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As Video Web Marketing & Innovation Coordinator, Sarah will assist manufacturers to reach their innovation, marketing and market development goals through IMC’s Video Marketing service. This service provides IMC clients with video highlighting their products, processes and capabilities and can be posted on their own company website along with YouTube and IMC’s first-of-its-kind Online Video Manufacturers’ Directory. 

Prior to joining IMC, Sarah held positions at Magnum Broadcasting and WLHU Radio.  Sarah obtained her B.A. in Communication Media with a concentration in Broadcasting from Lock Haven University in 2010 along with a Certificate of Completion in Lock Haven University’s Leadership workshop. She is a resident of Montoursville, PA and has a passion for editing video and enjoys time spent gardening, cooking and crafting.

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Click here to watch the video.

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Association of Manufacturing Excellence is sponsoring a one day workshop on Toyota Kata January 17th in Aston, PA at Engineered Arresting Systems Corp.

After a brief company introduction and tour there will be an introductory workshop on ‘Toyota Kata’ based on the book by Mike Rother. Kata means ‘routine’.  The book defines two distinct but interrelated routines.  First is the Improvement Kata (IK) that is about creating a pattern of habits that develop a mastery of continuous improvement. The second is the Coaching Kata (CK) that defines a technique that any leader can use to guide team members through the Improvement Kata. Both routines are founded on the principle of ‘target condition’ thinking that is critical to effective improvement. Together they operationalize daily improvement in a simple, easy to follow methodology that any leader can put into immediate practice.

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November 15. 2012 11:48 AM |

Manufacturers urged to share knowledge |

By Brian Pedersen |

As aging employees leave the workforce, how do employers capture their specialized knowledge?

A knowledge building seminar at Manufacturers Resource Center today attempted to answer this question by providing about 15 executives with an overview of how to create a training program and learning culture for their organization.

The program, developed through a partnership with Enterprise Systems Partners Inc. of Bethlehem and MRC focused on several issues, including how to use an e-learning program to transfer that knowledge.

“It all starts with a shared vision,” said Vinay Govande, partner and executive vice president of espi. “We believe that organizations need to take the time to establish that.”

Key characteristics of a learning organization include fostering a learning culture, developing system thinking and personal mastery. The old model of having employees learn from a teacher or instructor is not necessarily the most effective. In fact, many employees learn and retain knowledge from each other.

Creating an environment of openness and trust, valuing people’s ideas and encouraging a diversity of viewpoints and providing a forum to discuss them are also key elements of a learning culture, all of which are driven toward business performance.

Many organizations do not realize they are at risk if there are no rotational programs where employees have some shared knowledge so that if there is an immediate need to perform a task, it can be done without impacting productivity.

“I don’t want to be the only one holding onto that information,” said Govande.

As an example, at East Penn Manufacturing, a large company in Berks County, there were only four employees who knew how to operate a piece of equipment that’s critical to their operations, said Govande. But he said his company worked with them to develop a learning culture and he said they were very cooperative in sharing that knowledge.

However, some clients realized they had job security by having this specialized knowledge that no one else in the company had, said Scott Palochik, business development manager for espi. But the company has to look at it from the standpoint that it benefits the entire company, he added.

Mark Kenawell, senior technician at Lutron Electronics Co. in Coopersburg, said employees could be reluctant to share that knowledge and make it portable, because it could potentially go overseas.

“Until the trend in this country turns around and managers understand that you can make money here in manufacturing, I think that’s still happening,” said Kenawell. “Making that knowledge portable allows companies to move knowledge overseas.”

However, Govande said his company has seen many benefits from developing an environment where employee knowledge is captured, including operational excellence, lower turnover, maintained levels of innovation and an increase in the pace of change within the organization.

More specific major findings included an 83 percent increase in employee knowledge and a 63 percent increase in employee efficiency when companies developed a learning culture. These findings were quantified by the National Association of Manufacturers, he added.

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This exciting, intense 2 1/2 day training is coming to Pennsylvania to teach leaders and teams from companies and organizations how to increase speed and decrease risk with innovations.  This is what you will gain:

• Knowledge to increase your company’s capacity to innovate by expanding ways to create, communicate and commercialize meaningfully unique ideas
• Completion of a graduate school level course in the Innovation Engineering tools
• “Hands on” accelerated learning by doing and applying case studies and real-life problems or opportunities for your company
• Breakthroughs on existing problems and opportunities
• A common language that breaks down silos. The program teaches everyone the importance of simultaneous engineering of customer promise, product reality and profit formula
• Tools that everyone can use – no matter what their thinking style. Tools are provided for everyone from the logical “left brain” engineer as well as the most “right brain” sales or marketing person.

This event is for leaders and teams ready to be part of a movement to reignite American innovation & growth!

For more information and to register for this exciting event, click here. 

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Wed, 2012-08-22 10:52

Michele Nash-Hoff, president, ElectroFab Sales

While the state of American manufacturing has been grim for the past decade, the “reshoring” trend and new technologies are making the outlook for the future of American manufacturing look brighter than it now appears.

In the past few years, the key factors for returning manufacturing to America have been quality problems, rising labor costs, intellectual property theft, rising shipping costs, long lead times for product delivery from Asia, and the cost of inventory for the larger lots you have to buy from Asia to get the cheaper prices.

Now, Harry Moser’s Total Cost of Ownership worksheet calculator is helping companies quantify the hidden costs of doing business offshore, enabling more companies to make the decision to reshore manufacturing. According to Moser, founder of the “Reshoring Initiative,” about 10% of companies nationwide are bringing manufacturing back to America from Asia. It is a pleasure to read frequent stories about even large companies such as Dow Chemical, Caterpillar, GE, and Ford starting to move some manufacturing back to the U.S. from China.

“But rising costs and political pressure aren’t what’s going to rapidly change the equation.” according to Vivek Wadhwa, Vice President of Academics and Innovation at Singularity University. “The disruption will come from a set of technologies that are advancing at exponential rates and converging. These technologies include robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), 3D printing, and nanotechnology. These have been moving slowly so far, but are now beginning to advance exponentially just as computing does.”

ROBOTICS: In the past, large American food product companies like General Mills and Kraft Foods, as well as the automotive industry, have been the biggest user of complex robotic systems. But, today’s robots are smaller and cheaper ─ they are really specialized electromechanical devices run by software and remote control designed to perform specific tasks in the manufacturing of products for a variety of industries. These robots, cost-effective for lower production volume than those used in the food and automotive industry, are enabling more companies to utilize this technology.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: AI is really the software that makes computers, robots, and even unmanned aircraft and space vehicles run in an “intelligent” manner. Unmanned vehicles have dominated the sky in the “war on terror” in Iraq and Afghanistan and are now being used to provide surveillance along our international border with Mexico. The unmanned rover, “Curiosity,” traversing the surface of Mars is an example of the latest AI technology.

ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING: “Additive manufacturing is the process of producing parts by successive melting of layers of material rather than removing material, as is the case with conventional machining. Each layer is melted to the exact geometry defined by a 3D CAD model. Additive Manufacturing allows for building parts with very complex geometries without any sort of tools or fixtures, and without producing any waste material,” explains Arcam AB’s website.

This process, also known as 3D printing, is turning product designs into reality for a fraction of the cost of past manufacturing technologies. The application of this technology started as a way to make prototypes faster and cheaper. What is great about parts made by this process is that they are not just the fragile prototype parts previously made by stereo lithography technology; parts made by 3D printing can function as production parts.

Additive Manufacturing Becoming More Accessible

A simple tabletop 3D printing device, such as MakerBot’s Replicator, is now down to about $1,700 for use in home workshops, making the technology more accessible to students, researchers, do-it-yourself enthusiasts, hobbyists, inventors and entrepreneurs.

Millions of dollars of government-funded research in additive manufacturing has led to breakthroughs and cost reduction in the utilization of this technology. Large, complex geometry parts that had to be made by casting and forging with expensive tooling are now being made by laser sintering of metals such as tool steel, stainless steel, cobalt chrome-moly, and other steel alloys. While Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) and Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS)began as a way to build parts early in the design cycle, it is now being used to manufacture end-use parts. Depending on the material, up to 100% density can be achieved with material properties comparable to those found with traditional manufacturing methods.

There are many applications for the laser sintering method of additive manufacturing in the aerospace and defense industry because of the low volume requirements. The cost of amortizing expensive casting and forging tooling into low volume production was the main reason for the $600 hammers and $900 toilet seats of the defense spending scandals 20 years ago.

Even the tooling to make simple injection molded plastic parts can now be made by this technology, helping keep some plastic injection molding work in the U. S. that used to go to China.

NANOTECHNOLOGY: We are just beginning to see advances in nanotechnology that will affect manufacturing in the next decade. Nanotechnology(sometimes shortened to “nanotech”) is the manipulation of matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology works with materials, devices, and other structures with at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometers.

The post New Technologies Offer Hope for American Manufacturing – Industry Week Article appeared first on PA Made.

on Inc. 500/5000
Four Years in a Row

Tripled Employment Since List Debut

Inc. Magazine Unveils 31^st Annual List of America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies – the Inc. 5000

PENNSYLVANIA, August 21, 2012 – Inc. magazine today awarded Ashland Technologies, Inc. its fourth consecutive ranking on the nation’s fastest-growing private companies list.  This is nearly unprecedented for a contract machining/fabricating company.  Manufacturing is leading the surge to get the U.S. economy back on track, and Ashland Technologies is at the head of the pack.

This list represents the most comprehensive look at the most important segment of the economy – America’s independent entrepreneurs.  Companies such as Microsoft, Zappos, Jamba Juice, Zipcar, Clif Bar, Vizio and many other well-known names gained early exposure as members of the Inc. 500|5000.

President, Bill Wydra Jr attributes this incredible growth to great customers and the industry’s best employees.  “Despite increased automation in our Hegins facility, it is people that make the difference and ensure that customers get a high quality part delivered on-time, every time,” says Wydra.   He goes on to explain, “It also helps that we have a better mousetrap.  Our One-Stop-Shop model boasts a 334% cost advantage and 2-week turnaround advantage over competitors not offering these turnkey services.”

Ashland Technologies, Inc. has continued growth in manufacturing by not only constantly improving equipment and finding more efficient ways of completing projects, but also by employing skilled workers and equipping them with the latest technologies to achieve their goals.  The machined and fabricated parts manufactured by Ash/Tec, Inc. are made for various industries including the amusement rides and theme parks, fast food restaurant equipment, and renewable energy.

The 2012 Inc. 5000 list, unveiled in the September issue of Inc., is the most competitive crop in the list’s history.  In the past four years of Ashland Technologies, Inc. being part of Inc. magazine’s fastest-growing private companies, they have had sales growth of 248% and tripled its employment.  Ash/Tec, Inc. is always hiring people with the right attitude to help keep them on the list.
CONTACT: John Powers, (570)-682-0933, jpowers@ash-tec.com

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 ATAS International, Inc.

Make It In America “Manufacturer of the Week,”

Every week NIST-MEP features an MEP manufacturer “Make It In America.”  Manufacturers from around the country are developing innovative products, reaching exciting markets and hiring America’s best workforce.  ATAS International, Inc., was selected for the week of August 27, 2012, and publicized on the NIST-MEP “Make It In America” website .

Make It In America – ATAS International “Manufacturer of the Week”

Jack E. Pfunder, President & CEO of the Manufacturers Resource Center, said “ATAS is a manufacturer of innovative and unique products.  MRC helped ATAS with their Lead Generation process which resulted in nearly 10% conversions to face-to-face meetings which is considered a high percentage.  Later we helped ATAS begin a certification program for its sustainable products, improving its marketability.”

View ATAS Graphic

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