SME and CESMII Join Forces to Enhance Smart Manufacturing

SME, a nonprofit professional association dedicated to advancing manufacturing, and CESMII – The Smart Manufacturing Institute, are partnering to drive smart manufacturing by aligning their resources and educating the industry, helping companies boost productivity, build a strong talent pipeline, and reduce manufacturers’ carbon footprint, the organizations report.

“The past decade has revealed an unprecedented flattening and even decline in our manufacturing productivity by worker,” says Robert Willig, CEO, SME. “Together, CESMII and SME will optimize our strengths and resources to accelerate the transformation and democratization of the smart manufacturing ecosystem and jumpstart productivity.”

Willig says the collaboration will help bring clarity among oft-conflicting voices offering guidance about the way forward.

CESMII and SME will strategically combine their networks and resources to advance smart manufacturing adoption and address the “digital divide” by connecting manufacturers to technical knowledge. These efforts aim to help small and medium-size companies to overcome the cost and complexity of automation and digitization that has constrained productivity and growth initiatives, according to CESMII and SME.

“The prospect of the Fourth Industrial Revolution catalyzing the revitalization of our manufacturing productivity in the U.S. is real, but still aspirational, and demands a unified effort to accelerate the evolution of this entire ecosystem,” says John Dyck, CEO, CESMII. “We couldn’t be happier to join with SME on this important mission to combine and align efforts with the best interest of the employers and educators in mind.”

Need for Smart Manufacturing Executive Council

The first joint initiative is the formation of a new national Smart Manufacturing Executive Council.

This new council will engage business and technology executives, thought leaders and visionaries as a “think tank” advocating for the transformation of the ecosystem. It will build on each organization’s history of working with industry giants who volunteer time and impart their knowledge.

Members of the council will act as ambassadors to drive the national conversation and vision for smart manufacturing in America. Working with policy makers and others, the council will unify the ecosystem around a common set of interoperability, transparency, sustainability and resiliency goals and principles for the smart manufacturing ecosystem.

Focus on Manufacturing Workforce

SME’s training organization, Tooling U-SME, is a learning and development solutions provider, working with thousands of companies. CESMII has in-depth training content on smart manufacturing technology, business practices and workforce development. Leveraging Tooling U-SME’s extensive reach into industry and academia, the synergistically combined CESMII and Tooling U-SME training portfolios and new content collaborations will expedite smart manufacturing adoption.

Through this national collaboration, Tooling U-SME will become a key partner for CESMII for advancing education and workforce development around smart manufacturing.

“Our vision, as two nonprofit organizations focused on creating a more productive and competitive manufacturing environment, is completely aligned around accelerating the transformation of the U.S. manufacturing workforce,” says Jeannine Kunz, vice president, Tooling U–SME. 

Together, CESMII and Tooling U-SME will set a new benchmark for developing educational resources that remain current with technology and focus on democratizing access to training on smart manufacturing skills. 

“Manufacturers are looking for a more effective, future-proof approach to upskill their workforce, and we believe that the best way to accomplish that is for CESMII and Tooling U-SME to work together,” says Conrad Leiva, vice president of Ecosystem and Workforce Education at CESMII. “This partnership brings together the deep domain expertise and necessary skills with the know-how to package education, work with employers and schools and effectively deliver it at scale nationally.”

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.