Electricity costs may surprise you… Especially around the holidays!

Have you ever really thought about all those gadgets you leave on all the time (even if they are in sleep mode), all those little red lights on power cords, all the time displays on your appliances? All of these seemingly innocuous little lights are stealing your electricity. A little bit here and there doesn’t seem like very much, but when you add it all up it can really hit your bottom line.

In a time when e-mail addresses and websites change more frequently than my daughter changes dresses, and customer needs are no more stable than the Silly Bandz fad, manufacturers are seeing a greater need to add agility to their core competencies.  Allegra Marketing Print Signs, one of the seven companies who participated in Evanston’s Manufacturing Day Walking Tour Event, demonstrated their agility to the local community during the event itself.  Students from Evanston-area high schools submitted their designs for a Manufacturing Day banner to Kyle Kurz, co-owner of Allegra, just after the event kick-off at 11:00.  By 1:30, when the tour group reached Allegra’s facility, the pre-press team at Allegra had completed the banner design, incorporating the student’s ideas and verbiage.  By 3:30 when the walking tour had wrapped up its final stop, the banner was printed and in the hands of the students for a photo op. 

Manufacturing leaders from the greater Chicago area, in addition to Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Patrick Gallagher, IMEC President David Boulay, and representatives from the City of Chicago and state commerce department gathered for a duo of manufacturing-focused events last week.

The group first met at PortionPac Corporation in Chicago for discussion and a tour of the sustainable company that manufactures pre-measured packs of highly concentrated cleaning products for use in a variety of industries, including school districts and correctional facilities.  “The last decade for manufacturing has been about diversification and the ability to develop a focus in niche markets in order to continue growing,” said Burt Klein, President for PortionPac. During the visit, Klein also spoke to the city’s investment in the manufacturing sector and how building a strong workforce, transportation can lead to a strengthened climate.

Through a city initiative, Chicago Sustainable Industries, there has been an increased awareness about manufacturing and its importance to the strength of the community. “Manufacturing jobs play an anchoring role in a community,” Director Gallagher stated. “It’s great to see the combined efforts of the public and private sectors working together to strengthen that role.”

Following the facility tour and discussion, the group met at the Transco Products downtown headquarters, where they engaged in discussion around the direction of future trends in technology, workforce and the need to campaign for a brighter image of the industry. “If manufacturing has a bad image, it affects the desire of youth and adults alike to educate themselves and pursue a career in industry,” said Gallagher.  Talk continued around the need to promote manufacturing nationally, regionally and locally, including initiatives manufacturers can take to reach out in their communities.

Carrie Hines, Executive Director of the American Small Manufacturers Coalition (ASMC), recently appeared on C-Span to discuss the results of the Next Generation Manufacturing Study and the actions small manufacturers should take to remain competitive both domestically and globally.

Overall, the message is positive. According to the NGM study recently released by ASMC, small manufacturers continue to face challenges with the pending retirement of baby boomer leadership, and shortages of qualified employees .

IMEC Colleague Mark Baer and I recently attended a three day training session in Kokomo, Indiana focused on Internal Auditing of ISO 50001, the Energy Management System standard.  The basic principles for auditing ISO 50001 are the same as for the ISO 9001 Quality Management System, and the ISO 50001 standard is structured similarly to ISO 9001.  The key difference for ISO 50001 is the requirement to measure and audit energy performance.

Energy savings and cost reductions are on the minds of many companies as they look to save money and the environment.  These companies are reaching out to third parties for support in implementing energy saving solutions but ISO 50001 is not a tool for simply reducing energy costs.  A key aspect of ISO 50001 is better management of energy consumption. 

An Overview of the Next Generation Manufacturing Survey results

Today, the Illinois Manufacturing Extension Center, along with its trade association, the American Small Manufacturers Coalition, released the results of its 2011 Next Generation Manufacturing (NGM) Study, identifying key trends affecting the industry and steps U.S. manufacturers can take now to be successful in the next generation.

The study, conducted by the Manufacturing Performance Institute, finds that this is a critical point in time for U.S. manufacturing, and manufacturers must assess whether they have the workforce, business systems, equipment and strategies in place to successfully compete in the future. While external factors, like the economic downturn present challenges, manufacturers can remain competitive by focusing on six strategies assessed by the NGM Study as a blueprint for success.

by Mary Hallock

For our most recent Rockford area Waste-to-Profit meeting we combined the areas of safety and environmental compliance into one program.   We presented the Chemical Safety Workshop material and  added some material that focused on hazardous waste recycling and pollution prevention.

The more I worked on my material and tied it into the Chemical Safety Workshop material, the more I realized how the sustainable aspect of handling chemicals goes hand in hand with the safety aspect.  If we minimize exposure to our employees, then we minimize exposure to the environment.

IMEC’s Review Preps Companies to Enter the Wind Supply Chain

Illinois is a national leader both in terms of installed capacity of wind power and wind turbine manufacturing. The state ranks seventh for overall wind capacity in the U.S., with great potential to increase the amount of electricity produced from wind. Investment in wind energy has brought jobs to the state and attracted major wind energy manufacturers to locate in Illinois.

- Illinois ranked second in 2010 for most new wind added.
- Percentage of Illinois power provided by wind in 2009: 1.06%
- Equivalent number of homes Illinois wind power farms now power: 500,000
- The Twin Groves wind farm in Illinois is the seventh largest wind farm in the country.