FANUC Robotics CEO Addresses U.S. Senate
22 April 1998
FANUC Robotics CEO Addresses U.S. Senate In Support of Increased Technical Training for Americans And More Utilization of Advanced Manufacturing
WASHINGTON, April 22 -- Eric Mittelstadt, chairman and CEO,
FANUC Robotics North America, Inc., today addressed the U.S. Senate
Subcommittee on Manufacturing and Competitiveness in support of increased
technical training for the American workforce.
Mittelstadt appeared before the Senate as part of the Subcommittee's
hearing on virtual manufacturing, chaired by Senator Spencer Abraham (R-MI).
In addition to his appeal for increased training and education for American
workers, Mittelstadt stressed the need for an increased focus by government,
industry and the nation's universities on the development and deployment of
advanced manufacturing technologies.
As chairman of one of the country's leading high-tech companies, as well
as co-chairman, National Coalition for Advanced Manufacturing (NACFAM),
Mittelstadt has found that the two greatest challenges currently facing U.S.
manufacturing -- and the national economy -- are the shortage of skilled
technical workers and the need to accelerate deployment of advanced
manufacturing technologies.
Mittelstadt maintains that while the United States has made dramatic
improvements in its production technologies (particularly in larger
companies), it has failed to make similar improvements in the education of its
workforce. Further, much more needs to be done by this nation's 350,000
small- to medium-sized manufacturing companies to utilize advanced
manufacturing technologies if the U.S. wants to remain competitive.
Other key points of Mittelstadt's remarks include:
* Automation has proven to be the friend, not the foe, of the American
workforce. While automation has increased, manufacturing jobs have also
increased, and unemployment rates have declined.
* Automation has created a new demand for workers with a higher order of
skills and knowledge that enable them to keep pace with technology. For
example:
* In 1950, roughly 60 percent of manufacturing jobs were unskilled.
Today, that figure is 30 percent, and by the year 2005, the number of
unskilled manufacturing jobs is expected to shrink to 15 percent.
* The Big Three automakers are predicting that in 2005 they will need
to fill approximately 250,000 jobs that require high technical skills.
* More than 1 million new information technology workers will be
needed by 2005.
* 40,000 new semi-conductor manufacturing skilled technicians will be
required over the next five years.
* Demand for skilled technical workers far exceeds supply, and current
prospects for meeting this shortage are not promising.
* While sound monetary policy has contributed to the nation's strong
economy, the key to long-term, non-inflationary economic growth is increased
productivity.
"Technology and related workforce skills are the 'twin pillars' of
productivity improvement," said Mittelstadt. "The nation's schools are simply
not preparing enough individuals with the skills and knowledge they need to
work in the new world of technology-driven manufacturing and other technology-
based industries. As a nation, we must take care to provide effective
incentives and investments to nurture both technological leadership and
related workforce skills development. The task of increasing national
productivity through investment in these two areas lies principally with
industry and with government -- at the local, state and federal levels."
FANUC Robotics North America, Inc., headquartered in Rochester Hills,
Mich., is the North American robotics industry leader, with 1997 sales of
approximately $370 million. A subsidiary of FANUC LTD in Japan, the company
has facilities in Chicago, Illinois; Los Angeles, California; Charlotte, North
Carolina; Cincinnati and Toledo, Ohio; Toronto, Ontario; Montreal, Quebec;
Mexico City and Aguascalientes, Mexico; and Sao Paulo, Brazil.
SOURCE FANUC Robotics North America, Inc.