It's here. We've heard the terms thrown around for years: Industry 4.0, Connected Machines, Internet of Things, Industrial Internet. Very quietly, this has all become real - your best customers, competitors, and suppliers have built digital capabilities that change the way they do business. At CIRAS, we group all this effort under the term Digital Manufacturing, defined as the ability to connect different parts of the manufacturing life cycle through data, and to utilize that information to make smarter, more efficient business decisions (source: DMDII). For those of you that are asking "Does this apply to me?", the answer is simple: Yes.
Month: January 2017
State of the State – by Liesl Eathington
A previous “State of the State” explored growth in Iowa’s young worker population and the fact that production jobs are a declining fraction of the opportunities available to them. The breadth of those opportunities—or at least workers’ perceptions of what opportunities exist in the labor market—can be glimpsed in trends for post-secondary education.
Resource Spotlight: SBA
There are a vast number of resources available to Iowa businesses. One of the roles of CIRAS is help companies connect with the right one of those resources at the right time. The Small Business Administration (SBA) is one entity with which CIRAS partners a great deal.
Iowa State’s Cordray, Sebranek Named to Meat Industry Hall of Fame
Two Iowa State University professors have been named 2016 inductees to the national Meat Industry Hall of Fame. Joseph Cordray and Joseph Sebranek, professors in the Department of Animal Science, are slated to be honored along with five other industry leaders at the International Production and Processing Expo in Atlanta on January 31, 2017.
Account Manager Spotlight: Derek Thompson
CIRAS account managers know a lot about Iowa businesses. Here are a few questions and answers to help you learn a little more about them:
U.S. Dept. of Commerce partners with CIRAS to help Iowa Manufacturers
AMES, Iowa – Iowa manufacturers are projected to receive up to $37 million in research-based, business-improving services over the next 10 years after U.S. Dept. of Commerce officials on Friday moved to renew the department’s longstanding relationship with Iowa State University’s Center for Industrial Research and Service (CIRAS). The award means CIRAS will continue to serve as Iowa’s affiliate of the National Institute for Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Manufacturers Extension Partnership (MEP), a nationwide network of centers created to enhance the performance of U.S. manufacturing. Through this partnership, CIRAS will continue providing services to help small- to mid-sized manufacturers improve their businesses and will add new services to help all Iowa manufacturers navigate rapidly changing technologies and business models.
Snapshot of Iowa’s Information Sector
[ONE OF CIRAS' REGULAR LOOKS AT A SECTOR OF THE IOWA ECONOMY. (By Liesl Eathington)]
Partner Spotlight: Iowa Association of Business and Industry
One of CIRAS' points of pride is our outstanding network of partners. We believe they are critical to the health of businesses in Iowa, and we just don't talk about them often enough. So, today we're launching a new regular feature to help showcase our great partners and the amazing things they do.
Iowa FIRST LEGO® League Close to Top in Per Capita Participation
Iowa now ranks second nationwide in per capita youth membership on a FIRST LEGO League (FLL) team. Yet, even with another year of explosive growth in Iowa youth getting a STEM boost through research and robots, Camille Schroeder, director of K–12 outreach programs at Iowa State University’s College of Engineering, said the participation milestone does not mean that Iowa’s FLL program has stopped recruiting students and mentors. “We want to be able to provide this experience for any youth who wants it,” Schroeder said.
CIRAS Service Highlight: Growth
You hear it a lot around Iowa: "I want to double in size in the next 5 years." "I just need one new OEM customer."