This Funding Opportunity Announcement will support States in accelerating the deployment of smart manufacturing and high-performance computing technologies across their small- and medium-sized manufacturing firm base.
Donor Name: National Energy Technology Laboratory
State: All States
County: All Counties
Territory: American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Republic of the Marshall Islands and Republic of Palau
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 05/30/2023
Size of the Grant: $2,000,000
Grant Duration: 36 months
Details:
Purpose of the Program
The digitization of manufacturing is transforming the industrial sector. In recent years, manufacturing firms were largely investing in bringing computers and electronics into their processes to automate processes. While companies could utilize robots to perform processes without human intervention, they required programming and could only execute certain activities. Through smart manufacturing, or “Industry 4.0”, the focus is shifting to interconnectivity, automation, and using real-time data to improve production; facilitating the adoption of advanced industrial robotics, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity technologies that are critical to resilience and maintaining a competitive edge; and increasing product quality and sustainability by allowing manufacturers to sense and then correct materials anomalies.
Strategic Goals
DOE seeks to accelerate adoption of smart manufacturing and high-performance computing technologies among SMMs by working with States to facilitate opportunities. This collaboration opportunity will not only accelerate innovation and competitiveness, but it also has the potential to reduce energy and carbon intensity—benefiting the manufacturing firm, state, nation, and overall global climate goals. The Program aspires to achieve the following four goals:
- Increasing Competitiveness of the American Manufacturing Base
- This Program seeks to accelerate adoption of smart manufacturing technologies and increase access to HPC resources broadly across the industrial base. SMMs account for approximately 99 percent of U.S. manufacturing enterprises, contributing more than $1 trillion in gross revenue, and providing more than five million U.S. jobs.27 But domestic SMMs often fall behind larger firms in their technology investments. The result is that the largest manufacturers’ labor productivity is 58 percent higher than their middle-sized counterparts; a significant part of this gap is explained by small firms’ lack of technology adoption
- Reducing Industrial Emissions for a Net Zero Economy
- The U.S. manufacturing sector accounts for over 70% of total industrial energy consumption. Accelerating the adoption of smart manufacturing technologies in energy intensive SMMs can decrease this footprint by moving technologies that can improve both manufacturing capability and efficiency into the mainstream. Smart manufacturing technologies identify opportunities for optimizing energy management, energy productivity, and energy efficiency. Employing these technologies allows SMMs to monitor energy use of the facility and equipment, use predictive modeling to test out alternative processes, and make improvements that increase performance and productivity—all while creating energy savings.
- Equitably Developing the American Industrial Workforce
- The majority of SMMs currently do not employ smart manufacturing technologies for a handful of reasons, most commonly because of the resources—financial, staffing, training—needed to do so. The limited deployment of these technologies in turn means that skills associated with utilizing smart manufacturing technologies are similarly concentrated in a small percentage of firms across the United States. This limits the ability to drive increases in the skill-level and knowledge base of the domestic manufacturing workforce, particularly among SMMs.
- Advancing a Robust and Integrated Support Ecosystem for SMMs
- DOE seeks applications that will further enhance and integrate a robust ecosystem of support for American SMMs. The Program seeks to drive coordination and communication across the Federal Government and with local, state, and national technical resources. MESC, for example, is coordinating internally with DOE’s Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO) and Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office (IEDO) and other offices; externally with the Department of Commerce and the National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST); and with State governments to maximize connectivity to resources and tools for planning and implementing tools for SMMs. It will also bolster existing resources by helping foster opportunities for utilization of existing programs and assistance, such as the Manufacturing USA network, Manufacturing Extension Partnerships (MEPs), Industrial Assessment Centers (IACs), DOE’s National Laboratories, and Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs).
Topic Areas
All work for projects selected under this FOA must be performed in the United States.
Topic Area 1: “Facilitating the Deployment of Smart Manufacturing Technologies by SMMs”
Consistent with BIL 40534, the object of the single Topic Area under this FOA is to support State programs that (1) provide assistance to SMMs to implement smart manufacturing technologies and practices and (2) facilitate access to high performance computing (HPC) resources for SMMs. DOE seeks applications that describe multiple types of assistance for SMMs.
These resources may, for example, offer scaled services such as:
- Information regarding the benefits of smart manufacturing technologies;
- Training on how to adopt smart manufacturing technologies;
- Resources to overcome financing barriers and support adoption and implementation of smart manufacturing resources;
- “Train-the-trainer” resources to expand smart manufacturing training;
- Registered apprenticeship programs to support hands-on smart manufacturing training and/or to support implementation of smart manufacturing technologies;
- Access to high performance computing resources, including cloud based HPC resources;
- Collaboration among SMMs facing similar manufacturing challenges; and
- Essential supportive services, including, for example, cybersecurity services.
Funding Information
DOE expects to make a total of approximately $46,000,000 of federal funding available for new awards under this FOA, subject to the availability of appropriated funds. DOE anticipates making approximately 20-25 awards under this FOA. DOE may issue one, multiple, or no awards. Individual awards may vary between $1,000,000 and $2,000,000. Awards are limited to a maximum of $2,000,000 by statute.
Period of Performance
DOE anticipates making awards that will run from 24 months up to 36 months in length, comprised of one or more budget periods. The project period cannot exceed 36 months and projects cannot be extended per statute. Project continuation will be contingent upon several elements, including satisfactory performance and DOE’s Go/No-Go decision.
Uses of funding may include, but need not be limited to:
- promoting the benefits of smart manufacturing technologies among SMMs based on national and regional economic development and supply chain priorities;
- connecting SMMs with a diverse coalition of public and private technical assistance providers, such as the Manufacturing USA institutes, the National Laboratories, Industrial Assessment Centers (IACs), NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnerships (MEPs), and institutions of higher education (IHEs);
- partnering with labor unions and other stakeholders to expand and diversify the smart manufacturing talent pool; to develop, promote, and scale adoption of smart manufacturing training; and to promote innovation on SMM shop floors;
- identifying and providing financial assistance to facilitate SMMs’ access to and implementation of smart manufacturing and high-performance computing resources and technologies;
- ensuring that the benefits of smart manufacturing adoption by SMMs flow to disadvantaged communities and dislocated workers;
- setting State-level performance metrics, targets, and goals for program participation and desired outcomes; and
- establishing programs that will be self-sustaining in the long run, following a federal award.
Eligibility Criteria
To be considered for substantive evaluation, an applicant‘s submission must meet the criteria set forth below. If the application does not meet these eligibility requirements, it will be considered ineligible and removed from further evaluation.
- Restricted Eligibility
- In accordance with 2 CFR 910.126, Competition, eligibility for award is restricted to a State.
- Individuals
- U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents are eligible to apply for funding as a subrecipient.
- Domestic Entities
- The proposed prime recipient and subrecipient(s) must be domestic entities. The following types of domestic entities are eligible to participate as a subrecipient of this FOA:
- Institutions of higher education;
- For-profit entities;
- Non-profit entities; and
- State and local governmental entities, and Tribal Nations.
- The proposed prime recipient and subrecipient(s) must be domestic entities. The following types of domestic entities are eligible to participate as a subrecipient of this FOA:
To qualify as a domestic entity, the entity must be organized, chartered or incorporated (or otherwise formed) under the laws of a particular state or\ territory of the United States; have majority domestic ownership and control; and have a physical place of business in the United States.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.