Federal grants and awards reinforce the efforts of CIRAS to achieve its goal to “enhance the performance of industry through applied research, education, and technical assistance.” Here’s a list of some recent awards and how they’re being used to help CIRAS in its work with Iowa companies. More than $745,000 has been received from the … Continue reading For The Record
An Ankeny-based rehabilitation facility has partnered with CIRAS to develop a cost-effective solution to an everyday challenge faced by some of the people it serves. On With Life (OWL) works with people who have sustained a traumatic brain injury, stroke, concussion, or other neurological disease. Many of the people it serves use wheelchairs and have … Continue reading 3D Printing Devices Ease Everyday Challenges
Fox River produces high-performance socks at a plant in Osage. The company has increased sales, invested in new equipment, and added jobs since implementing a new sales approach based on a Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) model. The Osage manufacturer has seen revenues increase by $1.5 million since updating their sales approach with a TCO … Continue reading Sales Grow After Rethinking Supply Chain Costs
A global supplier of vending equipment and services turned to CIRAS last year for advice on maintaining quality customer support during the pandemic. CIRAS suggested implementing an augmented reality (AR) tool provided by TeamViewer. The solution proved so effective the company plans to use it after pandemic concerns subside. “One of our biggest concerns early … Continue reading Enhance Customer Value with Augmented Reality
By Ron Cox Iowa is one of the best states in the country at leveraging our workforce population. We have historically low unemployment (4th best over three decades) and historically high labor force participation rates (5th best). Iowans’ willingness to work is a great state strength, yet we continue to have labor force shortages that … Continue reading Growing in a Labor Shortage
The COVID-19 pandemic taught Iowa companies many things about their operations, but perhaps the greatest lesson was the need to develop more resiliency to better handle business disruptions regardless of their origin. To help companies with preparedness, CIRAS hosted a series of business resiliency webinars last spring on 19 topics ranging from building resiliency in … Continue reading Webinars Address Need for Resiliency
A record-breaking 120 companies and organizations were represented at the 10th annual CIRAS Iowa Lean Consortium (ILC) conference October 26 and 27. More than 320 people participated in the event either in person or online. The conference featured two keynote speakers and more than a dozen breakout sessions. “We were very pleased by the response … Continue reading Hybrid ILC Conference Draws Record Number of Businesses
The Iowa Economic Development Authority’s 2020 Manufacturing 4.0 plan identified five key strategies focused on preparing Iowa’ s manufacturers for the fourth industrial revolution, in which the physical and digital elements of factories become fully integrated. As global manufacturing transforms, it is critical that manufacturers apply technology to fill existing workforce gaps and create new, … Continue reading Iowa Manufacturers use Grant to Invest in Technology
By: Mary Zimmerman Certain government programs, such as Small Business Administration (SBA) loan programs and contracting opportunities, are reserved for small businesses. To qualify, businesses must satisfy the SBA’s definition of a small business concern, along with the size standards for small business. SBA sets the size standards for businesses by industry using either revenue … Continue reading Did You Know? New SBA Business Size Standards Rule
Mark Facile has joined CIRAS as a project manager specializing in productivity. Mark holds a bachelor’s degree in manufacturing engineering from Iowa State University and a master of business administration from Drake University. He joins CIRAS after spending more than 27 years in manufacturing, using his broad engineering experience to improve process efficiencies and drive … Continue reading CIRAS News: Meet Mark Facile