Strategies to Upskill the Advanced Manufacturing Workforce: Our Partnership with the ARM Institute
The Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute is a federally-funded Manufacturing Innovation Institute (one of 16), tasked with supporting research, businesses, and workers in robotics-assisted manufacturing. Given the alignment between ARM’s workforce support mission and the Block Center’s Future of Work focus area, we are partnering on three exciting projects to help the U.S. workforce to take advantage of new opportunities in advanced manufacturing.
The Henry L. Hillman Foundation is supporting the first project, designed to increase the visibility of high-performing robotics education programs in Western Pennsylvania through endorsements from the ARM Institute. This is a critical intervention in a nascent sector that lacks a clear pathway for entry-level job seekers. ARM has created endorsement standards and is assisting educational institutions in completing the application process. The Block Center is helping document strengths and opportunities in the regional robotics training ecosystem based on this outreach and endorsement process.
For the second project, supported by a grant from the NextFlex Manufacturing Innovation Institute, the ARM Institute is investigating the suitability of virtual reality-based assessments for robotic maintenance competencies. This technology could enable mid-career robotics professionals to demonstrate their expertise in skills that are currently outside the scope of most credentialing programs. ARM is working with NSF-funded virtual-reality simulation firm SimInsights to create the assessment, and the Block Center is supporting the analysis and communication of the results to advanced manufacturing employers, educators, and other Manufacturing Innovation Institutes who may use the project model to build VR assessments of other skills.
Lastly, the Block Center and ARM are collaborating on a report and playbook for educators, employers, and labor unions on how to better prepare the American manufacturing workforce as technological advancements in automation, robotics, and artificial intelligence change the set of skills and competencies needed. The report’s contents will be pulled from a combination of interviews with individuals in both organizations’ networks and from a review of existing literature and successful case studies.
We look forward to sharing the report and findings from these projects later this year.
