Georgia Tech Policy Project on Industrial Modernization
HOME | THE PROJECT | PUBLICATIONS | SEARCH | CONTACT US | WHATS NEW

Extending Manufacturing Extension

"The time has come to refine and strengthen the successful federal program to help small companies tap new technology."

Updated 01/14/04

The objective of national coverage for manufacturing extension services has been achieved in the United States.  Small and medium-sized manufacturers across the country are being assisted to improve technologies and operations.  What next?   In an article in the journal Issues in Science and Technology in Spring 1998, Philip Shapira, co-director of the Georgia Tech Policy Project on Industrial Modernization, suggests that manufacturing extension in the U.S. now faces four key challenges:

• Strategic orientation of manufacturing extension assistance
• Operation as a partnership
• Underlying funding framework
• Policy and program integration

You can read the original article through this web page. In addition, you will also find articles and readings that amplify or present contrasting views not only about the challenges facing manufacturing extension in the United States in coming years, but also put forward concrete proposals for action.

Please take a look!  And give your feedback.  We would also appreciation suggestions for articles that we can post (subject to permission and copyright) about the future development of manufacturing extension.

To view these files, you need Acrobat Reader [select to download].

Original article
	Philip Shapira (Georgia Institute of Technology) - Extending Manufacturing Extension, Issuses in Science and Technology, Spring 1998, pp. 45-50.
Feedback
	Jacques Koppel (Minnesota Technology Inc.) - Forum Letter on Manufacturing Extension, Issuses in Science and Technology, Summer 1998, p.22. [87K]
Background
HTML	Jan Youtie (Georgia Tech Economic Development Institute) and Philip Shapira (Georgia Institute of Technology) - Summary of Manufacturing Extension Impact Studies, 1998.
Challenges facing manufacturing extension
1. Strategic orientation
	Erik Arnold (Technopolis, UK) - Developing Company Technological Capabilities "The technological capabilities [small and mid-size] companies need are ‘soft’ as well as ‘hard’. They relate to the creation and management of internal technological resources, external networking and the strategic management of technology and its relationship to business strategy."
2. Operation as a partnership
HTML	Eric Oldsman (Nexus, MA) and Dan Luria (Industrial Technology Institute, MI). Integrating Strategy and Evaluation in the Manufacturing Extension Partnership. "The MEP has made great headway over the last few years and has established a solid foundation for continued success...The challenge is now to make evaluation more relevant to the day-to-day activities of program managers, center directors and field staff."
3. Funding framework
HTML	National Institute of Standards and Technology. Review of Mission and Operations of Regional Centers of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership. "The best way to ensure high-caliber nationwide assistance to smaller manufacturers is to commit to a stable amount of renewable federal funding for those centers which receive successful evaluations."
4. Policy and Program Integration
	Philip Shapira and Jan Youtie (Georgia Institute of Technology). Manufacturing Partnerships: Coordinating Industrial Modernization Services in the United States.
More resources
	Electronic Library
	Issues in Science and Technology

Be informed - Subscribe to our internet channel and receive automatic updates (Microsft Internet Explorer 4+ only)