Imagine this: you are on a beautiful bike ride, miles away from any sign of civilization – you may be a casual biker, or you belong to the bikepacking community (people who go on remote bike trips for days or weeks at a time). The essential devices that keep you safe and connected are in a dire state: a cell phone is on the verge of dying, lights are dead, your external battery pack is running low on juice. What do you do?
Microplastics, Inc. of St. Charles is the second recipient of the Illinois Manufacturing Innovation Voucher, receiving matching funds that include additional investment from the Kane County Innovation Voucher.
This is an original article from the NIST Manufacturing Innovation Blog, written by Brian Hagas.
This article first appeared in IndustryWeek.
I do my best to stay attuned to manufacturing trends. There is a confusing barrage of articles and opinions on Industry 4.0. Some articles create new terms, others provide competing definitions around similar concepts, and others seek use cases to justify new technologies. Some are already talking about Industry 5.0 while 4.0 is still in its infancy and ill-defined.
Manufacturers across the state are taking advantage of IMEC’s Illinois Manufacturing Innovation Voucher program! Just last November, IMEC announced a leading-edge economic development program to help small and medium-sized manufacturers accelerate technology adoption in their products and processes. Awarding up to $25,000 in matching funds, Illinois manufacturers can obtain external technical assistance to solve technology adoption challenges.
This is an original article written by Shekhar Chandrashekhar of California Manufacturing Technology Consulting, part of the MEP National Network.
Today, most manufacturers are engaged in activities that could be considered part of “Industry 4.0.” (70% according to the World Economic Forum’s [WEF] white paper, “Fourth Industrial Revolution: Beacons of Technology and Innovation in Manufacturing”).
Imagine the strides your company will make as keep pace with manufacturing technology.
Exciting things are in store for Illinois’ small and mid-sized manufacturers (SMMs) in the coming year! If you haven’t heard already, IMEC recently announced the revolutionary Illinois Manufacturing Innovation Voucher program for SMMs to invest in R&D and technology adoption.
SMMs are vital to the economic well-being of Illinois, and to continue a thriving manufacturing industry in the state, the Illinois Manufacturing Innovation Voucher will lead to a total of $2.5 million in investments to assist with approximately 50 projects in the next year.
