Energy Act of 2020, Title VI, Section 6006 ("Development of National Smart Manufacturing Plan")

SEC. 6006. DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL SMART MANUFACTURING PLAN. (a) In General.--Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy (in this section referred to as the ``Secretary''), in consultation with the National Academies, shall develop and complete a national plan for smart manufacturing technology development and deployment to improve the productivity and energy efficiency of the manufacturing sector of the United States.

(b) Content.-- (1) In general.--The plan developed under subsection (a) shall identify areas in which agency actions by the Secretary and other heads of relevant Federal agencies would-- (A) facilitate quicker development, deployment, and adoption of smart manufacturing technologies and processes; (B) result in greater energy efficiency and lower environmental impacts for all American manufacturers; and(C) enhance competitiveness and strengthen the manufacturing sectors of the United States. (2) Inclusions.--Agency actions identified under paragraph (1) shall include-- (A) an assessment of previous and current actions of the Department relating to smart manufacturing; (B) the establishment of voluntary interconnection protocols and performance standards; (C) the use of smart manufacturing to improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions in supply chains across multiple companies; (D) actions to increase cybersecurity in smart manufacturing infrastructure; (E) deployment of existing research results; (F) the leveraging of existing high-performance computing infrastructure; and (G) consideration of the impact of smart manufacturing on existing manufacturing jobs and future manufacturing jobs. (c) Biennial Revisions.--Not later than 2 years after the date on which the Secretary completes the plan under subsection (a), and not less frequently than once every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall revise the plan to account for advancements in information and communication technology and manufacturing needs.

(d) Report.--Annually until the completion of the plan under subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the progress made in developing the plan. (e) Definition.--In this section, the term ``smart manufacturing'' means advanced technologies in information, automation, monitoring, computation, sensing, modeling, artificial intelligence, analytics, and networking that-- (1) digitally-- (A) simulate manufacturing production lines; (B) operate computer-controlled manufacturing equipment; (C) monitor and communicate production line status; and(D) manage and optimize energy productivity and cost throughout production; (2) model, simulate, and optimize the energy efficiency of a factory building; (3) monitor and optimize building energy performance; (4) model, simulate, and optimize the design of energy efficient and sustainable products, including the use of digital prototyping and additive manufacturing to enhance product design; (5) connect manufactured products in networks to monitor and optimize the performance of the networks, including automated network operations; and (6) digitally connect the supply chain network.