NEWS & UPDATES IN THE WORLD OF GROWTH AND INNOVATION
Announcing the NEW Innovation Engineering Management System 2.0 - On April 29 and 30, the Eureka! Ranch in Cincinnati, Ohio held the first Innovation Engineering International Conference where the next generation of Innovation Engineering tools were revealed. Patricia Giavara, VMEC Assistant Director and Innovation Engineering Black Belt, and Lisa Henderson, VMEC Professional Manufacturing and Business Growth Advisor, attended on behalf of VMEC.
Some of the highlights include the following:
1. The data is clear: companies that want to innovate need to change their culture and Innovation Engineering gives them the tools and a system to do that.
2. Technology Mining is the best stimulus for new innovations.
3. The data shows that making and improving early revenue projections is a key to getting new innovations to market.
4. A new teaching technique called Cycles to Mastery TM was reviewed. Cycles to Mastery is a patent pending teaching process for Innovation Engineering that has been developed by Eureka! Ranch and the University of Maine; it has shown a 200 - 400% improvement in learning-based testing at the University of Maine since last fall. The process starts by watching short videos. Participants are required to answer short quizzes about the material before they can move on, where they practice applying the Create, Communicate and Commercialize concepts in the workshops that follow compared to the classic classroom method of teaching.
5. A new tool called Idea Scan was unveiled. It is a tool that can give immediate feedback on how new and different your innovation really is.
6. To be taught by Innovation Engineering Black Belts (from VMEC), a new Innovation Engineering Green Belt program was officially announced.
If would like to learn more about the next generation of the Innovation Engineering process, contact Patricia (pgiavara@vmec.org / (802) 279-6103) or Lisa (lhenderson@vmec.org / (802) 299-1456).
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DID YOU KNOW VMEC OFFERS...extended on-site resources? In addition to our well known workshops and on-site training with kaizen events, we often find companies who could use on-site expertise for a more extended period. This support has ranged from 2-5 days per week over several weeks or months. VMEC can supply a client-specific resource, depending on the need. Our diverse and experienced team enables us to supply the right resource for your situation. Many companies have found it is better to "rent an expert" from VMEC when a short term problem arises. Some examples of VMEC extended projects include: - Project manager and project engineer
- Interim manager or supervisor
- On-site resources for new equipment selection, installation, start up and training of personnel
- IT support, MRP integration, database structure and organization
- Lean supervision, on-site coaching and mentoring
- Support for Quality Management Systems
- Plant layout and work cell design
- Work instruction development
- Evaluation and revision of existing documentation
- Kanban design and implementation
VMEC can help you with specific problems and opportunities. Contact us today at (802) 728-1432 or vmec@vmec.org.
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VMEC PROGRAMS AND EVENTS - Check out where we'll be this summer and check back soon, too, as the Fall 2013 schedule is being developed now!
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ABOUT VMEC - Click here to learn more about us... About VMEC
The VMEC Team
Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center
email: vmec@vmec.org * phone: (802) 728-1432 * web:www.vmec.org
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