Strengthening American Manufacturing

Strengthening American Manufacturing

The Role of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership: Summary of a Symposium

  • Author: Wessner, Charles W.
  • Publisher: National Academies Press
  • ISBN: 9780309285063
  • eISBN Pdf: 9780309285070
  • eISBN Epub: 9780309285094
  • Place of publication:  United States
  • Year of digital publication: 2013
  • Month: September
  • Pages: 173
  • Language: English

The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)—a program of the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)—has sought for more than two decades to strengthen American manufacturing. It is a national network of affiliated manufacturing extension centers and field offices located throughout all fifty states and Puerto Rico. Qualified MEP Centers work directly with small and medium manufacturing firms in their state or sub-state region, providing expertise, services and assistance directed to foster growth, improve supply chain positioning, leverage emerging technologies, upgrade manufacturing processes, develop work force training, and apply and implement new information.

Strengthening American Manufacturing: The Role of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership is the summary of a symposium convened to review current operations and some of the recent MEP initiatives in the broader context of global manufacturing trends and the opportunities for high-value manufacturing companies. Business leaders, academic experts, and state and federal officials addressed the metrics and impacts of MEP and identified potential areas of improvement. The meeting drew attention to the scale and focuses of MEP, and highlighted the role it plays in supporting and enabling U.S. manufacturers to compete more effectively in the global marketplace. This report includes an overview of key issues raised at this workshop and a detailed summary of the conference presentations.

  • Cover
  • Front Matter
  • I: OVERVIEW
  • Overview
  • II: PROCEEDINGS
  • Welcome
  • The National Academies Evaluation of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership
  • Revitalizing American Manufacturing
  • Panel I: Introduction to the Manufacturing Extension Partnership: System Development and Strategic Orientation
  • Panel II: A Differentiated Program: New Center Initiatives
  • Panel III: Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and High-Value Manufacturing
  • Panel IV: Measuring Success: Assessment and the Demands of the New Strategy
  • MEP Roundtable: Group Discussion on Industrial, Policy and Operational Challenges Facing the MEP
  • III: APPENDIXES
  • Appendix A: Agenda
  • Appendix B: Biographies of Speakers
  • Appendix C: Participants List
  • Appendix D: Bibliography

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