LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
Helmuth Ludwig, CEO, Siemens Industry Sector for the U.S., addresses the Advanced Designs and Manufacturing Impact Forum in Buffalo, New York.
"We make some of the lowest-tech products, but high-tech modeling and simulation is transforming our consumer goods industry and helping us resolve complex engineering contradictions. These including using molecular-level, worm-like micelles to help make products strong, but soft, or stretch without breaking, or dispense easily, but stay where applied," says Thomas Lange, modeling and simulation director in
Proctor & Gamble's global R&D and usability organization. "So we're using CAE to develop better detergent pods or test stresses on bottles."Despite these many technical and educational challenges, Helmuth Ludwig, CEO, Siemens Industry Sector for the U.S., reported there are many reasons for optimism about engineering because the U.S. is already on the path to recovery, 600,000 new jobs were created since 2010, and advanced manufacturing tools are putting the nation on the verge of a new era of productivity. "The U.S. can lead the coming transformation in manufacturing because of the power of its new ideas, innovations and software," Ludwig said. "About 79% of all software companies already are located in the U.S., and that's a deep cultural strength that can fuel manufacturing too."Many discrete industries are moving to cover their entire product and production lifecycles with real-time loops, including designing, planning, production and service. A friend of mine in a production plant says, ‘You've no idea how often we have to move walls,' so it's a big help when they can do virtual start-up projects to evaluate an optimization plan, boost productivity in an existing facility, or use a digital model of an application for quick testing and increased availability during changeovers. We just used many of these tools in a $430-million investment in
Greenpac's new 250,000-sq-ft containerboard mill in Niagara Falls, New York."In fact, the only thing missing from all these technical innovations is having enough well-educated people to run them, so we're partnering with many schools nationwide, such as
Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, N.C., which are training the next generation of engineers and technicians. So far this year, Siemens already has given $3 billion worth of software to high schools across the U.S., but we still have to let more young people know that factories aren't dirty and dangerous, and that they're cleaner than laboratories and are fascinating places to work. Closing this training gap is all of our responsibility."