Manufacturing journalist, Thomas R. Cutler, recently profiled the Manufacturing Extension Partnership in the March 2008 issue of Business Excellence magazine. Cutler suggests the MEP can deliver lasting value to a small manufacturing organization, but all MEP Centers are not equal.According to Cutler, “The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) is a nationwide network of resources intended to transform manufacturers to compete globally, supporting greater supply chain integration, and providing access to technology for improved productivity. While economic impacts from this program are undeniable, there are remarkable inconsistencies between one MEP Center and another. For an organization that teaches lean principles and continued process improvement, the disparity between these centers is disappointing.â€This network of not-for-profit centers is in nearly 350 locations nationwide, and has a single stated purpose: provide small and medium sized manufacturers with the help they need to succeed. The centers, serving all 50 states and Puerto Rico, are linked together through the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Centers are funded by federal, state, local and private resources to serve manufacturers.It is possible for even the smallest firms to tap into the expertise of knowledgeable manufacturing and business specialists all over the United States; these specialists are people who have had experience on manufacturing floors and in plant operations.Each center works directly with area manufacturers in an effort to provide expertise and services tailored to the most critical needs, ranging from process improvements and worker training to business practices and applications of information technology. Solutions are offered through a combination of direct assistance from center staff and outside consultants. Since the beginning of MEP, more than 150,000 manufacturing enterprises have been served with results that run the gamut from spectacular to dismal.
About TR Cutler, Inc.:
TR Cutler, Inc. (www.trcutlerinc.com) was founded by Thomas R. Cutler almost a decade ago. Cutler maintains extraordinary relationships with clients, journalists, editors, trendsetters, and key business leaders worldwide and has become a key resource for those writing about the manufacturing sector. Cutler established a Manufacturing Marketing Research division dedicated to measuring the pulse of the manufacturing sector, particularly manufacturing firms which are privately held and rarely accounted for when gauging the industry sentiment.
Cutler founded the Manufacturing Media Consortium in the 90’s. This extraordinary group of more than 3200 journalists worldwide is writing about trends, data, case studies, profiles, and features in the manufacturing and industrial sector. Cutler has worked with thousands of media outlets to expand manufacturing media coverage.Cutler has authored more than 2,000 articles for a wide range of manufacturing periodicals, industrial publications, and business journals including most of the leading monthly trade publications.Thomas R. Cutler is the most frequently published manufacturing journalist and serves as contributed contributing editor more than three hundred publications annual. The scope of publications ranges from Automation.com to Quality Digest. A sample of Cutler’s feature articles, including the Business Excellence feature, can be located on the TR Cutler, Inc. website.
TR Cutler, Inc.
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Thomas Cutler
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