It’s a challenge for any company to efficiently invest in research and development (R&D) for advanced manufacturing applications. Costs are high and success is not a given. Joining industry peers in R&D to reduce risk also presents a dilemma: How do you help drive your company and the industry forward with technological innovation without...

America Makes Ecosystem Director Kimberly Gibson, a municipal planner by training, was involved in the national additive manufacturing institute at its inception more than 12 years ago. She saw the proposed innovation institute as a pathway to help reinvent Northeast Ohio’s manufacturing and industrial base from its legacy of coal, steel, and...

The U.S. outspends other nations in r esearch and development and continues to lead the world in innovations and inventions. However, new products are often “stranded in the lab” when we don't have the manufacturing capability, or get developed in other countries such as China, Germany, and South Korea that invest more aggressively in...

Three-quarters of U.S. manufacturers have fewer than 20 employees and do not have extensive research and development capabilities. Given the high costs of product development and their scope of operational challenges, from workforce and regulatory issues to unpredictable disruptions, it is difficult for small manufacturers to maintain...

The United States is the second largest market for apparel consumption in the world and is also the third-largest producer of cotton globally. But despite having demand and materials, the domestic textiles and apparel industry has been in steady decline for decades. The U.S. imported a total of $127.7 billion in textiles and apparel in 2019, and...