October has a special place in the hearts of Illinois Manufacturers. That’s because in Illinois, October is Manufacturing Month. And while the entire month is dedicated to manufacturing and its impact on the world around us, one day in particular stands out as a sort of open house, when manufacturers throw open their doors and invite people in to see what manufacturing means in the modern world. This year, October 1^st is National Manufacturing Day (MFGDay).

This is an original article from NIST Manufacturing Innovation Blog.

While Fridays have always been a reason to celebrate, the first Friday of October is one that is near and dear to the MEP National Network^TM, as this year, Friday, October 1, is Manufacturing Day (MFG Day)!

Organizing your MFG Day events may have changed quite a bit in the last 18 months. Prioritizing safety, venue capacity constraints, and reduced corporate travel have presented real challenges for organizing manufacturing expos, conferences, factory tours, and other in-person traditional events.

An original article by Mark Allen Roberts, Sales Consultant, Coach, and CEO of OTB Solutions

How important is it to bring Millennials into your workforce? Let’s put it this way: Like an unstoppable speeding train, the future is coming up fast. Couple that with the fact that the future belongs to those who adapt advanced manufacturing technologies. Will yours be the company running to catch the train after it has left the station?

At IMEC, we’re all about solutions. And with the invasion of COVID-19 early last year, the world had to scramble to find them. Businesses were shutting down at an alarming rate, affecting supply chains and OEMs locally, nationally, globally. Companies had to quickly find alternatives to keep the wheels turning. For IMEC, that remained especially true here in Illinois.

I like this quote from Jeanne Liedtka, design thinking guru: “talk is the technology of leadership.” It is one of those quotes that came to me at a perfect time, and often I find myself reflecting on its meaning as it relates to leadership coaching practices.

This article is written by Chuck Werner,  Manager of Operational Excellence at Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center - part of the MEP National Network, and originally published in IndustryWeek.

Smart Manufacturing is the manufacturing of the future, and, at its core, works to save time, money, and resources. One valuable tool in the move toward Smart or Smart(er) Manufacturing is the implementation of a manufacturing execution system. A Manufacturing Execution System (MES) is an automated system that utilizes real-time data to assist you in measuring how your production equates with financial performance.

This is an original article from Cre8tive Technology and Design.

Find the CMMC Level Needed For Your Business

There are five different tiers of CMMC, depending on your level of involvement with the federal government. The levels of CMMC range from “Basic Cybersecurity Hygiene” all the way up to “Advanced/Progressive.” The level of CMMC that you may need for your business will depend if contracts you want to bid on have to do with classified or unclassified DoD information. The level of CMMC required for contracts will be defined in Requests, for Information and Requests for Proposals provided by the DoD.

This is an original article from Cre8tive Technology and Design.

Aerospace and Defense manufacturers are well aware of the certifications and audits they have to go through in order to operate. The Department of Defense is now starting to require the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, or CMMC.