So, how to you feel about the future of Iowa manufacturing? What’s your greatest worry about the future of your industry? Are you ready to meet the challenges ahead?
CIRAS will be asking all these questions and more as part of a wide-ranging survey that will launch in June. The survey, along with some in-depth company panel discussions, is part of a regular process CIRAS uses to assess the needs of Iowa manufacturers.
Iowa’s ISO-certified manufacturers face a looming deadline that many aren’t completely ready for, experts say.
Remember that change in the ISO certification requirements that you’ve been ignoring for two years? It’s going to become mandatory beginning September 2018 – so now is the time for to start getting serious.
“Most Iowa manufacturers have been procrastinating,” said CIRAS project manager Rudy Pruszko. “I don’t know of anybody who’s completely switched over to the 2015 standard, but a lot of them are now working on it.”
CIRAS government contracting specialists know a lot about Iowa businesses. Here are a few questions and answers to help you learn a little more about them:
Mark Baker eventually concluded that government contracting was worth a shot.
No, the CEO of Des Moines-based Endless Supplies Corporation acknowledged, it was probably not going to become his company’s primary business strategy. Becker still has difficulty reconciling the fast-moving, products-always-changing world of information technology with sometimes-lengthy government procurement processes. But after a full day at the Iowa Events Center last fall spent hopping between educational presentations and asking questions of the speakers, Becker concluded that Endless Supplies ought to at least get certified so his company can show that it’s ready and able to do business with the government.
A partnership between the American Welding Society’s Iowa Section and CIRAS’ problem-solving metallurgists led to record attendance at an April event aimed at educating engineers about the best ways to design long-lasting products.
Gov. Terry Branstad, Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds and a host of other Iowa governmental and business leaders have unveiled a plan to boost Iowa factories during a “Year of Manufacturing.”
The Year of Manufacturing initiative, which was announced in January during Branstad’s Condition of the State address, is designed to be a 12-month, concentrated focus on improving Iowa’s manufacturing Gross Domestic Product. Led by the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA), the Iowa Association of Business and Industry (ABI) and CIRAS, business leaders plan to fan out across the state to visit with companies and make certain that each firm is aware of the resources available to help them improve.
An Iowa manufacturer of wheelchair wheels and caster forks has begun selling stronger and lighter versions of those products—thanks partly to CIRAS’ help in testing and refining what the company describes as “the world’s first carbon fiber wheel set.”
Ottumwa-based Frog Legs Inc., which has sold aluminum wheelchair wheels and suspensions since 1997, began selling a new carbon fiber version of its products earlier this year.
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:
Continuing our sustainability theme in line with Earth Day on April 22, today, we’re highlighting one of our newest partners, the Iowa Sustainable Business Forum (ISBF).
Iowa manufacturers need help developing strategies, exploring new markets, implementing proven ways of dealing with workforce constraints, and wielding technology as a competitive advantage.