苹果在底特律成立「Apple 制造学院」（与密西根州立大学合作），对美国中小制造商提供免费月度工作坊，并额外派工程师到现场做深度支援。案例之一是佛蒙特州 Springfield 的 ImageTek：一间成立 31 年、54 名员工的公司，苹果约 10 名员工协助客制开源电脑视觉工具，抓到培根包装标签颜色偏差，避免出货失误与关键客户流失。

这类协助属于苹果今年宣布、至 2028 年投入 6,000 亿美元强化美国制造的一部分；相对于其 16.6 万名员工与上一财年 1,120 亿美元年获利，教育支出规模不大。合约显示：苹果在首 12 个月提供 250 万美元，部分补偿教室、行销与讲师成本，为期三年的合作也让超过 100 家业者在底特律建立连结。

参与者指出苹果提供罕见的「透明」制造经验（含 2014 年 iPhone 6「Bendgate」教训），并以感测器、分析与工业工程方法（如 Little’s Law）协助降停机与找瓶颈。印第安纳州 Walkerton 的 Polygon 估计在苹果约 5 小时评估后，能用不超过 5 万美元建置监测系统；相比顾问公司可能要价 50 万美元。整体约 15 家公司获得密集咨询，线上课程也在近期上线，并在关税与在地化压力下提升其接单竞争力。

Apple’s new Manufacturing Academy in Detroit (run with Michigan State University) offers free monthly workshops and, for some firms, hands-on engineering help. In one project, about 10 Apple employees adapted an open-source computer-vision tool for ImageTek in Springfield, Vermont to detect label color errors—catching overly pink “bacon” labels before shipment and helping protect a key customer.

This support sits inside Apple’s announced $600 billion US manufacturing commitment through 2028. Apple has about 166,000 employees and reported $112 billion in annual profit last fiscal year; the education spend is comparatively small. A contract shows Apple paying Michigan State $2.5 million in the first 12 months of a three-year deal to offset classrooms, marketing, and instructors, while workshops have drawn 100+ small manufacturers.

Participants say Apple is unusually candid about manufacturing lessons (including the 2014 iPhone 6 “Bendgate” episode) and provides practical methods—sensors, analytics, and industrial-engineering tools like Little’s Law—to cut downtime and find bottlenecks. Apple says roughly 15 companies have received intensive consulting. Polygon targets doubling sales to over $100 million and expects fixes for key bottlenecks to cost ≤$50,000 versus a consultancy estimate of $500,000; Apple also recently released online courses and extends consulting virtually amid tariff-driven reshoring pressure.