Annex E. International Armaments Strategy
Army Science and Technology Master Plan (ASTMP 1997)

S. Manufacturing Science and Technology

Manufacturing science and technology focuses on technologies that will enable the industrial base to produce reliable and affordable materials and products. It requires integration of all aspects of manufacturing from raw materials through design and integration of components, subsystems, and systems. Table E.II-18 summarizes capabilities in key technical subareas.

Table II.E-18. Manufacturing Science and Technology

S. MANUFACTURING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY	UNITED KINGDOM	FRANCE	GERMANY	OTHER COUNTRIES	JAPAN	PACIFIC RIM	FSU
ADVANCED PROCESSING	Bioprocess engineering	Bioprocess engineering	Bioprocess engineering	Israel Netherlands Nordic Group Bioprocess engineering	Fuzzy logic for process control; Bioprocess engineering
MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING SUPPORT TOOLS	COOPERATIVE EFFORTS--CASE tools; Industrial robotics				Industrial robotics
ADVANCED MANUFACTURING DEMONSTRATIONS	ADVANCED MANUFACTURING DEMONSTRATIONS PROGRAM-SPECIFIC

No specific opportunities are identified for this technology area; however, biotechnology applications can contribute to U.S. Army efforts. Large-scale production of biomaterials and products is necessary to capitalize on emerging biotechnology developments. The techniques for providing these large quantities of biomaterials (bioprocess engineering) are of significant interest to the U.S. Army, and include production of the material (including cell culture and fermentation), downstream product processing, and packaging. The United States is an overall world leader in this area, with several nations having significant capabilities including the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, France, Israel, the Netherlands, and the Nordic Group (Norway, Sweden, and Denmark).

In the future, international developments are likely to drive greater standardization in manufacturing engineering support tools, including CASE, virtual prototyping, and enterprise integration and control technologies. Already we are seeing rapid growth in technologies for distributed design and management of very complex enterprises in highly industrialized countries, notably Japan, UK, France, Germany, and throughout the EC. This trend will be further supported and enabled by the growth of the Internet and its underlying telecommunications infrastructure. Ultimately we can expect to see a seamless integration of distributed modeling and simulation with enterprise operation, which will further speed the international exchange of advanced manufacturing capabilities.