The project team based the two volumes of this Needs Assessment Guide primarily on results from a survey of manufacturing assistance programs in the United States. We interviewed representatives from more than a dozen programs by phone. Additionally, we made site visits to four programs; the programs we selected varied by age, sponsorship (federal versus state) and the degree of formality of their assessment approach.

These site visits were critical in obtaining a broad variety of perspectives on the assessment process. During the visits, we interviewed a number of program staff (including information specialists, researchers, field agents and engineers); reviewed various materials (for example, population-level reports, assessment guides and tools, final reports); and observed actual assessments conducted at one or more plants.

The following programs participated in the survey; site visits were conducted at those indicated with an asterisk.

• California Manufacturing Technology Center

• University of California, Manufacturing Extension Program

• Georgia Institute of Technology, Economic Development Institute*

• Illinois Institute of Technology, Manufacturing Productivity Center

• Indiana Business Modernization and Technology Corporation*

• Mid-America Manufacturing Technology Center (Kansas)

• Massachusetts State Department of Commerce

• Industrial Technology Institute, Midwest Manufacturing Technology Center (Michigan)

• Science and Technology Foundation, Northeastern Manufacturing Technology Center (New York)

• Industrial Extension Service, North Carolina State University

• Cleveland Advanced Manufacturing Program, Great Lakes Manufacturing Technology Center (Ohio)*

• Industrial Resource Centers (Manufacturing Resource Center, Southwestern Pennsylvania Industrial Resource Center)

• Industrial Extension Service (West Virginia)*

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