The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) released a whitepaper on Dec. 18 about its initiatives that use AI to improve supply chain resilience. Presenting two case studies of straightforward, inexpensive, high-value solutions that can be adapted by small- and medium-sized manufacturers (SMM), the document seeks to help them harness AI to improve operations by preventing supply chain disruptions.
“Resilient supply chains are necessary for a strong U.S. manufacturing sector and other sectors that are essential to our prosperity and national security,” says Lisa Strama, president and CEO at NCMS. “NCMS is strongly committed to advancing AI in manufacturing.”
Featuring up-to-date research on secure and effective implementation of AI throughout the manufacturing sector, the white paper focuses on recent federal AI initiatives, including advances in the Dept. of Commerce’s Supply Chain Center, as well as AI standards from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
Specifically, the whitepaper details how two NCMS initiatives contributed to solutions for three issues impeding more widespread adoption of AI in manufacturing:
- Preserving data privacy,
- Creating a standard and secure way to selectively share data in useful forms among different organizations,
- Helping SMMs see the benefits of using their manufacturing, operations and product data to fuel AI models, and
- Sharing this data with public-private partnerships that can contribute demonstrations of scalable AI solutions for a wide range of manufacturing problems.
“Currently, multiple federal organizations are emphasizing the need to expand public-private partnerships to accelerate AI for supply chain resilience,” adds Strama. “NCMS strongly supports public-private partnerships that promote the secure use of AI across the manufacturing sector.”
