Developing new models of manufacturing Sunday, August 13, 2006 Some strong advice about manufacturing: A consultant in Michigan advises the folks in Macomb County to leverage their strengths in manufacturing. Read more. For years, we have been confronting the consequences of a failed diagnosis: that manufacturing is "dying". Manufacturing is not dying, it is changing. Smart manufacturing companies are moving to high productivity business models based on networks -- with customers, research organizatioons, training partners, strategic partners, customers, teams of employees. Manufacturing based on stand-alone organizations producing stable runs of commodity products -- the old model of manufacturing -- are dying. This is not new. These facilities have been vulnerable for over twenty years. (Indeed, I got into the field of economic development after working as a consultant to General Electric. My assignments involved helping to build a global manufacturing network in product lines like appliances and electric motors. In reality, I spent a lot of my time recommending the shutdown of U.S. plants.) Old line manufacturing operations will continue to wither, because they cannot learn and adapt fast enough. (You can figure out which manufacturing facilities are in trouble in your region by asking about their business model: Who does the company partner with? How many new products have they introduced in the last three years? Does the plant manager know the employees on a first name basis or is work organized around more rigid job classifications and hierarchical reporting? These are all predictors of whether the company is flexible and adaptive.) At Purdue, we are focusing our WIRED project (Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development) on developing new regional models of high performance production. That's where the future lies for places like Macomb County. posted by Ed Morrison |		This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. links Some Background on EDPro Weblog The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it. One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information. So, spread the word...Share the knowledge. Tell a friend about EDPro Weblog. If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site: Here's the link if you are a bloglines subscriber: Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking. Background on Ed Morrison Download some background information on me here.

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