Pittsburgh Advanced Manufacturing

Historic strengths in manufacturing and innovation contribute significantly to the vitality of Pittsburgh's manufacturing industry and the region's emergence as an advanced manufacturing hub. Some of the world's most influential manufacturers thrive here – Alcoa, Allegheny Technologies, Bayer, Eaton Corporation, Industrial Scientific, Kennametal, Mitsubishi Electric, PPG, LANXESS, U. S. Steel and Westinghouse – to name a few. At the same time, our ample base of smaller, but equally critical, precision tooling and machining companies fulfill important supply chain needs. These companies make the parts that allow the machines of the world to run. Get specialty metals industry details and reports on other regional industries of excellence.

Today, manufacturing is the second-largest industry contributor to our gross regional product. We're home to 3,100 advanced manufacturing firms employing some 106,000 people. A leader in specialty metals and the birthplace of stainless steel - Pittsburgh remains the world's second-largest producer of this specialty metal. And, despite the global economic climate, Allegheny Technologies will proceed with constructing a new $1.16 billion hot strip mill and processing facility at its Brackenridge, Pa., plant.

The region also has the infrastructure that manufacturers need to efficiently transport cargo: an accessible location (within 500 miles - a day's drive - of half the U.S. and Canadian populations); lock and dam systems on the region's three rivers; two Class I railroads; an international airport; and positioning at the intersection of major interstate highways.

The Inter-Related Industries of the Future

Advanced manufacturing plays a key and often inseparable role in the region's thriving life sciences and information and communications technology (ICT) sectors. Sophisticated advanced manufacturing capabilities make the innovations sprouting here - from life-saving medical devices to cutting-edge electronics - real products for the global marketplace. A wealth of public-private R&D and industry support centers enhance our advanced manufacturing sector by linking both large and small operations to the resources they need to flourish. Check out "Today's Pittsburgh Region: No. 1 in Venture Capital Growth" for more about how these assets work together.

For example, international companies in need of a U.S. manufacturing presence, but hesitant to pursue the financial risk, find a unique alternative in the Pittsburgh region: Network Centric Manufacturing (NCM), through the federally funded DSN Innovations. NCM is the rapid assembly and seamless coordination of dynamic supplier networks to accelerate production and reduce costs.

The Manufacturing Assistance Center (MAC), a University of Pittsburgh School of Engineering initiative, offers access to advanced manufacturing technologies with an emphasis on automation and agile robotics, along with a diverse array of workforce training programs. Catalyst Connection assists smaller manufacturers in improving their industry competitiveness. It is a member of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NIST/MEP), the nationwide network of 400+ affiliated manufacturing extension centers.

Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute has been a worldwide hub of robotics research since its founding in 1979. With more than 50 full-time faculty, it is advancing the state of the art in a diverse array of sub-fields that enhance and support the advanced manufacturing industry in Pittsburgh and around the world.