December 2018
Manufacturing
Update
The Manufacturing Update is a bi-monthly electronic newsletter from Industry Expansion Solutions with up-to-date manufacturing news. Below you can view past issues.
Cybersecurity, employee retention, automation and sustainability—these are just a few of the challenges manufacturing companies face today. At MFGCON 2018, we again joined forces with Business North Carolina to explore some of our most pressing issues and how to address them. We appreciate everyone who attended and sponsored the very successful November event.
We also recognized six manufacturers for their commitment to the North Carolina manufacturing sector, as proven by outstanding performance in the areas of developing markets, advanced talent development, continuous improvement, innovation and sustainability.
—Phil Mintz, Executive Director
NC State Industry Expansion Solutions
Lead Stories
Manufacturing Metrics
2018 Third Quarter Manufacturers’ Outlook
SurveyManufacturing activity remains robust—one of the brightest spots in the economy right now. According to the Q3 2018 NAM Manufacturers’ Outlook Survey, manufacturers’ optimism soared this past year at 93.9%, the highest year average in history. With business thriving, however, workforce challenges persist.
We’d love your feedback. It’ll only take 3 minutes
What is the biggest challenge facing the manufacturing industry today? We’d like to hear from you. Please take our online survey that is designed to better understand the industry’s economic health in North Carolina, business objectives, focus areas and key challenges.
Make Your Data Work For You
Smart manufacturing uses data to improve processes—data that many companies are already collecting. Are you ready to start making your data work for you? The North Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NCMEP) can provide your company with a free smart manufacturing readiness assessment. This assessment is fast and free and provides you with a report with recommendations tailored to your company.
Learn more or Contact Evelyn Brown
Electroswitch Achieves Top Line Growth in Mature Market
Understand how IES client Electroswitch Electronic Products aimed to achieve top-line growth in a mature market. Realize how IES provided an ideation process to support a degree of seamlessness among sales, marketing and product development which was deemed a good starting point to achieve top-line growth. Results? $220K increased sales; $1.2M retained sales; $30K technology investment and $250K new product investment.
IES Train the Trainer Program Earns Governor’s Award
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” What happens if the person you taught to fish teaches two others? And they teach four more? NC State Industry Expansion Solutions (IES) personnel could tell you.
Looking to Hire an Engineering Intern the Summer of 2019?
There are many reasons why you might want to hire an NC State University student engineering intern,one of which is getting access to the latest pool of potential engineering employees, before they enter the post-grad job market. Or, maybe you’d love to get an engineering intern who has roots in your local community. Whatever the case, we have you covered, working hard to pair up engineering interns with local businesses in the communities where an intern might have grown up through
New Electric Car Charger is More Efficient, 10 Times Smaller than Current Tech
Researchers at NC State University have built an electric vehicle fast charger that is at least 10 times smaller than existing systems and wastes 60 percent less power during the charging process, without sacrificing the charging time. The team is now building a version that is capable of charging vehicles more quickly, while also charging multiple vehicles at the same time.
College of Engineering Climbs US News Undergraduate Rankings
NC State’s College of Engineering (COE) climbs U.S. News and World Report undergraduate rankings—moving up two spots nationally. Additionally, the Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering ranked 12th, and the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering ranked 10th.
Mintz Participates in Review of Automation Competency Model
IES Executive Director Phil Mintz recently participated with a team of automation experts to perform the third review of the Automation Competency Model (ACM) since its inception in 2008. The Automation Federation (AF) was invited by the US Department of Labor (USDOL) to be the first industry-related technical society to create a competency model using the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) pyramid framework for advanced manufacturing.
LEVERAGE OUR SOLUTIONS
We engineer success for manufacturing businesses one solution at a time by understanding our clients’ needs and then crafting meaningful and sustainable solutions to address their business requirements. Through our tailored programs and research-based, time-tested methodologies, we provide solutions to assist in strategic direction, improve performance and processes and address top line growth. We collaborate with clients to develop and implement comprehensive services and solutions across:
Upcoming Courses
Note: All our open enrollment courses listed below can be tailored for onsite training. This is the ideal choice for companies that need to train groups of employees. You get a maximum number of employees trained in a minimal amount of time for one flat fee, providing a great ROI.
8 Hour HAZWOPER for Environmental Professionals
Dec 6 | Raleigh, NC
Hazardous Waste Management for Generators
Mar 5 | Raleigh, NC
DOT Hazardous Materials Transportation Training
March 6-7 | Raleigh, NC
DOT Hazardous Materials Transportation Refresher
March 7 | Raleigh, NC
Resources
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