There is much conversation of late about devoting fresh energies to "advanced" manufacturing. There are many drivers for this wave of thought, and many of them seem to be derived from non-technological sources. There are also several funding agencies that are designating noteworthy amounts of money for "advanced" manufacturing. It also seems that the meaning of "advanced" can vary widely. I would like to collect views about the definition of "advanced" -- is it based on process technology, on types of products, on methods of organizing manufacturing resources -- or maybe all of the above.