
Jeff Winter, a Smart Manufacturing Advisor at CESMII, will represent the institute at the "Smart, Sustainable, Streamlined: Factories of the Future" panel during SXSW 2025. This discussion will explore the evolving landscape of U.S. manufacturing, focusing on predictive analytics, automation, sustainability, and supply chain optimization. Winter, alongside industry experts from the Manufacturing USA network, will provide key insights into how these transformative technologies are shaping the future of the workforce and the economy.
Be sure to check out the references and case studies Jeff will highlight during the panel, as they offer valuable real-world examples of Smart Manufacturing in action.
- Roughly 12.8 million people employed in manufacturing, making it the 5th largest employer (Source)
- Of the 271,705 identified exporters in 2020, 25% were manufacturers (Source)
- There are 292,825 factories in the United States. The vast majority (268,000) have less than 99 employees. There are 846 factories that have 1,000 or more employees (Source)
- In 2023, the sector contributes $2.89 Trillion. to the U.S. GDP, amounting to 10.3% of total GDP (Source)
- Average compensation in U.S. manufacturing is 10.2% higher than that for total private industry (Source)
- American manufacturing growth outpaced the rest of the world’s at the end of 2022. Additionally, in 2022, for the first time since the late 1970s, U.S. employment in manufacturing surpassed the peak set during the previous business cycle. (Source)
- In 2021, of the $602 billion that companies spent on R&D, more than half ($326 billion) was spent by the manufacturing industry. (Source)
About CESMII
CESMII – the Smart Manufacturing Institute – has a total current investment commitment of $201M from Department of Energy funding and public/private partnership contributions, with a mandate to create a more competitive manufacturing environment in the US through advanced sensing, analytics, modeling, control, and platforms. CESMII is one of 17 Manufacturing USA institutes on this mission to increase manufacturing productivity, global competitiveness, and reinvestment by increasing energy productivity, improving economic performance and raising workforce capacity. University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) is the program and administrative home of CESMII. For more information about CESMII, its history and Smart Manufacturing, visit cesmii.org.
