Georgia Tech
Policy Project on Industrial Modernization
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Updated:
February 02, 2004
Advanced Technology and the
Future of U.S. Manufacturing
An interdisciplinary workshop on Advanced Technology and
the Future of U.S. Manufacturing was held on January 30, 2004 in Atlanta.
This workshop examined trends and impacts of advanced technology on the future
of U.S. manufacturing and industrial competitiveness and involved invited
faculty participants from across the Georgia Tech campus, including researchers
from engineering, management, and policy fields as well as Georgia Tech Economic
Development Institute practitioners. The workshop featured papers and
presentations by participants as well as panel discussions. The Georgia Tech
Policy Project on Industrial Modernization hosted this workshop as part of a
project on U.S. manufacturing trends by researchers from SRI International and
Georgia Tech for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (MEP,
Manufacturing Futures Group) of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The Georgia
Tech team is led by Prof. Philip Shapira (School of Public Policy) and Dr. Jan
Youtie (Economic Development Institute). The Manufacturing Research Center at
Georgia Tech was also a workshop sponsor. [1/04]
Coordinating Industrial
Modernization Services
Coordinating Industrial Modernization Services:
Impacts and Insights from the U.S. Manufacturing Partnership. This report, by Philip
Shapira and Jan Youtie with Gordon Kingsley and Marc Cummings, examines the development,
operation, and effects of efforts to promote local service coordination by manufacturing
extension centers. In addition to an aggregate overview of partnership development, case
studies of six centers are discussed (Chicago, Cleveland, Georgia, Pittsburgh, Minnesota,
and Oklahoma). The report identifies best practices in service coordination. Published
July 1996. An overview of the report is available on line.
A revised version of this overview paper was published in the Journal of Technology
Transfer and received the Technology Transfer Society's
1997 Lang Rosen Gold Award. You can view the complete report in Acrobat PDF format <274K>. [9/96; updated 11/97]
Follow-on study: Project Brief. The
Impacts of NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership on Industrial Modernization Service
Provision. This follow-on study tracks how industrial coordination practices are changing
as manufacturing extension programs evolve.
An updated and extended paper, "Manufacturing Partnerships: Coordinating
Industrial Modernization Services in the United States," by Philip Shapira and Jan
Youtie was published in the OECD STI Review, No. 23, 1998. [ACROBAT *PDF 58K]
[4/99]
Evaluating Technology Deployment at
the State Level
Methods, Results and Insights from the Georgia Manufacturing
Extension Alliance. This paper reviews the results and impacts of a multi-year
evaluation of the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Alliance - a state manufacturing
extension program and affiliate of the US Manufacturing Extension Partnership. Authored by
Philip Shapira and Jan Youtie, this paper was presented at the OECD Conference on Policy
Evaluation in Innovation and Technology in July 1997. [ACROBAT *PDF 149K] [7/97]
An updated summary of this paper is available - Evaluating Technology Deployment at the State Level: Summary of Insights from
the Evaluation of the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Alliance. [HTML 21K] [10/98]
Evaluating a State Technology
Development Program
Assessing Methods for Evaluating State Technology Development
Program. Recommendations for the Georgia Research Alliance. [HTML 55K] April 1997
Extending Manufacturing Extension
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, operation as a partnership, the underlying funding
framework, and policy and program integration.
You can read the original article through our web page Extending Extension.
In addition, you will also find comments, 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. [Select] [4/28/98]
Georgia - Industry and Technology
Matters
 |
Research and policy analysis of
industrial and technology developments in the state of Georgia, USA. [Select] Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership
We have been conducting a long-term ongoing evaluation
study of GaMEP - the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (previously known as the
Georgia Manufacturing Extension Alliance). GaMEP is a collaborative program led by
Georgia Tech that provides industrial extensive services to manufacturers in
Georgia. Select here for a summary of evaluation results. For a complete list of
papers, see: Georgia
Manufacturing Extension Partnership: Evaluation Working Papers. [10/98]
Georgia Manufacturing Survey
The
Georgia Manufacturing Survey is conducted every two
years to three to provide information on manufacturers needs and technology trends in Georgia, and
to aid in the evaluation of the state's industrial modernization program.
The 2002
survey finds that about half of Georgia manufacturers underwent major
changes in strategy or structure in the last two years. An increasing share
of Georgia manufacturers dealt with these changes by competing on low price.
The percentage of Georgia manufacturers competing on price rose from 19
percent in 1999 to 27 percent in 2002. However, low price (along with quick
delivery) strategies are associated with lower returns on sales and lower
employee wages.
More...
The 1999
survey found that electronic
commerce use was increasing among Georgia manufacturers, but many small
Georgia manufacturers underemphasized innovation.
More ... on the
1999 survey. [2/00] For information
about the 1996 survey related publications--including Manufacturing Needs, Practices and Performance
in Georgia: 1994-1998, select here. [4/99] |
Germany: Impacts of New
Manufacturing Concepts
Gunter Lay, Philip Shapira, and Jurgen Wengel are the editors of Innovation
in Production: The Adoption and Impacts of New Manufacturing Concepts in Germany, published
(in English) by Physica-Verlag, Heidelberg, in 1999. The book is in the series of
the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI), Karlsruhe, Germany and
contains chapters by researchers with ISI's Innovation in Production Department.
Industrial Modernization in the
U.S. and Japan
A chapter on public technology infrastructures for modernizing small
manufacturers in the United States and Japan (by Philip Shapira, Georgia Tech) is included
in the book Technological Infrastructure Policy: An International Perspective,
edited by Morris Teubal, Dominque Faray, Moshe Justman and Ehud Zuscovitch, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordecht and Boston, 1996. This
edited collection also contains contributions on technology transfer to small and medium
enterprises in Germany and France (Patrick Cohendet, BETA, France) and an international
review of consultancy and advisory services for modernizing manufacturing (Graham Vickery,
OECD). [ACROBAT
*PDF 1.5MB] [June 21, 1996].
Industrial Networks: Study of
Business Impacts
Net benefits: An assessment of a set of manufacturing business
networks and their impacts on member companies, by Doug Welch, Eric Oldsman, Philip
Shapira, Jan Youtie, and Julie Lee, USNet Evaluation Paper Working 9701, October 1997.
Studies of USNet's Foundation Forums and a Networking metacase study are also found on
this page. [See USNet
page] [11/97]
Inter-firm Collaboration:
Evaluation of USNet
USNet was pilot project involving the federal government and a group of state
partners in the United States that aimed to build capacity to promote inter-firm
collaboration, with the ultimate aim of enhancing the competitiveness of small and
mid-sized manufacturing enterprises. USNet’s principal activities with its
state partners occurred over roughly a three-year period from mid-1994 through to the end
of 1997. The project provided six types of services to state partners to
upgrade their capacities to promote inter-firm collaboration. These services comprised
technical assistance, training, the development of learning groups, information and
resources, assessment tools and performance metrics, and assistance with international
connections. A parallel evaluation component was established, involving a a networked
group of evaluation specialists from three different organizations – Georgia
Institute of Technology, the University of Georgia, and Nexus Associates, Inc. The
findings from these evaluation studies are summarized in a final report The Evaluation of USNet: Overview of Methods, Results, and Implications, by
Philip Shapira (August 1998). Philip Shapira. [Executive Summary -
HTML; Full report -
Acrobat *PDF 220K]. A list of
specific studies is also available, with many of these publications available in
electronic document form via the worldwide web. See [USNet page] [9/2/98]
Library of Modernization
We have established an on-line electronic library of industrial
modernization. The library contains key policy and historic documents, chronologies of
modernization policies, a map room, course reading lists, search capabilities, and links
to other sites. [Visit Library]
Manufacturing
Extension:
Performance, Challenges, and Policy Issues
One of the major successes of federal technology policy in the 1990s has
been the development of a comprehensive manufacturing extension system to support the
deployment of new technologies and improved business practices among small and mid-sized
manufacturing enterprises across the United States. This paper, by Philip Shapira,
examines the development of U.S. manufacturing extension policies and programs and
examines issues of performance and strategy. The paper was prepared for the Project on
Technology Policy Assessment of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard
University and the Competitiveness Policy Council. This version: July 30, 1997. Revised
version published in Investing in Innovation
Creating a Research and Innovation Policy That Works by Lewis M. Branscomb and James
H. Keller (eds.), MIT Press 1997 [View in ACROBAT
*PDF 75K or in HTML
68K] [For information on the MIT book and order information, select here].
Manufacturing Partnerships: Evaluation
in the Context of Government Reform
Examines the complexities of evaluating new approaches to service
delivery, using the example of the U.S. Manufacturing Extension Partnership. By Philip
Shapira, Gordon Kingsley, and Jan Youtie, Georgia Institute of Technology. Pre-Print, July
1996. [HTML 51K] [July 17,
1996]
Maps of Industrial Modernization Program
Locations
Our map room contains links to clickable maps of industrial
modernization program locations. Included are maps of the U.S. Manufacturing Extension
Partnership, the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Alliance, and programs in Canada, Europe
and Asia. [View Maps]
Multimedia Presentations*
Publications Listing - Industrial
Modernization
A listing of publications and papers related to industrial modernization
policy and evaluation is now available on the Web [click here].
Included is a listing of papers prepared as part of the evaluation of the Georgia
Manufacturing Extension Alliance. [June 20, 1996].
Research Policy Special Issue
In 1996, a theme issue of the journal Research Policy devoted to
the evaluation of industrial modernization was published. It contains articles on (1) current practices in the
evaluation of US industrial modernization programs (Philip Shapira, David Roessner and
Jan Youtie, Georgia Tech); (2) an evaluation of the Industrial Technology Extension
Service in New York (Eric Oldsman, Nexus Associates); (3) performance benchmarking and
measuring program impacts on customers (Dan Luria and Edie Wiarda, Industrial Technology
Institute); (4) impacts of inter-firm collaboration (Stuart Rosenfeld, RTS Inc.); (5) the
role of institution-building industrial modernization (Maryellen Kelley, MIT, and Ashish
Arora, Carnegie Mellon); (6) federalism and assessing manufacturing technology centers
(Charles Sabel, Columbia University); and (7) issues and perspectives on evaluating
manufacturing modernization (Irwin Feller, Amy Glasmeier, and Melvin Mark, Penn State).
Philip Shapira and David Roessner are the guest editors. Full reference: Research
Policy, Volume 25, No. 2, March 1996. Research Policy is published by
North-Holland, an imprint of Elsevier Science. [June 21, 1996].
Seminars and Workshops
Online Seminar on Industrial
Modernization
The Seminar on Industrial Modernization: Policy, Practice and Evaluation - a new
multimedia "virtual" course first taught via the internet at Georgia Tech in
Spring 1997. Subsequent rounds of the course have been taught drawing on asynchronous
internet learning modes. Course modules are available "on the web."
Requires Real Player to listen to seminar sessions.
|
 |
Workshop on Competitive Industrial Modernization
Available via this web site - the curriculum and reading
materials for the 3-day Workshop on Competitive Industrial Modernization: Technology
Management, Policy and Evaluation, taught at the Instituto Gênesis para
Inovação e Ação Empreendedora, Escritório de Desenvolvimento, Pontifícia
Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 1998. [Select
here using frames
compatible browser] |
Workshop on Real Teaching Using the Internet
A half-day workshop at the Vienna University of Economics
and Business Administration, Vienna, Austria, October 1998. [Select here using frames compatible browser] |
Technology Diffusion - OECD Background
Paper
An Overview of Technology Diffusion Policies and Programs to Enhance
the Technological Absorptive Capabilities of Small and Medium Enterprises is now
available on this site [select here to read]. Written by
Philip Shapira, School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA and
Stuart Rosenfeld, Regional Technology Strategies, Chapel Hill, NC, this August 1996 paper
was prepared as a background paper for the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development, Directorate for Science, Technology, and Industry. Examples of technology
diffusion policies in Europe, the United States, and Japan are discussed. [October 29,
1996].
Technology Transfer Journal - Symposium
Issue, 1998
In Spring 1998, a special Journal of
Technology Transfer Symposium Issue on perspectives on industrial modernization was
published, edited by Philip Shapira and Jan Youtie. [Select here
for table of contents]
Tracking Customer Progress
In evaluating the net impacts of manufacturing extension projects, we
found that soon after the end of projects, customers tend to over-estimate benefits and
under-estimate costs - compared with what they experienced a year later. But for a
small number of customers, subsequent impacts were much higher than first expected.
This follow-up study of customers of the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership was
awarded the Lang-Rosen Gold Medal for 1998, by the Technology Transfer Society. See Tracking Customer Progress: A
Follow-up Study of Customers of the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Alliance. Jan
Youtie and Philip Shapira, Journal of Technology Transfer, Vol 22, No. 2, Summer
1997, pp. 43-52. [ACROBAT *PDF 46KB]
Training for Industrial Firms -
Assessing its Value
A significant portion of industrial modernization program resources goes
towards providing manufacturers with training, workshops, and seminars in such areas as
quality, information technology, or lean manufacturing. But what is the value of
this training to both firms and programs? Relatively little work has been undertaken
in systematically assessing the value of training in the industrial modernization field,
in part because of difficulties in quantifying impacts. However, in a pilot study,
we have undertaken an examination of staff and participant views of
manufacturing-based training programs offered by Georgia Tech's Economic Development
Institute (EDI) through the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership and associated EDI
centers. An assessment is made of the impact and value of these training programs,
particularly from the view of company participants. While most participants report
beneficial impacts from participation, some recommendations for improvement are offered.
See The Value of
Training: An Assessment of Manufacturing-Related Training from Georgia Tech's Economic
Development Institute, by Jan Youtie and Philip Shapira, September 1998.
[September 25, 1998].
West Virginia: Adoption of New
Technology
The adoption of new technology in West Virginia: Implications for
manufacturing modernization policies (Environment and Planning C: Government and
Policy, 1996, 14, pp. 431-450) by Philip Shapira and Terrance Rephann.
This paper explores the determinants of new technology adoption using
data obtained from a 1993 survey of 299 manufacturing establishments in the state of West
Virginia. It examines the use of 20 hardware-based and organizational new manufacturing
technologies, aggregate technology use, and plans for future technology use. Multivariate
regression analyses indicate that larger, export-oriented, branch plants that manufacture
products in long production runs and plants that are located in counties with a sizeable
manufacturing sector adopt more new technologies than other types of plants. The results
also suggest that there is a role for further government policy in encouraging plant
modernization. Although participation in a state technology assistance program is not yet
associated with higher levels of aggregate new technology use, it is found to associated
with adoption of specific technologies and receptivity to new technology investment. The
study’s results also confirm the value of training and suggest that a strategy of
targeting smaller and medium-sized plants with services focused on multiple clustered
locations may be effective in stimulating new technology use among these manufacturers. [ACROBAT *PDF 97K] [December 27, 1996]
Workshops on Evaluating Industrial
Modernization
Atlanta Workshops on the Evaluation of Industrial Modernization |
|
We have organized four workshops on the evaluation of
industrial modernization policies and programs - at Aberdeen Woods, Atlanta, in 1993,
1994, 1996 and 1997. A wide range of participants have been involved in these
workshops, including policy analysts, evaluators, program sponsors, managers, industrial
representatives, field staff, and federal and state agency officials. The
Manufacturing Extension Partnership of the National Institute of Standards and Technology
provided support for these workshops. |
The most recent workshop was held in November 1997 (agenda), with the
proceedings published in 1998. The proceedings of all four workshops
are available electronically on the web, in Adobe Acrobat PDF format . We have also
produced an comprehensive Index of papers presented
at the Atlanta Workshops on the Evaluation of Industrial Modernization, 1993 – 1998.
[April 10, 1998]
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Georgia Tech Policy Project on Industrial Modernization
Worldwide web address:
http://www.cherry.gatech.edu/mod
Project Directors: Philip Shapira, School of Public Policy, Georgia
Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0345; email: ps25@prism.gatech.edu; and Jan Youtie, Georgia
Tech Economic Development Institute, Atlanta, GA 30332-0640; email: jan.youtie@edi.gatech.edu
