Along with Deloitte, Microsoft, UCLA and CESMII, ThinkIQ sponsored a dialogue on smart manufacturing hosted by the Council on Competitiveness on June 4, 2019 on the campus of UCLA.

The Council on Competitiveness is a membership organization that works to advance U.S prosperity through pro-growth advocacy in Washington, DC. Manufacturing is just one of several of its member-led initiatives.

The June 4 program focused on the importance of making smart manufacturing accessible to all to sustain the viability of U.S. manufacturing in the global economy of the future.

Attendees of the event were asked to consider several threats to America’s position as a global superpower, including globalization, regulatory and tax trends and advanced industrial activity across Europe and Asia, among other challenges.

Participants also examined current emerging trends that stand to benefit U.S. manufacturers in the future, such as the digitalization of manufacturing, the reemergence of manufacturing capacity on U.S. soil and the increasing abundance of domestically sourced energy.

The event challenged leaders from industry, federal and state governments and universities to think about smart manufacturing and real-life applications, roadblocks, best practices, ways to reduce cost and complexity, and how to increase implementation on a national scale.