Revitalizing the Manufacturing Industry
The Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CESMII) aims to build value in the manufacturing industry by taking advantage of smart technologies including software and sensors. CEO John Dyck says that the institute intends to revitalize US and global manufacturing by tackling the challenges that come with implementing these new technologies, as well as the company data flow issues. For instance, CESMII have developed a basic set of technologies for manufacturers and are funding six month projects to solve specific problems, up to a value of $250,000.
Based in California, the institute is developing regional centers across the US including Texas, New York and plans to expand to the Midwest over the coming year. These regional centers will allow for greater industry specialization.
Ohio could well become home to the new manufacturing center as Dyck lives in Northeast Ohio himself. He stated that, “Not having a presence in the Rust belt is a huge strategic gap.” Furthermore, a potential collaboration with business development organization, Team NEO, may be in the works. Team NEO is interested in increasing Ohio’s adoption of smart manufacturing technology in order to maintain a competitive edge.
CESMII is the ninth manufacturing innovation institute to be developed by the government in order to encourage advanced manufacturing R&D. They attempt to assist manufacturers by organizing support from academics, application vendors and system integrators to solve current issues, with the solutions becoming open-source once completed.
