GIS kicks off new program to accelerate digital manufacturing among small and medium-sized manufacturers

The Golisano Institute for Sustainability (GIS) at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is collaborating with Cuesta Partners and MxD to develop a new toolkit that will help small and medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs) overcome the common barriers they face when it comes to adopting digital manufacturing (DM) technologies. Based in Chicago, Cuesta Partners is a digital-technology consulting and solution provider. MxD is a Manufacturing USA® institute that is dedicated to equipping U.S. manufacturers with the digital tools and expertise they need to advance DM programs. The collaboration looks to position DM as a competitive business advantage among the American SMM sector, which makes up a large segment of the U.S. manufacturing base.

The project was awarded to RIT and Cuesta Partners by MxD in February 2021. The collaboration will develop a package of how-to-get-started resources for SMMs seeking to integrate digital tools into their businesses. Once complete, the package will include the following:

• A web-application tool—Your Digital Manufacturing Journey—that will feature questionnaires, guided assessments, information about the business benefits of DM technologies (such as improved return on investment), and a ready-to-use investment strategy template with exportable results.
• A concise, reader-friendly DM starter kit that will include a summary of high-value projects that address common use cases based on needs and opportunities identified through pre-project surveys.
• Case studies with before-and-after scenarios based on SMMs that participated in the program and used the tools.

The tools and educational content will be disseminated throughout the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), a network dedicated to serving SMMs led by the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST).

The project addresses long-standing and significant barriers identified by the SMM stakeholder community, answering these common questions that manufacturers often ask themselves:

• How do I decide what technologies I need to implement to stay competitive and how to invest in them to maximize my return on investment in the short and long term?
• How do I launch a low-cost, Industry 4.0 test-case project? How do I pitch it to leadership, plan it, execute it and then scale it?
• How can I help my SMM clients get started in DM?

Project outreach and dissemination support will be provided by Fuzehub, the statewide MEP center for New York State, and the Rochester Technology and Manufacturing Association (RTMA), New York State’s regional manufacturing association for the Finger Lakes. Rich Willing Brilliant (RBW.com), a top designer and manufacturer of light-emitting-diode (LED) lighting headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, is participating in the project as a pilot SMM.

This effort is sponsored by the U.S. Government under Agreement number W15QKN19-3-0003 between the MxD USA and the Government and by the New York State Department of Economic Development (DED). New York State and the U.S. Government are authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints for Governmental purposes notwithstanding any copyright notation thereon. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the DED, nor should they be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies or endorsements, either expressed or implied, of the U.S. Government.