The President of Evans Premium Manufacturing delivered a frank, but positive message to Congressman Bobby Schilling during a briefing at her Rock Island facility: American manufacturers can compete and win, but not without the willingness to change and support from government-backed initiatives that can help facilitate that change. Schilling met with Evans’s Stephanie Acri and representatives from the Illinois Manufacturing Extension Center (IMEC) to tour the facility and discuss how Illinois manufacturers are responding to today’s competitive challenges.

Companies which concentrate on updating the skills and knowledge of their own internal team, and then apply that learning to solve a specific problem, typically receive a faster return on their continuous improvement investment than companies who simply hire a consultant to do the work.  The key, of course, is sustainability.