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The military industrial complex : last bastion of opportunity for the U.S. manufacturing engineer? / Richard L. Scott.

by Scott, Richard L.

Military-industrial complex -- United States.

Defense industries -- United States

Manufacturing industries -- United States

Production engineering

Engineers -- Vocational guidance.

v, 100 leaves : ill. ; 29 cm.

Thesis advisor(s): Michael Ostrenga.

Committee members: Kimbel Nap, Dr. Bruce Thompson.

Commercial sector manufacturing exodus -- Underlying causes of manufacturing migration -- Offshoring effects on the MFE -- Military - industrial complex -- Comparing the role of the MFE in MIC versus commercial sectors -- Management perspectives on MFEs in the commercial sector and MIC -- Wartime impact on MFE opportunity -- Conclusions.

There is ample evidence that a great deal of manufacturing production, and with it, engineering jobs and capability, has moved out of the United States to countries like Mexico, China, and India. While manufacturing is being shifted to areas of lowest cost production, military spending over the last few years has increased dramatically. Particularly since the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, there has been increased spending on the military, not just on personnel but also on military supplies, hardware, research, and contract services. For obvious security and strategic reasons, the United States must still retain the ability to manufacture ships, airplanes, tanks, and guns, and ever-more-sophisticated weapons of war and defense. This military/industrial complex (MIC) is perhaps one of the last areas of growth for US-based manufacturing and engineering, and therefore may represent a more promising alternative career path for the prospective American manufacturing engineer (MFE) than commercial sector or consumer goods manufacturing. In this project, the MFE is distinguished from designer engineer and other specialties primarily by involvement in and responsibility for the actual manufacturing process. A case study from a typical private sector company, as well as one from an MIC firm, is used to illuminate the issues pertinent to the thesis.

The fact that manufacturing is migrating out of the United States is indisputable. Respected analysts of the marketplace see increasing global competition, and government studies predict a loss of almost a million jobs over the next ten years. For the MFE specifically, the outlook is better. MFEs will be in demand, but competing factors complicate the picture. Companies will want to deploy the latest new technology in new plants, using new materials and processes, tending to increase demand. However, continued offshoring of manufacturing, combined with the increasing ease of substituting talented and lower-wage foreign MFEs will tend to curtail that demand. For the American MFEs, commercial manufacturing employment is becoming a riskier proposition, often involving more supervision of offshore manufacturing projects from headquarters here. Improved business networks, the fallout of industry adopting leaner Japanese manufacturing methods, improved logistics services, the proliferation of enterprise computing, and better access to world labor markets are all contributing factors to this development. The impact on the domestic MFE is that the nature of the job is changing.

The MIC has its roots in the earliest days of our country, but underwent rapid development during the World War II era. Since then, it has become less and less the case that a company would shift to military production only during wartime. Instead, now more than ever firms manufacturing goods for the military tend to produce just for the U.S. government. This is mainly due to increasing weapons complexity, high cost of entry into the market, and security requirements. For the MFE, there are more hands-on assignments with less competition from foreign nationals and more likelihood of remaining stateside. There is a great need for applying modern manufacturing techniques to what in many cases are recently-merged conglomerates with need for efficiency-improving lean projects, knowledge management and product lifecycle management improvement.

Although both have strengths, there are more reasons to believe the opportunity for MFEs within the MIC is superior. Chief among these are the legislated regulations, institutional bias of the government, and the security considerations of keeping a highly capable industrial sector working; ready and available to surge up for emergency demands, here within the United States. Economic theories such as transaction cost theory and resource based views support this argument as well, as do the apparent management focus of sector firms. Finally, given the entrenchment of our enemy in the global war on terror, the advantage of the MIC as an opportunity for the MFE over private sector manufacturing appears sustainable for the foreseeable future.

The U.S. still has the world's largest manufacturing economy, and demand for MFEs is strong. However, the tide of global competition is moving firms inexorably toward reducing labor costs in all parts of manufacturing, including MFE labor costs. The support of the domestic MIC by the U.S. government, and their view of it a crucial strategic capacity, along with all the other factors cited herein, makes the opportunity within the MIC superior.

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