Leadership Act passed by the Senate Energy Committee at the end of July provides fabricators with that opportunity. The legislation is another in a long line of bills aimed at helping small and medium-sized manufacturers rev up factory and shop floors. The bill uses the existing Department of Energy (DOE) Industrial Assessment Centers program and what would be a new $10 million competitive state grant program to enable manufacturers to tap into big-data capabilities at national laboratories.

Neal Elliott, associate director for research at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, said access to the smart manufacturing technologies, especially supercomputers, would allow small manufacturers to wring every last drop of utility out of the high-tech sensors that are part of most factory floor equipment.

“A foundry, for example, which receives CAD drawings electronically could produce molds via additive manufacturing in 24 to 48 hours instead of four to eight weeks, could test-cast the product, do product quality screening and share the results with the client,” Elliott said.

There is a 10 percent penetration of smart manufacturing in the U.S., almost all of that at big companies, according to Elliott.

The Smart Manufacturing bill is both a separate piece of legislation and included as an amendment to an omnibus energy bill passed by the Senate committee in July. Elliott said he thinks the bill will pass Congress, despite House objections in the past about the creation of new federal programs. Congress has increased the budget of the DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office in each of the last three years, so it isn't much of a stretch to expect conservative lawmakers in the House to allow a new $10 million program to be approved.