Impact Dakota Blog is a blog dedicated to supporting North Dakota’s manufacturing community improve People, Purpose, Processes and Performance. Entries provide information on opportunities, new ideas, quick tips, celebrations of success, and well, frankly, anything to help you become a better manufacturer.
Manufacturing is a cornerstone of North Dakota’s economy, with a workforce of over 27,000 individuals shaping the future through innovation, technology, and hard work. On September 27, 2024, the Greater North Dakota Chamber (GNDC), in partnership with Impact Dakota, will host a special luncheon to celebrate these contributions, coinciding with Manufacturing Day.
Since the pandemic much has changed in terms of marketing for manufacturers. Driven by younger, digitally savvy staff, many of those changes look like they’re here to stay. But social media channels only go so far to connect you with potential clients, mentors, or industry experts. In-person networking remains a powerful force for building relationships and finding opportunities in the manufacturing sector.
“There is a tremendous opportunity for women to influence the manufacturing industry in a positive way,” says Lisa Dach, the strategic business advisor at the Northwest Industrial Resource Center (NWIRC), part of the Pennsylvania MEP and the MEP National Network. “Women in leadership improve the recruiting and retention efforts of manufacturers.”
Dach is making her mark in the industry by creating and implementing solutions for Pennsylvania manufacturers, including improving processes and increasing efficiencies.
What is quantum technology, and why the interest?
Making these technologies more widely available could unlock the potential for new areas of large-scale R&D and ultimately new business applications.
For Alyssa Rodrigues, director of the Alaska Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), helping women achieve success in manufacturing is more than a job, it’s a calling. Alyssa says diversity is important to the future of manufacturing, especially when it comes to including women at the leadership level. Alyssa’s efforts go beyond empowering women. The Alaska MEP is helping smaller manufacturers and startups make connections in the state to become part of a larger, wealth-building community. “Manufacturing is one of those industries where you can start out making a living wage,” she says. “Those living wage jobs can build generational wealth and change long-term family outcomes.”
Federal child labor laws prohibit the employment of kids under the age of 16 in any workplace where goods are manufactured. Safe first jobs allow young people to develop skills, earn money, and gain valuable experience—these are the kinds of good jobs that can put young workers on the path to good careers. For the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division, protecting children in the workplace has always been and continues to be a top priority.
The connectivity of Industry 4.0 brings manufacturers many benefits, but the cost of protecting critical systems and data cannot be an afterthought. This is why cybersecurity should be one of the first things to consider with any technology investment. Manufacturers secure their facilities from intruders, and they would be wise to do the same for their operational technology (OT), data, and connectivity.
As manufacturers look to expand their talent pool, one often overlooked demographic is second chance citizens – people who were previously incarcerated and are ready to return to the workforce. These individuals often bring valuable skills and a willingness to learn and grow with your company.
Manufacturers have seen success with more than 80% of managers report that the value these workers bring to companies is just as high as the value that their employees without criminal records provide, according to the Manufacturing Institute. Promising outcomes like these are why the Purdue Manufacturing Extension Partnership’s (Indiana MEP Center) training program, Manufacturing Skills for Success (MS4S), has resonated with second chance citizens.
When a foreign company wants to manufacture goods in the U.S., it needs new domestic suppliers for just about everything. When such an initiative involves new technology, it creates even more opportunities for a regional ecosystem and associated supply chains.
As part of a series celebrating and sharing the stories of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander manufacturing leaders, MEP Acting Director G. Nagesh Rao, a self-professed “Lego nerd”, shares how he got interested in manufacturing, what he likes most about it, and the importance of his work helping U.S. manufacturers succeed.
“The MEP National Network, with an MEP Center in every state and Puerto Rico, helps make that magic possible. It’s a center of gravity for those various manufacturing innovation ecosystems. It’s infectious and exciting to me to be an architect helping bring about a better tomorrow here in America.”