ANN ARBOR, MI – November 28, 2011. The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) “No-Mask Electroplating” Project was awarded first place in the “Great Ideas Competition” at SAE’s 2011 DoD Maintenance Symposium and Exhibition in Fort Worth, Texas. The annual symposium brings together thousands of government and industry representatives to exchange ideas to improve maintenance practices and procedures.

Modernization of metal electroplating with no-mask conforming anodes is an innovative NCMS R&D project that sought to address issues around electroplating such as the extensive time it takes to mask parts, inaccuracies, inefficiencies and working with plating baths which are highly toxic. NCMS collaborated with government and industry to find a single, powerful solution to eliminate masking labor, achieve faster plating times, and improve uniformity of deposits.

“The results of this project are nothing less than astonishing,” said Bill Chenevert, NCMS Program Manager for the project, “we took this 100 year old process and gave it a technologically advanced overhaul saving money, time and the environment.”

The project resulted in a:

• 95% reduction in pre-plating part preparation
• 45% reduction in plating time
• 50% increase in plating tank capacity, improving overall throughput
• $2,220,000 in immediate annual savings from the pilot parts alone

Collaborative participants on this award winning project included the Corpus Christi Army Depot (CCAD), the Fleet Readiness Center (FRC) Southwest and Advanced Tooling Corporation (ATC). The project was funded through NCMS’ Commercial Technologies for Maintenance Activities (CTMA) program.

The team estimates that if No-Mask Conforming Anodes were deployed across the Department of Defense (DoD) over $50 Million in savings could potentially be realized with overall process improvement times of 35-50%.

The positive impact on the environment is also substantial. No-mask conforming anodes are fully reusable. The technology completely eliminates the mountains of tape, wax and other maskants – all of which must be disposed of as hazardous waste, where even brief exposure could lead to serious health complications.

About NCMS:
The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences, the largest cross industry collaborative Research & Development consortium in North America, is dedicated to driving innovation in commercial, defense, robotics and environmentally sustainable manufacturing. NCMS has over 25 years of experience in the formation and management of complex, multi-partner collaborative R&D programs, and is backed by corporate members representing virtually every manufacturing sector. For more information on NCMS, visit http://www.ncms.org/

About CTMA:
The lifesaving Commercial Technologies for Maintenance Activities (CTMA) program is a Department of Defense supported NCMS initiative that ensures American troops and their equipment are ready to face any situation, with the most up-to-date and best-maintained platforms and tools on earth.

The post NCMS Electroplating Project Wins Great Ideas Competition appeared first on National Center for Manufacturing Sciences.

VetCA was developed with the assistance of the American Veterinary Medical Association to provide veterinarians with everything they need to know about meeting environmental regulatory obligations.

VetCA includes tools, references, links, and best practices, designed to uncomplicate the maze of environmental regulations facing vets. VetCA covers hazardous material/waste, medical waste, carcass disposal, facility issues, and more.

VetCA is the latest in a series of online environmental compliance assistance centers (CACs) created by NCMS in cooperation with the EPA to help various industries understand and manage environmental regulations that may impact them.  See http://www.assistancecenters.net/ for a complete listing of CACs now available to the public.

Visit Vet CA at http://www.vetca.org/

For more information, contact Bill Chenevert wchenevert@ncms.org, Administrative Director, (734) 995-7989.

The post NCMS partners with EPA to Launch Veterinary Compliance Resource Center appeared first on National Center for Manufacturing Sciences.

Dana Ellis, Project Manager for “Environmentally Friendly Hot Cutting Solutions,” assists in the assembly of a fixture which will be used for evaluation of opacity generated by a variety of hot cutting techniques, at partner facility Edison Welding Institute.

Work has begun to develop new methods to reduce emissions during the breakup and recycling of the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Enterprise in 2016. The Enterprise is 89,600 tons full load; 1101 feet long, has a flight deck 252 feet wide, and a 133 foot beam. It is so big it dwarfs the largest drydock in Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, which is the Navy’s only organic site for breaking ships. If current oxy-fuel cutting methods alone are used to break it, environmental issues are certain to prolong the breaking process.

Oxy-Fuel cutting is currently the most commonly used method for large scale metal cutting and preparation operations, e.g. ship breaking. While this method is both cost effective and efficient it also creates large quantities of visible emissions, metal fumes and debris. This has led to compliance issues with air pollution and clean water requirements. Known alternative methods available at this time are nowhere near as efficient.

Test cut using MagneGas- a green natural gas for metal cutting

Safely dismantling and recycling any large ship poses a unique environmental challenge but special care must be taken when working on a nuclear powered vessel.

NCMS has formed a collaborative team to develop a new solution for the US Navy to use on these large ship breaking projects.

The post Environmentally Friendly Cutting Solutions Project Update appeared first on National Center for Manufacturing Sciences.

Winner Collaborative Team Small Business Category
While people may not pause to consider electroplating, the fact is, today’s world would be impossible without it. Cadmium, Zinc, Gold, Silver, Platinum, Titanium, Chrome; those and many more are integral to our daily lives.  Despite a role in every aspect of modern society, the process and technology for metal electroplating has gone largely unchanged for the past 100 years. While safety and environmental hazards have been slightly reduced, electroplating remains a toxic, wasteful, inefficient, time consuming process.

The basic electroplating process consists of taking a base part and carefully mask off any areas needing protection from the plating process, using tape and wax. Then insert it into a metal-containing solution, apply electricity around a metallic anode, and wait.   Hours or days later the part is plated.

Time consuming (masking takes hours and requires the best platers in a shop), inefficient (as much as 90% of the electrical power used to plate is wasted), dangerous (plating baths can be incredibly toxic, as is used maskant). There simply has to be a better way.

Working in tandem with CCAD and FRC West engineers, ATC, and CAI Resources, NCMS managed an innovative R&D project that sought to address the cost and environmental issues with a single, powerful solution. The project’s outcome is a completely unique approach. Called No Mask Conforming Anodes, it eliminates the masking step altogether. Each is custom-made to the part it will plate, acid-proof PVC masking is incorporated into the anode itself, which is configured to the specific part shape. This increases speed and uniformity of the metal deposit. Areas not to be plated remain protected and do not electrically communicate with the plating bath. Parts can even be plated outside a tank, with plating fluid pumped through at high speed to realize an optimal metal coat with almost no danger of hydrogen embrittlement, and reduced energy and toxic chemical usage through the elimination of typical in-tank processing facility.

During this three-phase project, the team designed and implemented several no-mask anodes for hard chromium and nickel plated parts. The particular parts were selected based on their volume, long plating cycles, labor-intensive masking and machining, and relatively high reject/rework rates.  Additionally, one part, the CH-47 Chinook Rotor Blade Tip, was selected because no repair process existed at all, so damaged parts were discarded and replaced at a cost of $258,000 annually.
By the end of the project, the new tooling developed during the course of the work had been incorporated into the each of the facility’s electroplating operations, with new tooling also provided to Warner Robbins, Aniston, and Cherry Point.

Pilots for these no-mask anodes were conducted at CCAD and FRC Southwest, and the results were nothing short of astonishing:

• 95% reduction in pre-plating part preparation
• 45% reduction in plating time
• 78% reduction in scrap or reject parts
• 50% increase in plating tank capacity, improving overall throughput
• $990,000 in immediate savings from the two most recent pilot parts tested alone

As impressive as these achievements are, one final item must not be forgotten: the technology completely eliminates the mountains of used maskant, which had to be disposed of as hazardous waste so toxic that even brief exposure could lead to serious injury or environmental catastrophe. The overall reduction in hazardous waste at the Depots is enormous.

The team estimates that if No-Mask Conforming Anodes were deployed across the DoD, a savings of over $50,000,000 could result over the next three years alone, with an overall process time improvement of 35-50%, all translating into improved readiness for the warfighter.  As a direct result of this CTMA project, Anniston, Cherry Point, Warner Robins and FRC East have been provided production-ready tooling which has generated an additional $7,280,000 savings to date.

The post 2010 NCAT DME Award Winner appeared first on National Center for Manufacturing Sciences.

Team Michigan, consisting of Robotics Technology Consortium (RTC) members the University of Michigan and SoarTech, took first place in the Multi Autonomous Ground-robotic International Challenge (MAGIC) 2010 recently held in Australia.  SoarTech supported the team by developing SHADE (Spatial Highlights for Analysis of Data and Events), a 3D situational awareness display that notified operators of interesting and critical events while also giving an overview of the space the robots were exploring. The team’s 14 autonomous robots built by University of Michigan students mostly from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, won a $750,000 grant for finishing in first place out of five teams in the final round of the contest.

Team Michigan (Edwin Olson, Robert Goeddel, Pradeep Ranganathan, Andrew Richardson, Ryan Morton, Mihai Bulic, Johannes Strom, Andrew Dallas- VP, Soar Technology)

MAGIC, which stands for Multi Autonomous Ground-robotic International Challenge, initially involved 23 teams. The competition took place in stages over more than two years and was sponsored by the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command’s Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) and its Australian counterpart.

Congratulations to RTC Board Member Andy Dallas for helping guide the Team Michigan to victory which reaffirms the reputation of Michigan companies and organizations as leaders in the creation of innovative ground robotics technology.

The post Team Michigan Wins International Robotics Competition appeared first on National Center for Manufacturing Sciences.

NCMS recently collected its R&D 100 award for its Volumetric Accuracy for Large Machine Tools (VALMT) project, which pioneered an innovative process in volumetric error compensation for large machine tools.  NCMS has won five R&D 100 Awarda which are recognized as the “Oscars of Innovation,” and honor excellence in high technology products.

Learn More about VALMT

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The Rock Island Arsenal sponsored an open house on November 2, 2010 to highlight Aspire Solutions, Inc (ASI) data capture project sponsored by NCMS.  This project provides high quality document scanning combined with meta-data capture designed to simplify document management and make it easy to share documents across the enterprise.

Converting paper into digital files only provides a partial solution.  Many companies stop just after scanning the document, but ASI takes it a step further and offers extremely high quality, full color digital documentation  Unlike traditional services, ASI extracts information from the document using automated metadata capturing heuristics to make locating a file easy.  The document is then transformed into a text searchable file utilizing Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology, which allows the user to search for any keyword in the entire file.  The file is then optimized in order to minimize the file size and drastically reduce storage space costs.

Major General Kurt Stein, commander of the US Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command, attended the open house and saw many applications and benefits of the ASI data capture project both for RIA and the entire Army.  The open house was also attended by senior RIA leadership who were updated on the project’s progress and shown examples of the information being captured.

The benefits of ASI’s document scanning and data capture process go beyond just transforming paper filing cabinets into a digital format.  The documents are instantly available throughout the system, which can reduce cycle time and improve customer service.  The table to the left highlights key features and attributes of the ASI toolset.  ASI has the capability to scan many different file times including propriety (PII) sensitive material.  It is cost effective and ensures 100% visibility and accountability of all paper documentation.

For more information on Aspire Solutions, Inc. please contact: info@aspiresolns.com

The post Rock Island Arsenal Sponsors Aspire Solutions, Inc Open House appeared first on National Center for Manufacturing Sciences.

NCMS President & CEO Rick Jarman recently spoke about the power of collaboration at the 2010 Great Lakes Manufacturing Forum recently held in Montreal, Canada.  The event sponsored by the Great Lakes Manufacturing Council in partnership with the Quebec Industrial Research Association (ADRIQ) helped promote new approaches to collaboration and innovation to help drive regional growth.

Rick spoke about the NCMS collaboration model which regularly results in award winning technical innovations.  The NCMS model brings together developers, integrators, and end users to produce practical innovations whose success lies at the intersection of talent, investment and infrastructure.

Other key points from his presentation:

• Everyone has to have skin in the game.
• Collaboration reduces the risks associated with Innovation.
• There is a dramatic shift in R&D spending. smaller companies are picking up the baton from the larger companies.
• NCMS is working hard to bring High Performance Computing and its modeling and simulating capability to the tier 1 and tier 2 suppliers to OEMs.
• “Water is the next Oil.”

The post NCMS Collaboration Featured at the 2010 Great Lakes Manufacturing Forum appeared first on National Center for Manufacturing Sciences.

NCMS has the capability to create similar videos for your organization.  If you want help reaching your customers please contact:

NCMS Educational Services General Manager Bill Chenevert at (734) 995-7989 or billc@ncms.org

The post 2010 Modern Day Marine Video appeared first on National Center for Manufacturing Sciences.

The Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition is an international business plan competition which highlights Michigan as a robust and vibrant venue

for innovation and business opportunity. The competition fuels innovation-based business growth by uncovering the best and brightest new business concepts from local and global entrepreneurs, exposing those opportunities to potential investment capital and fostering their growth within Michigan.

Billed as the largest the business plan competition, The Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition is open to any early stage business from anywhere around the world.  But in order to receive the prize money, businesses do need to be resident or move to headquarter in Michigan.

The deadline for business entries is TUESDAY OCTOBER 12, 2010.

Sectors of emphasis:

• Advanced Materials
• Advanced Transportation
• Alternative Energy
• Defense & Homeland Security
• Information Technology
• Life Science
• Medical Devices
• Next Generation Manufacturing
• Products and Services

For more information:  http://www.acceleratemichigan.org/

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NCMS Member Pendaran Offers Lean Work Simulator Training at Special Discount Rate – Oct 25-29

Revolutionary learning developer Pendaran, Inc. is offering its Lean Work Simulator training course at a special 33% discount rate.

“The current approach of training – reading books, sitting in classes – has produced very limited results. We learn and grow through experience. We learn by practicing, by experimenting and making mistakes,” said Dr. Hossein Nivi, Pendaran’s founder. “The Lean Work Simulator puts students into an environment where practice is possible. Most training courses give you a three ring binder. This one gives you experience that you’ll hold on to for your entire life.”

The Lean Work Simulator is a one week simulation tool that allows for experiential, collaborative learning. In essence, it is a practice field on which a work team can safely and quickly learn to use tools and processes and see the consequences of their actions and decisions. It simulates real work environments and situations. High intensity simulations are complemented by classroom learning and facilitator-led discussions. Learning is centered around the tools and processes the organization expects its employees to be using to achieve the desired business results.

“It really is unlike any training I’ve ever seen before,” said Matthew Sakey, Creative & Instructional Design Supervisor at NCMS. “Pendaran has taken a proven concept – that experiential learning is better than traditional means – and multiplied it by a thousand.”

“It doesn’t seem like corporate training at first. It’s more like… a week at a Marine boot camp, actually,” he added with a laugh. “But it will change the way you look at everything you do.”

The Lean Work Simulator course will be held October 25-29, 2010 at the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Hotels and other travel accommodations are within walking distance of the facility.

NCMS members are invited to experience this remarkable training for $3,000 per student, a 33% discount off retail. Use coupon code NCMS2010 when registering to get the discount.

For more information, and to register for the course, visit www.pendaran.com.

Pendaran Contact: Carol Michaelides, (734) 368-5242

NCMS Contact: Matthew Sakey, (734) 995-2148

The post NCMS Member Pendaran Offers Lean Work Simulator Training at Special Discount Rate – Oct 25-29 appeared first on National Center for Manufacturing Sciences.

Dr. Manish Mehta, NCMS Executive Director and Principal Investigator of the 2009 NCMS-NSF Nanotechnology Industry Commercialization Study Project, will present highlights of the 2009 industry survey project at a Plenary Session on “Education, Innovation and Entrepreneurship” during the Spring 2010 Meeting of the Ohio Section of American Physical Society (OSAPS) being held at Kettering University, Flint, MI on Saturday, May 1, 2010.  The talk is titled, “Profile of Clean Technology Commercialization in the U.S.”

Over 270 senior industry executives participated in the 2009 NCMS Nanomanufacturing Industry Survey sponsored by the National Science Foundation – it is the third study conducted by NCMS (previous studies were done in 2003 and 2005), and is the largest cross-industry survey on nanotechnology commercialization trends in the U.S.

The NCMS survey indicates that nanotechnology products are fast becoming commonplace, and that products addressing clean technologies such as energy efficiency, materials, storage and environmentally conscious manufacturing are the fastest-growing applications of nanotechnology in leading segments of the U.S. Manufacturing Industry.  The presentation will highlight key growth markets over the next five years, collaboration patterns, infrastructure characteristics, and business strategy trends across all regions of the United States, which remains the world leader in nanotechnology innovation and entrepreneurialism.

The talk will include a discussion on the impact of the 2008-09 recession on entrepreneurialism in nanotechnology. The survey found that the U.S. Nanotechnology Industry weathered the recent economic storm by consolidation of weaker organizations, and is ready to emerge stronger and better focused on integrating nanoscale materials and processes into value-adding products and systems across many market segments.  The information developed by NCMS is especially useful for benchmarking commercialization practices, identifying common concerns in nanomanufacturing, and assessing the impact of public-private investments such as the National Nanotechnology Initiative.

Spring 2010 Meeting of the Ohio Section of American Physical Society (OSAPS)

The post Profile of Clean Technology Commercialization in the U.S. May 1, 2010 appeared first on National Center for Manufacturing Sciences.

April 27-29, 2010, Rock Financial Showplace- Novi, Michigan

Day One Keynote – NCMS President Rick Jarman

Innovation in Manufacturing for Tomorrow:
Competitiveness in the 21st Century

The world is changing. We must change with it. After decades of a waning investment in U.S. manufacturing, the nation is once again looking to manufacturing and industry to revitalize the economy. Tomorrow’s manufacturing will make use of innovative new solutions – as revolutionary as the assembly line was in 1908 – to reinvent the very concept of how things are made, and how organizations compete in today’s society. For the first time, innovation and manufacturing are being uttered in the same breath. Groundbreaking tools like high-performance predictive modeling and simulation, and an investment in a shared national infrastructure, will populate a new manufacturing landscape. It’s time to move beyond outdated perceptions of manufacturing, embrace exciting new opportunities, and re-energize our nation once again. NCMS President and CEO Rick Jarman, a lifelong champion of innovative manufacturing, is your guide to a bright, competitive future.

“Good R&D produces innovations, but that’s not the end of the line,” said NCMS President & CEO Rick Jarman. “Every flash of genius, every successful outcome, every realized solution needs to be brought to market.” Collaborative R&D enlists the needs of the end users from the very beginning, ensuring successful commercialization of the innovation.”

In 2007 the Board of Directors named Rick Jarman President and CEO of NCMS, the largest cross-industry collaborative manufacturing research consortium in the United States devoted exclusively to manufacturing technologies, process and practices. Formed in 1986, the NCMS mission is focused on the development of strategic initiatives and programs aimed at sustaining and enhancing the global competitiveness of North American manufacturing.

The Hyperworks Technology Conference (HTC) brings together more than 600 industry professionals from a broad range of industry verticals including aerospace, automotive, consumer products, electronics, healthcare, heavy equipment, military, rail transit, ship building and white goods. Thought provoking keynote addresses and client presentations highlight industry trends in enterprise simulation and how manufacturers are enabling innovation through simulation. For more information about the 2010 Americas Hyperworks Technology Conference, please visit http://www.altairhtc.com

The post NCMS President Rick Jarman HTC 2010 Keynote Update appeared first on National Center for Manufacturing Sciences.

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The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) today announced that President & CEO Rick Jarman will be a keynote speaker at the 2010 Americas Hyperworks Technology Conference being held April 27-29 in Novi, Michigan. Jarman will speak to how collaboration, innovation and commercialization are critical to the revitalization of the U.S. Manufacturing Industry, and how utilizing cutting-edge technologies like high performance modeling and simulation capabilities will help small and medium sized manufacturing companies in the U.S. compete on a global scale.

Day One Keynote- NCMS President Rick Jarman

Innovation in Manufacturing for Tomorrow:
Competitiveness in the 21st Century

Using the proven NCMS collaboration model developed nearly 25 years ago, Jarman will demonstrate how bringing the stakeholders to the table from the beginning, managing the collaboration and optimizing the R&D helps to achieve the innovation AND take it to market at less cost, and less risk than traditional models.

“Good R&D produces innovations, but that’s not the end of the line,” said NCMS President & CEO Rick Jarman. “Every flash of genius, every successful outcome, every realized solution needs to be brought to market.” Collaborative R&D enlists the needs of the end users from the very beginning, ensuring successful commercialization of the innovation.”

In 2007 the Board of Directors named Rick Jarman President and CEO of NCMS, the largest cross-industry collaborative manufacturing research consortium in the United States devoted exclusively to manufacturing technologies, process and practices. Formed in 1986, the NCMS mission is focused on the development of strategic initiatives and programs aimed at sustaining and enhancing the global competitiveness of North American manufacturing.

The Hyperworks Technology Conference (HTC) brings together more than 600 industry professionals from a broad range of industry verticals including aerospace, automotive, consumer products, electronics, healthcare, heavy equipment, military, rail transit, ship building and white goods. Thought provoking keynote addresses and client presentations highlight industry trends in enterprise simulation and how manufacturers are enabling innovation through simulation. For more information about the 2010 Americas Hyperworks Technology Conference, please visit http://www.altairhtc.com

The post NCMS President Rick Jarman to Give Keynote at HTC 2010 appeared first on National Center for Manufacturing Sciences.

Please stop in at Booth 217 at the NDIA Conference on March 16-18 in Miami, Florida to learn more about RTC and NCMS.

2010 Ground Robotics Capabilities Conference and Exhibition- Dual Role of Robotics Technologies-Public and Private Sector“

The Robotics Technology Consortium (RTC) is a non-profit, industry organization formed in 2008 to speed the creation and deployment of ground robotics technology for the Defense Department and other Government organizations. Administered by the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS), the consortium was established to meet a need identified by the Office of the Secretary of Defense Joint Ground Robotics Enterprise (OSD/JGRE) and currently has a membership of over 200 large and small commercial companies, academic institutions, and non-profit organizations. The RTC seeks to solicit and engage companies and organizations that may not have historically performed work for the Defense Department and other Government organizations in addition to traditional defense contractors.For more information, visit http://www.roboticstechc.org/

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Don Bell (WR-ALC), Sam Easley (Boeing), Ben Thompson (FRC-East), Rick Jarman (NCMS),

Rich Curless (MAG Industries), Lisa Phelps (Boeing)

Members of Volumetric Accuracy for Large Machine Tools (VALMT) project team collect the Defense Manufacturing Excellence Award at the 2009 Defense Manufacturing Conference.  It is the seventh such award for NCMS.  The Defense Manufacturing Excellence Awards are presented by the National Center for Advanced Technologies (NCAT) for outstanding cooperative efforts on technology development between government, industry and academia.

The VALM project team pioneered an innovative process in establishing a new methodology in volumetric error compensation for large machine tools.  The costs for current assembly practices of measuring and fitting are substantial; reducing the amount of reworking of machined parts during onsite vehicle assembly will save the Department of Defense (DOD) and the commercial aircraft industry millions of dollars. 

The post NCMS Project Team Collects Defense Manufacturing Award appeared first on National Center for Manufacturing Sciences.

CALL PENDARAN at 734 368-5242, or email carol@pendaran.com with further questions.

Pendaran, Inc. © 2006-2009 | All Rights Reserved. | General Inquiries: info@pendaran.com

The post Special Offer for NCMS Members- Pendaran Lean Work Simulator appeared first on National Center for Manufacturing Sciences.

Prepare your organization for the future
The 2010 IW Bests Plants Conference program is carefully constructed to equip you with the knowledge and strategies to achieve your operational excellence goals and take your organization to the next level.

With over 25 sessions across 4 industry specific tracks, these sessions will render concrete solutions to your real-world operational issues. Session tracks include: continuous improvement 101, advanced continuous improvement, workforce development, and supply chain strategies.

Featured Keynote Speaker:

Rebuilding U.S. Manufacturing and Conquering Economic Problems
Daniel R. DiMicco
Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer
Nucor Corporation

Featuring speakers from:

• Philips;  E-Z-GO; GE; Autoliv; Owens Corning; Seco Tools Inc.; Milliken & Company; Canon; and more.

The 2010 Plant Tours get you inside world-class manufacturing facilities where excellence in manufacturing has been achieved. Gain insight into the best practices, lean strategies, and success of Northeast Ohio’s most notable plants.

2010 Networking Opportunities
The conference brings together hundreds of executives, plant managers and manufacturing decision-makers.

Speakers’ Lounge
Take advantage of this unique opportunity to meet with speakers after their session.

Additional ways to connect include:

•    Monday night welcome reception.
•    Tuesday evening Special Event.
•    Penton Manufacturing & Supply Chain Group Solutions Hall.

Don’t miss the 2010 IW Best Plants Conference.

Register at: www.IWBestPlants.com

If you have any questions, please contact Erika Bailey at 216-931-9512 or erika.bailey@penton.com

The post IndustryWeek Best Plants Conference being held April 19-21, 2010 appeared first on National Center for Manufacturing Sciences.

NCMS won the award for the best booth in the large booth category at the Symposium.  The NCMS booth showcased four of our collaborative project teams: Kinetic Spray, AP&IG, 3FAST, and CH-53E Readiness & Reliability.

The Marines won the booth competition in the military category.  This is noteworthy because NCMS produced their video and presentation that was the centerpiece of their booth.  This broad exposure of our capabilities is leading to new business from the show.

The post 2009 Department of Defense Maintenance Symposium and Exhibition Report appeared first on National Center for Manufacturing Sciences.

In August, the United States Marine Corps (USMC) tapped NCMS Educational Services to produce high-impact promotional videos highlighting the Corps’ Sense and Respond Logistics initiative.

The USMC Sense Respond Video recently debuted at the Department of Defense (DoD) Symposium in Phoenix, Arizona.

The video and project presentation created by NCMS helped garner the Marines the best booth award in the military category at the symposium.

NCMS has the capability to create similar videos for your organization.  If you want help reaching your customers please contact:

NCMS Educational Services General Manager Bill Chenevert at (734) 995-7989 or billc@ncms.org

The post USMC Sense & Respond Video debuts at DoD Maintenance Symposium appeared first on National Center for Manufacturing Sciences.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!!!!

The 2010 AMT/NCMS Manufacturing Technology Forum will highlight new initiatives addressing “Green in Manufacturing”.  Guest speakers will discuss what is going on, what is needed and what you can expect in meeting new manufacturing requirements.  As in the past, you will also be provided presentations on R&D activities occurring throughout the world.

Don't miss this informative Forum!

AMT/NCMS Manufacturing Technology Forum

Energy & Innovation

March 30-31, 2010

Nashville, Tennessee

If you have any questions, please contact Sheila Kaplan at (703) 827-5274 or skaplan@AMTonline.org.

The post SAVE THE DATE- AMT/NCMS Manufacturing Technology Forum March 30-31, 2010. appeared first on National Center for Manufacturing Sciences.

In August, the United States Marine Corps tapped NCMS Educational Services to produce a pair of high-impact promotional videos highlighting the Corps’ Sense and Respond Logistics initiative. “Sense and Respond is a robust new approach to tackling issues of maintenance, readiness, and lethality,” said Bob Appleton of R.W. Appleton & Associates, a chief project consultant. “It will allow the Marine Corps to be better prepared, quicker to the fight, and highly accountable for all equipment. We turned to NCMS to develop two short videos that communicate the value of this philosophy.”

NCMS Educational Services is the multimedia development and knowledge transfer arm of the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences. “We have produced several exciting, kinetic videos for a wide array of clients in the past,” said Bill Chenevert, General Manager of Educational Services. “This time the team really took the project far beyond what anyone was expecting. Five days of location shooting, major special effects shots; it was our most ambitious video project yet.”

The first video, debuted at the Modern Day Marine Symposium in late September, highlighted the four key elements of Sense and Respond: Asset Tracking, Serialized Item Management, Condition-Based Maintenance, and Total Lifecycle Management. Each of these foundational elements are triggered by the application of Item Unique Identifier (IUID) tags to all equipment. Once tagged, a simple hand scanner allows every end item to be tracked and monitored across its entire lifecycle, creating a holistic maintenance opportunity and a centralized data access point for all materiel.

The second video will debut at the DoD Maintenance Symposium in Phoenix on October 26-29, retelling the story of Sense and Respond and IUID as a backdrop to live presentations. “I cannot tell you what an incredible journey this has been thus far,” said Major Brian Spooner, Ground Ordnance Maintenance Officer for the Marine Corps. “I wish everyone could come to Phoenix to watch our team dazzle the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and the DoD leadership, as well as the very senior leadership within all of the Armed Forces. We absolutely would not have been able to pull off such a professional product without the NCMS team.”

Originally tasked with developing e-Learning tools for corporations, NCMS Educational Services has dynamically branched out into video and multimedia production, creative services, web development, and games-based learning applications.

For more information please contact:

NCMS Program Manager Bill Chenevert at (734) 995-7989 or billc@ncms.org

The post NCMS Educational Services Scores a Hit with the Marine Corps appeared first on National Center for Manufacturing Sciences.

Please stop by Booth 333 to see these member companies showcasing technology created using the NCMS collaborative process.

• REI Systems , complete predictive diagnostic and repair suite for aircraft
• Aspire Solutions, Inc., automated process & inspection guide.
• Spectro, Inc., FluidScan, quickly evaluates fluid quality using infrared spectroscopy
• Centerline, LTD., advanced kinetic spray repair process.

 For more information contact Debbie Lilu at debral@ncms.org or call (734) 995-7038.

The post NCMS Promotes Member Technology at 2009 Department of Defense Maintenance Symposium and Exhibition appeared first on National Center for Manufacturing Sciences.

In the aftermath of the bubble economy, America needs to shift resources from the debt-inflated finance and housing sectors to the productive economy.

As part of this long-term strategy, how do we revitalize manufacturing?

Join the editor and several contributors to a new study, Manufacturing a Better Future for America, published by the Alliance for American Manufacturing, to discuss ways to rebuild the foundation of the American economy by means of innovation, industrial policies and trade reform.

What do you think?  How do we as a nation revitalize manufacturing?

The post Manufacturing a Better Future for America appeared first on National Center for Manufacturing Sciences.

The U.S. Economic Renaissance Conference will be held at the:

The Graduate Center, CUNY
365 Fifth Avenue at 34th street (the old B. Altman Building)
New York, NYU
June 8, 2009

The Conference will address today’s economic recovery before an audience of hedge funds, venture capital and private equity firms and a representative audience of American wealth to determine what is needed to bring manufacturing back to the U.S.

Guest speakers at the U.S. Economic Renaissance Conference include:

• Marcy Kaptur (D) U. S. House of Representative, Ohio, 9th District
• Dr. Alan Tonelson, Research Fellow, U.S. Business and Industrial Council
• Bob Baugh, Executive Director, AFL-CIO Executive Council
• Dr. Donald Rosenfield, Director, MIT Leaders for Manufacturing Fellows Program,MIT Sloan School of Management
• Earl Robinson, Manufacturer, Alliance Aircraft, Ltd
• Lynn Tilton, Founder and CEO, Patriarch Partners
• Sandy Ikeda, Associate Professor of Economics, SUNY Purchase
• Dr. Burton Malkiel, Professor of Economics, Princeton University

Special offer:  Enter the code opc09 when you register and receive over $300 dollars off the cost of your registration!

The post U.S. Economic Renaissance Conference appeared first on National Center for Manufacturing Sciences.

Exclusive NCMS Member Opportunity: Technology Showcase

Barstow Marine Corps Logistics Base/Barstow, California- Wednesday, June 24, 2009

NCMS is holding an exclusive technology event for its member at the Barstow Marine Corp Logistics Base.

The Technology Showcase will feature table top displays highlighting CTMA project technologies located throughout the base to maximize access for military personnel.

A networking reception will immediately follow the Technology Showcase to promote further discussion between Marine Corps personnel and participants.

Please contact Debbie Lilu at debral@ncms.org (734) 995-7038 for additional information.

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The Event is Filling up Fast! This is the one conference where you can get tangible “world-class” operations knowledge you need to get YOUR organization through these economically challenging times.  

Hear from 30 your peers – experts in their field – from companies such as Harley-Davidson, The Hershey Company, Wyeth, Stryker Instruments, Lockheed Martin, Trane, and Philips. 

Session Topics include: 

• Lean Operations
• Six Sigma
• Operational Excellence
• Increasing Productivity and Efficiency Sustainability
• Maintaining Your Competitive Edge
• And much, much more… 

Be a part of the  panel discussion with the 10 IndustryWeek Best Plants Winners. Get the secrets of their success and how they achieved world-class status. 

Plus you pick one plant you want to tour…for FREE

Don't miss out…tours are filling up fast. 

Free Plant Tours include:

• Jack Daniel Distillery (only ONE tour left)
• Philips Lighting
• Nissan (SOLD OUT)
• Batesville Casket Company (SOLD OUT)
• Stinger Medical 

Swap challenges and strategies with other CEOs, COO’s, VP’s, Directors, General Managers, Engineers, Production Managers and Operations Managers. 

Activities include:

• New Equipment Digest Solutions Hall
• The Speakers Lounge
• Best Plants Awards Ceremony
• Rockin’ n Rollin’ on the River – FREE riverboat cruise – Drinks, Southern-style buffet, live music, and gambling!  

For more details on the conference program and to register visit:

http://www.iwbestplants.com

The post IndustryWeek Best Plants Conference being held April 27-29, 2009 appeared first on National Center for Manufacturing Sciences.

The NAFEMS World Congress 2009 will be THE International Congress on Simulation Technology for the Engineering Analysis Community. This is your opportunity to attend this world-renowned bi-annual Congress, and ensure that your organisation is part of the largest and most respected independent engineering analysis event on the calendar.

More Information

The post The Analysis Advantage: Perspectives on Engineering Simulation for Today and Beyond appeared first on National Center for Manufacturing Sciences.

For over 20 years, the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) has been a leader in working with manufacturing and other technology companies taking innovation out of the exploratory phase into implementation for commercial applications. These actions are leveraging the resources and infrastructure of all, for solutions that improve the competitive standing of our manufacturing base.

Product and process design will continue to take a more holistic approach as sustainability, product cost, and product lifecycle are factored into the development of commercial products early in the design process. NCMS is developing a number of national high performance computing (HPC) centers and collaborative projects designed to change the approaches an engineer takes as product design is streamlined, manufacturing is optimized and total product lifecycle is addressed, by unleashing latent innovation and driving greater profitability of manufacturing companies.

Chartered to increase the productivity and profitability of U.S. manufacturing companies through services that slash the product development costs support lean initiatives, NCMS is building a shared use infrastructure for HPC that will tap the pent up innovation of our manufacturing base.

Rick Jarman – NCMS

In the spirit of collaboration, NCMS has partnered with The Association for Manufacturing Technologies (AMT) and The Council on Competitiveness for a conference highlighting the cutting edge technology of HPC.

HPC remains a largely under utilized competitiveness asset in the United States for the majority of companies. This represents a huge productivity opportunity for the nation and a competitiveness transformation challenge.

Deborah Wince – Smith, President of Council on Competitiveness

This conference will explore HPC and how this technology is changing the landscape of research, manufacturing and product design. Industry leaders and innovators from across the country will come together to explore HPC and to learn how it can give their companies a clear competitve advantage.

September 28th-30th, 2009
The Astor Crowne Plaza
New Orleans, LA

About NCMS – The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) was founded in 1986 and is the largest cross-industry collaborative R&D consortium in North America. NCMS collaborative teams have an extensive track record of creating and commercializing innovative technologies.

About AMT – Founded in 1902, The Association For Manufacturing Technology represents and promotes the interests of American providers of manufacturing machinery and equipment.  Its goal is to promote technological advancements and improvements in the design, manufacture and sale of members’ products in those markets and act as an industry advocate on trade matters to governments and trade organizations throughout the world.

About The Council on Competitiveness – A nonpartisan, nongovernmental organization in Washington, D.C., the Council shapes the debate on competitiveness by bringing together business, labor, academic and government leaders to evaluate economic challenges and opportunities. Conferences, seminars and special events are used to disseminate the Council’s findings and recommendations to experts, policy makers, government officials, media and the general public.

The post Compute & Collaborate for Competitive Advantage Conference- September 28-30, 2009 appeared first on National Center for Manufacturing Sciences.

NCMS will be exhibiting at the Department of Defense Maintenance Symposium and Exhibition in Denver, CO on October 27-30, 2008.

Please stop by our booth.

The post 2008 Department of Defense Maintenance Symposium and Exhibition appeared first on National Center for Manufacturing Sciences.

The Robotics Technology Consortium (RTC) recently exhibited at the 2008 Annual Robotics Vehicle Life Cycle Conference held in Troy, Michigan.  Many RTC members had their technolgy on display as representatives from the DoD and industy met to discuss the state of ground robotics vehicle technology.

The RTC is a non-profit, industry organization recently created to speed the creation and deployment of ground robotics technology for the Defense Department and other Government organizations.  The RTC is a subsidiary of NCMS.

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Lean manufacturing at its very core seeks to eliminate waste. The U.S. EPA recognizes this and encourages lean application to environmental concerns (reduce movement, energy, waste water, scrap, etc.). This is the foundation of the Lean and Green Summit. Start now with practical steps. Your company is already using lean in operations, now focus it more specifically on environmental concerns.  With this as the foundation, the Summit will address the larger issues of sustainability:

The post NCMS Staff Highlight 2008 Lean and Green Summit appeared first on National Center for Manufacturing Sciences.