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Michigan will soon be home to the first national innovation
center that will accelerate manufacturing in Michigan and across the country by
providing easy access to digital modeling and simulation tools for businesses.
The innovation center, a collaboration between the National
Center for Manufacturing Sciences, GE and the Michigan Economic Development
Corporation, will provide small- and mid-size manufacturers high performance
modeling, simulation, and analysis (MS&A), data mining tools, and the
digitization of processes to optimize speed, reliability, and efficiency.
 General Electric’s Advanced Manufacturing and Software Technology Center in Van Buren Township will host the first NCMS Predictive Innovation Center.
“When you talk about creating jobs and growing the economy
in Michigan, these are the kind of long-range opportunities that will really
make a difference,” said Rick Jarman, president & CEO of NCMS. “With the
help of this center, small- and mid-size manufacturers will be able to deliver
solutions faster, and expand their supplier reach to large companies. It is
incredible to imagine the hundreds of small companies in Michigan that will
have the potential to grow as a result of this premier facility.”
MEDC has provided a grant for the creation of the center, which is matched with industry support from NCMS members. The center will be housed in GE’s Advanced Manufacturing and Software Technology Center, located in Van Buren Township. It is expected to open to the public in early 2013.
“Michigan manufacturers – and the talented workers they employ – help make our state a global center of innovation,” MEDC President and CEO Michael A. Finney said. “We are proud to support efforts like this that cement our manufacturing dominance and help our businesses compete, grow, and create new jobs.”
 Dr. Steve Reagan of L&L Products, a Michigan-based chemical compounding firm, said his company invested in in-house digital manufacturing capabilities at its own expense a decade ago and would have benefited from the services of the innovation center.
“Ten years ago, L&L bought our own simulation software, and our own high performance computing cluster. It was a huge gamble, with an enormous cost,” Reagan said. “But today you can trace half of our company’s profit back to those tools. We have nearly doubled in size and revenue because of them. Still, that kind of investment is impossible for most small companies.”
The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences, the largest cross
industry collaborative research & development consortium in North America,
is dedicated to driving innovation in commercial, defense, robotics and
environmentally sustainable manufacturing. NCMS has over 25 years of experience
in the formation and management of complex, multi-partner collaborative R&D
programs, and is backed by corporate members representing virtually every
manufacturing sector. For more
information on NCMS, visit here.
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