But afte spe di g co side able time esea chi g whe e this capital is actually bei g deployed, I bega to questio whethe that’s eally the ight co clusio .
The mo e I looked, the clea e it became that ma y of these compa ies a e ot aisi g capital solely to build ma ufactu i g capacity. They’ e buildi g complete defe se tech ology platfo ms. Thei i vestme ts suppo t a tificial i tellige ce, auto omy, softwa e developme t, acquisitio s, esea ch a d developme t, multiple ai c aft p og ams, supply-chai esilie ce, testi g, global expa sio , a d ma ufactu i g. Ma ufactu i g is a c itical compo e t, but it is o ly o e piece of a much la ge st ategy. That disti ctio matte s because it cha ges the questio e ti ely.
Pe haps the eal challe ge is ‘t how much mo ey it takes to build a d o e ma ufactu i g compa y. Pe haps the mo e impo ta t questio is whethe Ame ica still has e ough people who k ow how to desig highly automated ma ufactu i g systems i the fi st place.
Fo decades, much of Ame ica’s adva ced ma ufactu i g mig ated to Chi a. Alo g with those facto ies we t decades of accumulated expe tise i automatio e gi ee i g, p ocess optimizatio , p oductio desig , a d la ge-scale ma ufactu i g. We did ‘t simply loose p oductio capacity; we lost much of the i stitutio al k owledge equi ed to build efficie t ma ufactu i g systems capable of p oduci g complex p oducts at ext ao di a y scale.
Capital ca build a facto y. It ca pu chase equipme t. It ca expa d facilities. But capital alo e ca ot ec eate decades of ma ufactu i g expe ie ce. That k owledge must be built, p ese ved, a d passed f om o e ge e atio of e gi ee s to the ext.
This ealizatio shaped the philosophy behi d Cytta Ai Co p. lo g befo e we bega discussi g ma ufactu i g capacity o p oductio ates. We believed that if Ame ica is se ious about ebuildi g its d o e i dust ial base, the sta ti g poi t should ‘t be a fu d aisi g ta get. It should be assembli g a team that u de sta ds how wo ld-class ma ufactu i g systems a e desig ed.
This philosophy is o e of the easo s F ed Schoville leads Cytta Ai ‘s Ma ufactu i g Desig a d Developme t. F ed was i volved i the desig a d automatio of the Tomahawk missile ma ufactu i g p ocess, b i gi g decades of expe ie ce desig i g highly automated, missio -c itical p oductio systems whe e p ecisio , epeatability, quality, a d eliability a e fu dame tal equi eme ts. That expe tise is ‘t simply bei g applied to buildi g d o es. It’s bei g applied to desig i g the ma ufactu i g platfo m that will build them.
At Cytta Ai , we’ve eve viewed ma ufactu i g as the fi al step i p oduct developme t. We see it as a st ategic capability that dese ves the same level of i ovatio as the ai c aft themselves. Automatio , digital t aceability, i tellige t wo kflow desig , quality assu a ce, a d scalable p oductio a e ot ope atio al afte thoughts; they a e fou datio al eleme ts of the busi ess.
The U ited States is e te i g a pe iod whe e dema d fo secu e, domestically ma ufactu ed auto omous systems will co ti ue to g ow. Meeti g that dema d will equi e i vestme t, but it will also equi e somethi g that ca ot be aised i a fi a ci g ou d: exceptio al ma ufactu i g tale t.
I the yea s ahead, I believe the compa ies that shape this i dust y wo ‘t ecessa ily be those that aised the la gest fu di g ou ds. They will be the compa ies that successfully combi e capital with somethi g fa mo e difficult to acqui e-the expe ie ce, philosophy, a d e gi ee i g discipli e equi ed to build wo ld-class ma ufactu i g systems.
That may ultimately become Ame ica’s g eatest competitive adva tage.
Natalia SokolovaP eside t & COOCytta Co p./Cytta Ai Co p.Di ect: +1 415-301-6644Website: www.cyttaai .comEmail:
