VERMONT MANUFACTURING EXTENSION CENTER

Providing Systems and Solutions to help
Vermont Manufacturers Innovate, Plan, Perform and Grow
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VMEC E-NEWS BRIEFS - ISSUE 15 - JUNE 2015
Greetings! 

Thank you for your interest in our periodic e-newsletters, VMEC "E-News Briefs".  As you know, we cover a range of topics for manufacturers and other enterprises that desire to learn and implement systems and solutions to accelerate sustainable and profitable growth marked by performance excellence.  To submit feedback, comments or suggest future content, e-mail vmec@vmec.org. 

Thank you!
OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE AND CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT 

MFG Day and Month returns to VT on October 2 and runs   throughout the month of October 2015 It's time to begin making plans for this growing annual event in Vermont and across the nation.  Last year over 1,600 activities took place nationwide celebrating modern manufacturing by educating and inspiring future workforce generations of U.S. manufacturers.  There are many ways to become involved - HOST an event, ATTEND an event, SPONSOR and/ or SHARE your company's manufacturing story.  Still not sure if this is for you?  Tune in to "Getting Involved", a valuable webinar that was presented earlier this month that describes the importance of manufacturing and the reasons why MFG DAY is so critical to the industry. In addition, it covers how to get your event registered as part of the official national calendar of activities and introduces the most important Host Resources. This link will take you to the presentation page where you may view the webinar in its entirety or download the presentation slideshow.  MFG Day organizers plan to offer another webinar this summer with information and tips for educators, as well as examples of what some manufacturers have done with their open house tours.

Also, check out "What Manufacturing Really Looks Like: Celebrating Manufacturing Day 2015", a great blog post by Cerasis, a freight and logistics solution provider, on MFG Day and MEP's updated infographic.

If you need ideas about what other Vermont companies have done in the past, including opening their company doors, contact Robynn Albert, VMEC Marketing and Training Manager, at (802) 793-2078 or ralbert@vmec.org.  This event is a great way to educate Vermonters about manufacturing and also help recruit a new generation of Vermont workers. 



VMEC would like to recognize and congratulate the recent U.S. Small Business Administration 2015 award winners.  Monica Greene, President and CEO of Vermont Precision Tools, was named 2015 Vermont Small Business Person of the Year earlier this month at a celebration co-hosted by Vermont Business Magazine. Monica and the company have been recognized by the U.S. Small Business Administration for VPT's employment growth, financial success, company expansion and community involvement.  The other 2015 Vermont winners are: Gordon Clements and Kelly Conklin, Gordon's Window Decor as the Family-Owned Business of the Year; Amy Mattinat, Auto Craftsmen, as the Woman-Owned Business of the Year; Allison Wright, O.W.L. Food as the Young Entrepreneur of the Year; Dawn Russell, Artisan Web and Print of Vermont as the Micro-Enterprise of the Year and Bill Hanf, Green Mountain Avionics as the Veteran-Owned Business of the Year.

INNOVATION, GROWTH AND TECHNOLOGY ACCELERATION 

"Vermont manufacturing at a pivotal point" John Burton, NPI President, explains how New England has a competitive advantage in advanced manufacturing over any other region in the world.  John serves on the VMEC Advisory Board. (Source: Burlington Free Press)

InnovationNews.com Designed to help change the world by enabling innovation by everyone, everywhere, every day resulting in increased speed to market and decreased risk.  Sign up today to receive this FREE blog in your in box. 

WORKFORCE STRATEGIES AND TALENT DEVELOPMENT 

VT ExporTech Winter/ Spring 2016 
As we have nearly completed our third 
exportechlogo ExporTech series program, we're looking ahead to our fourth session series in early 2016. While specific dates and the venue have not been finalized (but we know the session will take place in Chittenden County), we wanted to make you aware of its next offering.  

Why ExporTech? This is THE ONLY national program that can assist you in developing an Exporting Plan with an opportunity to connect with world-class experts who specialize in the export industry.  This program will help you accelerate profitable export sales, save you many hours of work and help avoid unnecessary costs and potential headaches. Read here how the program can begin or accelerate your exporting goals.  Once the venue and dates are finalized, we'll post this information on our web site, so be sure to check back soon.  Also, we plan to offer two FREE webinars to introduce you to the program; these will be held early and mid-fall and will also be posted on our web site. 

Summer / Fall Sampler Series being developed for YOU! Come experience the bounty of new topics and opportunities to learn with VMEC.  This series of short introductory presentations will help you understand if learning more is right for you and your company. Not limited to but including the following are what we have planned for this summer and fall; each session will be 2 - 4 hours in length and take place as a breakfast or lunch offering for a nominal fee. Sign-up and session details will soon be posted on our web site. 

1) ISO 9001:2015 - This intro will cover changes taking place to the standard...are you ready??  The schedule release date is intended to be in late 2015. There will be structural changes, but many of the same requirements exist but have simply been reorganized. The reasoning behind this restructure is to align all future ISO management system standards. Organizations that have multiple management systems will find it much easier to align and integrate the requirements for varied standards such as ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 27001, etc.

2) Technology Scouting and TDMI - Technology Scouting uses a systematic approach to help manufacturing clients find existing technology solutions for their unmet company needs.  This system helps small and mid-sized manufacturers identify solutions in industries outside of their normal view - bringing a broader perspective, additional resources, new fields and unexpected solutions. 

Technology-Driven Market Intelligence (TDMI) is a growth service that provides a systematic and comprehensive approach to technology-focused market intelligence. Specifically, TDMI identifies the benefits and the market impacts related to your company's technology-based asset (e.g., idea, product, process, capability) and provides the customized actionable intelligence you need.

3) Six Sigma Green Belt - Want to increase the effectiveness of your company's process improvement teams? This session will introduce you how to analyze and solve quality problems or enhance other quality improvement projects. If there is enough interest, VMEC will consider adding Six Sigma Green Belt training to its listing of regular public and/ or on-site training offerings. 

4) Innovation Engineering Express - Moving forward based on the success of this program delivered in May at Burton Snowboards by Doug Hall from VMEC partner Eureka! Ranch, we'll take you through an inspiring live demonstrative event that will let you see, feel and touch what it's like to be part of a high performance innovation team that can outpace the competition in today's fast changing world.  Innovation Engineering Express provides an overview of 4 college semesters of Innovation Engineering content in just 4 hours!! 

RESOURCES FOR VERMONT MANUFACTURERS 

Manufactured in Vermont September 24 Join the Vermont Chamber of Commerce and VMEC as a Silver Sponsor of the event featuring exhibitors in the industry, network matchmaking, seminars and much more. Stop by Booth #210! Not registered your booth yet?  Visit the Exhibitor Registration page at this link. 

As an attendee, plan on a day filled with: 
  • A B2B event for manufacturers, OEMs and sub-contractors for contacts and contracts
  • B2B Supply Chain Meetings, 100 Exhibitors, US and Canadian Primes, Workshops, Niche Networking and Exhibits
  • Aerospace, Aviation, Automotive, Defense, Industrial, Medical, Naval & Marine, Space, Transportation, and more; contact Chris Carrigan, Vice President of Business Development at the Chamber offices, (802) 223-0904 or ccarrigan@vtchamber.com for further information. 
The SEED program links seniors in the Electrical Engineering (EE) and Mechanical Engineering (ME) programs with the best Vermont and New England businesses. If you have a design problem that is in need of a solution, engineering support for that idea that you've wanted to get off the ground for a while at the same time seeking future employees, this program is for you! Contact John E. Novotny, Ph.D., University of Vermont, School of Engineering, (802) 656-8562 or 97jnovot@uvm.edu. 

Champlain Maker Faire September 26 & 27 Create, innovate, use new tools and modern equipment to engineer and make "stuff"!  New this year is the "Business Maker Innovation Award". If you have cool projects you want to show off, APPLY HERE! The top 12 projects will be exhibited at the Champlain Maker Faire. One will be selected as the top CMMF Innovation Award.


ABOUT VMEC - Click here to learn more about us. 
 
The VMEC Team  
Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center  
 
email: vmec@vmec.org * phone: (802) 728-1432 * web:www.vmec.org
 

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