National Institute of Standards and Technology Request for Information National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (nnmi)

This response to the RFI provides recommendations by the Smart Manufacturing Leadership Coalition (SMLC). The SMLC is a non-profit organization of manufacturers, manufacturing consortia, universities, and government laboratories and agencies committed to improving U.S. manufacturing competitiveness through the comprehensive adoption of Smart Manufacturing (SM) systems across entire manufacturing supply chains, complete product lifecycles, multiple industries, and small, medium and large enterprises. In particular, the SMLC is committed to substantially increasing the potential of and lowering the barriers to pervasive deployment of SM systems that make all information about the manufacturing process available when it is needed, where it is needed, and in the form that it is needed. In achieving this, the 21st century SM enterprise (from suppliers, OEMs, and companies to supply chains and industries) becomes integrated, knowledge-enabled, and model rich such that all operating actions are determined and executed proactively applying the best possible information and a wide range of performance metrics. An SM infrastructure is key to bringing new manufacturing technologies into operation and at the same time modernizing an extensive installed base of serviceable factory facilities in the U.S.