Strengthening American Manufacturing The Role of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership: Summary of a Symposium (2013) / Chapter Skim
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Panel II: A Differentiated Program: New Center Initiatives
Panel II: A Differentiated Program: New Center Initiatives
Pages 57-74
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From page 57... ...
Fortunately, he said, he was introduced to people from the Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center (DVIRC) , the local MEP center, who understood his predicament.
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From page 58... ...
The southern part of the state is where the aerospace and defense industries are located; in the center is the food processing industry; in the north is the high technology industries; and in the desert is a growing renewable energy industry. The key part of the illustration, he added, were the palm trees in the sunshine.
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From page 59... ...
So his company will emphasize export even more vigorously because of the "big, big changes coming to manufacturing in California." Many business models are beginning to change in terms of product mix, how products are manufactured, and where products are sold. This effort will include the emerging importance of "re-shoring," or bringing jobs back to California.
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From page 60... ...
Our mission is all about making manufacturers more competitive, creating trust and building jobs." CMTC's Mission He described the CMTC's revised mission, which is "to create solutions for manufacturing, growth, and profitability." There is no point in growing, he said, without profit. We try to show customers how growth goes to the bottom line of the organization, which improves competitiveness and creates jobs.
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From page 61... ...
In promoting change, we concentrated on senior management, because we realized that unless the leadership understood the challenge and built a communication plan, there was little hope of success. "If they fail, they're going to wonder about our services; it will affect our client satisfaction rating, it will affect how we're evaluated, and most of all, the company won't sustain their improvements." Mr.
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From page 62... ...
He said that the Lt Governor's state manufacturing improvement plan was called Invigorating Manufacturing in California, and a key guiding tenet was innovation. "The little bit of innovation we've done in our state has really, really helped the manufacturers," he said.
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From page 63... ...
The economy is diversified, with lower than average unemployment. This diversity, however, presents challenges for a small center like the Catalyst Connection that is trying to offer services to the entire manufacturing sector.
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From page 64... ...
"We've talked a lot about that," she said, "but in Pennsylvania we're living it." Catalyst has been asked to partner with all of the state's economic development organizations to secure its state funding, and was in fact developing a partnership "as we speak." The partners allow the firm to pursue new funding opportunities, like those that had been mentioned earlier by others. Catalyst also helped companies work on lean manufacturing, quality standards, and a variety of business growth services to help companies find new customers, develop new products, and export products.
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From page 65... ...
Recently, however, new companies like Cannon had begun to move in and gain a toehold. For Cannon, a major break came when it was approached by the Gas Technology Institute to commercialize an advanced transport membrane condenser system to increase boiler efficiency, and the Catalyst staff, in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh and Ben Franklin, had worked with them through the process.
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From page 66... ...
It is the small and mid-sized firms which are the job creators. Our mantra for the last four years has been helping small and mid-sized manufacturing enterprises grow profitably." Eight years ago Enterprise Minnesota endured a pivotal event when it lost its state funding.
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From page 67... ...
The first is to be cash-flow positive, with 10 percent average compound annual growth, which he took "from my old days of running a business." Last year the firm grew by 12 percent from the year before; during the depths of the recession it was flat for one year; and for the first four months of 2011 it was up 21 percent over the 12 percent. "Talking about how bad the economy is not allowed if you're focused on helping manufacturers grow profitably." Qualitative Measures of a Firm's Leadership The second goal was to "set the standard within the MEP system for achieving significant client business results." This included leading the GreenLean initiative within the state and "dramatically" increasing the number of manufacturing clients served.
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From page 68... ...
Business growth activities included "idea engineering," executive leadership, marketing, and product management. Operational excellence included a "Green-Lean" enterprise, quality management systems, human capital improvement, and supply chain solutions.
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From page 69... ...
One such grant, the Growth Acceleration Program, was awarded six years ago and has been used by elected officials and CEOs who praise the program in helping them build the right strategy to invest in their companies. Finally, he said, the firm supports a continuous stream of monthly business events where CEOs speak about their experiences.
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From page 70... ...
To say we want to be the voice of manufacturing in this state is very hollow unless our clients support us, and they do." OHIO MANUFACTURING EXTENSION PARTNERSHIP Beth Colbert Ohio Department of Development The Ohio Manufacturing Extension Partnership is a statewide MEP that is managed "from the top level," said Ms. Colbert, which brings the benefit of a two to one match by the state, a portion that has increased over the last couple of years.
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From page 71... ...
Motor vehicle and parts manufacturing. Each of the Edison Centers was charged with outlining its own goals and objectives related to: Advancing technology and deployment: linking technology and research from universities, private labs, and Ohio Third Frontier Investments to production and sales; Cluster development, networking, and education: Building supply chains, workforce, and networking opportunities in vertical industries; Manufacturing assistance: Deploying advanced manufacturing technologies, reducing costs, and enhancing new products and processes.
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From page 72... ...
"These partners are a key part of our system," she said. "They allow the Edison Technology Centers to focus on strengthening their technology expertise, making connections to universities, linking to large OEMs to build supply chains, and work on workforce development curricula with colleges.
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From page 73... ...
He said that the California Manufacturing Technology Consulting MEP would be doing this in two ways. "First, expanding our partnerships is helping us get out and do more.
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From page 74... ...
Ms. Mitchell of the Catalyst Connection said that she is definitely collaborating with foundations.
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