This Congress has started out well for industrial energy efficiency. Today, Senator Shaheen (D-NH) introduced the Smart Manufacturing Leadership Act. This new bill joins the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act of 2015 (S. 720), better known as the Portman-Shaheen bill, which was introduced earlier this year.
The Smart Manufacturing Leadership Act of 2015 will facilitate innovation, enhance energy savings, and improve the global competitiveness of American manufacturers through the use of smart manufacturing technologies and processes. It directs the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in cooperation with other agencies, to develop a national smart manufacturing plan and to provide assistance to small- and medium-sized manufacturers in implementing smart manufacturing in their facilities.
Smart manufacturing is the use of information and communications technology to integrate all aspects of manufacturing, from the device level to the supply chain level, for the purpose of achieving superior control and productivity. Research by ACEEE and others has shown that smart manufacturing is demonstrating great promise for enhancing the efficiency of the existing manufacturing industry and dramatically reducing energy intensity, while making the firms more competitive.
A hallmark of the Smart Manufacturing Leadership Act is its focus on making the promise of smart manufacturing available to small- and medium-sized facilities that may not have the access to the same resources, such as high-performance computing capabilities, and expertise that larger firms can use to implement smart manufacturing solutions. DOE’s national labs are home to some of the fastest supercomputers in the world, and access to this infrastructure will allow small- and medium-sized manufacturers to develop realistic simulations and gain insight on product behavior, testing, and optimization of their processes and products.
In addition, the bill proposes that DOE use the existing Industrial Assessment Centers (IACs) to deliver some of the technical assistance that will help manufacturing facilities use energy more efficiently by applying intelligence. The IACs are celebrating their 40th anniversary this year. In recognition of the success of the program, the Portman-Shaheen bill reauthorizes a refreshed and enhanced program, making the IACs all the more important in assisting small- and medium-sized manufacturers with modernization through the use of technologies such as smart manufacturing.
We commend Senator Shaheen and her colleagues for providing the leadership to help make our manufacturing firms more energy efficient through smart manufacturing, and for remembering that firms of all sizes need access to 21st century technology.
While the introduction of legislation does not necessarily lead to passage (as we have seen over the past four years with the previous versions of Portman-Shaheen), these bills may have a better chance this Congress. We anticipate that the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, under the leadership of Senators Murkowski and Cantwell, will include this provision, along with some others from the Portman-Shaheen bill, in the Manufacturing subtitle of an omnibus energy bill. A similar effort to develop a comprehensive energy bill is underway by the House Energy and Commerce Committee under the leadership of Chairman Upton.
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