Heather Carroll, an executive at Path Robotics, argues that robotics could play a pivotal role in reshoring U.S. manufacturing, citing a Texas shipyard project slated to create 10,000 jobs as the United States seeks to close the gap with China.
According to a manufacturing executive speaking with FOX Business, robotics will be essential to scaling U.S. production as firms contend with a shortage of skilled labor.
“We do not have the workforce needed to do that,” said Heather Carroll, chief revenue officer at Path Robotics, when asked whether the United States could expand manufacturing at scale without robotics.
Carroll highlighted Saronic Technologies’ $3.2 billion Port Alpha shipyard in Brownsville, Texas, as a model for integrating automation with American workers. Vice President JD Vance attended the project’s groundbreaking ceremony last month.
“This demonstrates how automation and advanced technology can be combined with the creation of high-quality American jobs right here at home,” she said.
The issue is growing more urgent as the United States competes with China, which Carroll said has moved more quickly to deploy robotics across its factories.
Robotics will be essential to scaling U.S. production as firms contend with a shortage of skilled labor. (Brooke Curto/Fox News Digital)
“I definitely think that is a significant risk we face right now,” she said when asked whether the United States could lose ground by failing to adopt the technology quickly enough.
Carroll said China has developed a national strategy for robotics and AI that unites government, industry, and financing to drive adoption.
“We really lack something similar here in the United States, and it is a competitive disadvantage,” Carroll said. “As a result, the gap in robotics adoption between China and the United States continues to widen.”
Carroll said American manufacturers face several obstacles to adopting automation, including access to capital, uncertain demand, and a shortage of workers with the technical skills needed to deploy the technology.
Carroll pointed to Saronic Technologies’ $3.2 billion Port Alpha shipyard in Brownsville, Texas, as an example of how automation can be used alongside American workers. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
She said advances in AI could help lower some of those barriers by making robots easier to deploy without requiring as much technical expertise.
Carroll said automation could help manufacturers offset shortages of skilled workers.
She pointed to welding, where an aging workforce is facing rising demand from shipbuilding, defense, energy, and AI infrastructure.
“We hear from everyday manufacturers who tell us, ‘We have huge order volumes, but we can’t take on this work because we can’t staff a second shift,'” she said.
Carroll said automation could help manufacturers offset shortages of skilled workers. (iStock)
She said, for example, that one welder could be trained to operate 10 welding robots while continuing to handle more skilled tasks.
Carroll acknowledged concerns that AI and robotics could displace jobs, but said the focus should be on training workers to use the new technology.
“We need to look at ways to augment our existing workforce and upskill workers so they can be part of the workforce being developed around these new types of jobs and skills,” Carroll said.
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