Michael,

I appreciate the premise of using digital twins to create a safe environment for learning. However, I would challenge one underlying assumption: many U.S. manufacturers are already operating with such lean staffing levels and production pressures that they often don't have the luxury of extensive practice, whether virtual or otherwise.

The article correctly states that "the problem isn't knowledge, it's reps." I would argue that in many manufacturing environments, the problem is both. We have fewer experienced mentors, accelerating retirements, compressed onboarding periods, and increasing technological complexity. As a result, many workers are reaching critical situations without sufficient knowledge, practice, or coaching.

Perhaps the next evolution is not simply "permission to fail virtually," but a system that continuously verifies proficiency through realistic scenarios, observed performance, and periodic requalification. Manufacturing excellence has never been built on training delivered. It has always been built on capability demonstrated.

"The real skills gap in U.S. manufacturing isn't that employees haven't failed safely enough. It's that we've become very good at documenting training and much less effective at proving competence."

Anish