After an introduction by Maurice Wilkins, Roger Kilmer, Director of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership of NIST gave the Keynote address.
The Manufacturing Extension Partnership is intended to do for small to medium sized manufacturers what the "Agricultural Extension" offices did for farming in the 1920s - 1960s...support the development of systems and needs that small manufacturers typically cannot afford to do themselves.
They focus on meeting manufacturer's needs in the context of overall company strategy.
Focus on meeting manufacturer’s short term needs, but in context of overall company strategy
MEP Center areas of common strength
--Growth Services – new or expanded market opportunities
--Lean Manufacturing
--Quality Systems
--Engineering Services for products and processes
--Environmental Services
--Workforce Development
Working directly with over 24,000 manufacturing companies a year
What we all know-- Manufacturing is changing!
Globalization is here to stay, and most U.S. manufacturing firms must adapt to increasing competition.
Innovation (product, process, service and business model) will be critical for enterprise survival and must be managed at several levels.
Supply chains are becoming more global, more exclusive, and more competitive.
Technology advances will continue to be both incremental and disruptive. Unfortunately, adoption rates at smaller firms still lag those of larger ones.
MEP has partnered with Doug Hall, formerly of Procter & Gamble, whose company, Eureka!Ranch is devoted to the idea that the sort of structured strategic development that works for large companies can be transferred to small companies.
MEP is providing Manufacturers with Choices for Growth is the Nucleus of our Approach to Innovation
Promotes Top Line Growth using a Structured Process
Pillars of Growth
--New Sales
--New Markets
--New Products
--New Business Models
Eureka! Winning Ways is MEP’s first growth strategies product line
MEP bridges the gap...the "chasm of death" between the universities and government labs and the market by providing a translation engine for product developers to be able to explain their inventions in terms of the actual market.
How MEP works with supply chains:
As customer expectations rise, companies come under increased pressure to deliver products to market faster, with more features, higher feature mixes, and lower cost
The ability of a company to anticipate and/or respond quickly to market changes and customer demands is the competitive advantage
OEMs cannot compete without constantly improving supply chains
As the percentage of purchased material increases, the supply chain becomes the dominant factor in determining market response
Small and medium-sized manufacturers cannot stay in business without sales to OEMs
Bottom Up
Work One-on-One with Many Suppliers…whether we know it or not
Top Line Growth – new products, new markets, new sales
Bottom Line Improvements - Efficiency, Effectiveness, Productivity, and Reducing Costs
Top Down
Understanding the Needs of the Industry and the OEMs
Market space (Domestic & Global Drivers)
Integration Requirements (Regulations, Interoperability, etc…)
Share Best Practices … to those who will Listen
Technology Roadmaps (OEMS, Trades, Labs, Clients etc...)
MEP works on Sustainability...
Why focus on the Environment?
“…the results confirm that CEO’s…have discovered sustainability as a “top line” opportunity” – ISM (1/07)
Improve Brand – 54%
Differentiate products – 50%
Efficiency – 21%
Cost – 17%
“85% of respondents would change brands if the company had a negative environmental image” – ’07 Cone Consumer Environmental Survey
The Green Suppliers Network is a joint effort of the US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology Manufacturing Extension Partnership
Green Suppliers provides Lean & Clean technical assistance to small and mid-sized manufacturers yielding improved competitiveness through environmental and economic benefits
Lean & Clean approach expands the traditional Lean definition of waste from eliminating non-value added time, labor, money to include environmental wastes (energy, emissions)
This dual approach aligns OEM, supplier and government interests
60 Completed GSN Reviews
Resulting in:
Almost $11M in environmental impact savings
Nearly $24M in cost savings from the implementation of lean opportunities
Thousands of pounds of reduced air, solids and hazards wastes
www.greensuppliers.gov
Additional information on MEP:
NIST MEP
100 Bureau Drive, Stop 4800
Gaithersburg, MD 20899-3460
(301) 975-5020
www.mep.nist.gov
One of the audience asked Kilmer how to deal with the lack of new people in manufacturing--"We need a manufacturing x-box game," he said. "We need to reach down into the elementary schools, not just the colleges."
"We have to show them (students) the whole path. We need to show them how to get into manufacturing. There's no silver bullet. We all have a role to play in this."
