Can we save the manufacturing industry with a little learning?

On my drive to work today, NPR served me up my first topic on a silver platter. As I have just finished writing my thesis (Developing a scenario based e-learning program for the manufacturing environment - how's that for a title?), I was very interested in Steve Miller's, (he is the executive chairman of giant auto parts maker Delphi Corp)interview on Morning Edition. Steve is trying to turn around a company in a difficult, regionally impacted economy and surprisingly he says that "improving worker skills is key to turning around the embattled U.S. manufacturing sector" - not moving the jobs to Mexico.

My present position is my first in the manufacturing industry and there isn't a lot different between the learning philosphy here and some other companies - learning for productivity's sake is not considered a value added expense. However looking at the link between profitability and productivity - becoming a learning centered organization takes on a whole different meaning. Steve touches on what for me seems like a no-brainer - how do we make our workforce competitive in a global market that is forcing us pay them global value of what they do? How do you justify paying $27 dollars an hour to someone when the global market dictates that this is only worth $17 or less?

Through educating our workforce to be more versatile and technologically advanced than China, India, or Mexico. Why are we outsourcing large, technically based productions to other countries - they aren't necessarily doing the work better - they are just doing it cheaper. But how fast can they change, how customized can you get, how advanced are their processes? How fast can you train someone to be excellent at their job with high productivity with zero defects and no waste? I believe training manufacturing staff with e-learning scenarios and simulations may be the quickest ticket to that excellence.

Snipped/modified from the summary of my thesis:

For any industry in today’s pressured economy, developing training is a costly and sometimes unsuccessful endeavor. The manufacturing industry has been hesitant to devote resources toward e-learning to increase productivity and profitability, yet advances in theory, increased ease of design, and lowered cost of development and implementation have made this type of delivery a viable option. I really believe that scenario-based e-learning offers the best opportunity for manufacturing learning professionals to connect the dots between instruction and practical application for the learners. It is this connection that can best influence the desired results in performance and therefore affect profitability in the long term.