密歇根新闻广播 科技对制造业的影响

 

A majority of Americans see manufacturing as vital to the country's economy, but much fewer are confident about its future. That's according to a new survey from the Brookings Institute.

The survey also found that few respondents would encourage young people to take jobs in the manufacturing sector¹. Darrell M. West, vice² president of Governance Studies at Brookings, says these trends are alarming.

Though Americans generally have little confidence in the manufacturing industry, West thinks this might be due to a lack of understanding. He says that the industry is changing from the dirty factory jobs people tend to imagine into a much more high-tech³ environment.

Mike Coast and Sandy Baruah are on the forefront of this change in our state. Coast is the president of the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center, and Baruah is the president and chief executive officer of the Detroit Regional Chamber⁴. Both businesses are focused on what they call "Industry 4.0."

Coast describes Industry 4.0 as a shift into a new digital age for manufacturing, where objects and concepts are manipulated digitally, instead of in the physical world. It involves tools like simulation software and augmented⁵ reality, and Coast says it is rapidly transforming the manufacturing sector.

He attributes Americans' low confidence in manufacturing to a lack of understanding, saying, a lot of people simply don't know that there are great jobs and great opportunities in manufacturing facilities nowadays.

These jobs and opportunities, Baruah says, will involve more skill and training, which current workers in the manufacturing industry don't necessarily have. But Baruah says businesses could start retraining workers periodically to keep them current on skills and technology.

Manufacturing is a very healthy sector, but the work force and the work needs are changing, Baruah said.

1 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

4 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

5 Augmented   

adj.增音的 动词augment的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• 'scientists won't be replaced," he claims, "but they will be augmented." 他宣称：“科学家不会被取代；相反，他们会被拓展。” 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• The impact of the report was augmented by its timing. 由于发表的时间选得好，这篇报导的影响更大了。