Today I had a long discussion with a gentleman conducting research on manufacturing and manufacturing automation. After covering a myriad of topics from the need for low cost open control systems to the negative influences of government policy on manufacturing (especially in California), he brought our discussion to a close by asking me a question; "If I could ask for any two things to improve manufacturing, what two things would they be?" I decided to share my wishes with you as my Manufacturing Christmas List.
First, I wish for a change to our national dialog on the topic of higher education. Because our dialog reveres university bachelor degrees, we send far too many students down the wrong path only to have many of them fail along the way. Too many students drop out, incur unmanageable debt, or obtain degrees for which no jobs exist; all while we continue to lower educational standards to serve the masses.
If our dialog also revered education leading to the development of technical skills, we would develop better operators and technicians and better scientists, engineers, teachers and business leaders. A simple change in our dialog, similar to that during World War II and the Cold War Space Race, would lead to our building the human infrastructure necessary for a vibrant manufacturing economy.
My second wish is to see more engineers and scientists in the executive suites of our businesses and in the halls of our government.
An old adage says that one manages what one understands. When our institutions are run by marketers, financiers and lawyers, no one is managing the technology. Technological advances drive economies. Somehow we've come to believe that we can drive an economy by shuffling the deck chairs. We can't.
When I came to manufacturing, engineers were represented throughout the ranks of management, all the way to the chairman of the board. Technological development of both products and processes was being actively managed. Today's executives think they can outsource technology management and offshore manufacturing. Both are prescriptions for failure.
当然，我的圣诞节库存中可以放一些较小的物品，例如金融监管改革，常识能源政策或可行的移民改革。这些也将有助于制造。但是，要在树下包裹的两个大礼物是我们关于高等教育的国家对话的变化，并在科学家和工程师的执行套房中更好地代表了。圣诞老人，我今年是个好男孩。
Keith Campbell,kc@ontheedgeblog.com, writes about packaging operations, management and leadership atwww.onthedgeblog.com
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