Today, the Illinois Manufacturing Extension Center (IMEC) launched a redesigned website that will provide Illinois manufacturers with enhanced content to grow their companies. The portal at http://www.imec.org offers timely manufacturing news, best practice tips and trends, and connections to updated case studies, whitepapers, and videos.
The Illinois Manufacturing Extension Center (IMEC) announced today the creation of a “Made in Illinois” program for Illinois manufacturers. The online campaign showcases the products made in Illinois to the public while providing an Internet-based forum for manufacturers to connect and generate business opportunities.
To raise awareness about the importance of manufacturing, IMEC now dedicates an entire section of its newly re-designed website (www.imec.org) to the program. Illinois manufacturers can register for a free profile page to feature their products and services, share company news, and display pictures and videos. In addition to increasing their web visibility, IMEC will promote the manufacturers to external audiences through social media and direct marketing, and link participating manufacturers to sourcing and buying opportunities.
MEPs around the country are helping to keep manufacturers successful.
IMEC's parent organization, NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) is helping American manufacturers innovate, increase productivity, and create new jobs. Hear from those manufacturers on what the MEP program means for them and the industry.
Event will connect potential suppliers with passenger rail carbuilders and locomotive manufacturers
Connecting interested and capable prospective suppliers with the builders of Next Generation rail equipment is the focus of a complimentary event on February 14th at the Chicago Marriott O’Hare. The “Next Generation Rail Supply Chain Connectivity Forum” will bring together executives from several leading rail equipment manufacturers with the leaders of small and mid-sized firms interested in expanding into the growing rail equipment supply sector.
The MIT Enterprise Forum on Advanced Manufacturing will be held in Chicago, IL on January 17, 2012. The forum will address ways manufacturing contributes to the country’s economic growth and what is being done to rebuild America’s manufacturing sector. Johnston will act as moderator.
It’s no secret that the truly successful companies know how to focus. They concentrate on their core strengths or products, the things they do really well. Rockford Ball Screw (RBS) certainly subscribes to this philosophy. Since 1974, the company has been a leader in the production of linear motion devices — rolled thread ball and acme screw systems that help things move, from hospital beds to RVs. It’s a niche that has served the company and its employees well.
But even though the company’s products are complex, demanding tight tolerances and precise engineering, RBS leaders were wary of becoming commoditized and vulnerable to low-cost foreign competitors. The economic downturn was a wake-up call that perhaps the family-owned company needed to re-focus, not just its products services, but in the way it managed the business.
IMEC President David Boulay will discuss outlook for industrial sector in 2012
David Boulay, president of the Illinois Manufacturing Extension Center (IMEC), is a featured presenter at fourth annual Illinois Financial Forecast Forum, hosted by Northern Illinois University’s Center for Governmental Studies Civic Leadership Academy and the Illinois City/County Management Association. The event will be held at NIU’s Naperville campus on Friday, January 27, 2012 from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
Innovation, state support for manufacturing programs among the key discussion topics
Enercon Engineering, an IMEC client, hosted a roundtable discussion focused on the Central Illinois manufacturing industry and highlighting the company's success. A group of Central Illinois lawmakers attended the meeting along with experts from the Illinois Manufacturing Extension Center (IMEC) and Enercon leadership.
