To those who say manufacturing is dead, we say: “AU CONTRAIRE!” Read on, and join in the discussion.
Collaborative Innovation was in full view on November 1 and 2 as the Great Lakes Manufacturing Council convened its 2010 Great Lakes Manufacturing Forum in Montreal in partnership with the Quebec Industrial Research Association (ADRIQ).
Innovation is the heartbeat of Quebec, and for those who were able to stay beyond the closing session, four tours underscored that point:
Pratt & Whitney Canada
CTA, Centre Technologique en aerospatiale, an applied aerospace research and technology transfer center
IMI – Industrial Materials Institute, and NRC - National Research Council –lightweight materials and advanced technologies for automotive, aerospace, and manufacturing industries
CEPROCQ, Centre d’etudes des procedes chimiques du Quebec, technology innovative practices in chemical processes
The conference itself produced a rich network of connections. “The right people are in this room,” noted one of the keynote speakers. The presentations and panels produced an abundance of practical insight on the importance of manufacturing and its collaborative, innovative future.
Session by session, here are my important take-aways. If you were there, please chime in with yours. If you weren’t, give us your take on the following points.
First session: Clement Gignac, Quebec Minister of Economic Development, Innovation, and Export Trade:
Quebec is open for business and is pursuing trade agreements that open up markets
Quebec is offering opportunities for all types of firms to work together in its key sectors – aerospace, automotive, bio-materials, chemicals, composites, energy, life sciences, and more
Innovation is the emphasis
Second session: William Testa, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago; Jayson Myers, Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters; Stefane Marion, National Bank Financial Group:
We need to work together across the border. Collaboration holds great promise
Manufacturing won’t go the way of production agriculture, because manufacturing companies have the inherent drive to replenish themselves through R&D, innovation, and soaring productivity
The U.S. Midwest and Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec are the bastions of manufacturing R&D. We need to nurture this sector
Job growth in all other sectors depends on successful manufacturing
Manufacturers must focus on solutions for their customers, not just products. To do that, manufacturers need to be in collaborations
The opportunities from an emerging middle class in the developingcountries are going to be good for Canada and the U.S., if we can avoid trade wars
Our level of integration across the border needs to be higher. We need to achieve greater scale and scope
Third Session: Three pairs of innovators, all of whom were guilty of abundant collaboration, in what several attendees said was the Council’s most intriguing panel, ever:
Magna and NRC - Will Harney and Martin Bureau - working on converting good ideas into good dollars along a broad front of projects, focusing on creating automotive composites technologies at manufacturing scale
Nova Bus and BAE Systems – Jacques Bergeron and Vincent Natale - taking aerospace/defense technologies into transit bus hybrid propulsion
Pratt& Whitney and CRIAQ (Consortium for Research and Innovation in Aerospace in Quebec) – Alain Bouthillier and Clement Fortin - leveraging teams of companies, students, faculty and government researchers on more than 100 projects in its short 7-year life
Moderator Rick Jarman of NCMS called out three elements in these successful partnerships:
o Vision
o Trust
o Contractual and financial infrastructure
This session was a great how-to
Fourth Session: Laurent Rouaud, chief marketing officer, GE Aviation:
GE’s customers want three things: efficiency, reliability and safety
GE has a stable of 95 eco products and growing
They are looking for collaborators to help commercialize BIG IDEAS, like
o Robotics and automation operations
o Self-repairing metals
GE is prepared to invest in Open Innovation and intellectual capital
Fifth Session: Rick Jarman, president & CEO, National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS):
The elements of a successful collaboration are Developers, Integrators, and End Users. Success for these players lies at the intersection of Talent, Investment and Infrastructure. We should get a diagram of this
Everyone has to have skin in the game
Collaboration reduces the risks associated with Innovation
There is a dramatic shift in R&D spending. Smaller companies are picking up the baton from the bigs
NCMS is working hard to bring High Performance Computing and its modeling and simulating capability to the tier 1 and tier 2 suppliers to OEMs. This will require sharing super-computing infrastructure by those who already have it
“Water is the next Oil”
Sixth Session: The Work Groups went to work – Image, Innovation, Workforce/Talent, Logistics/Borders, and Manufacturing Policy. You’ll read more about their output in coming blogs.
Final Session: Gilles Godbout, general manager, Information Technology, Hydro- Quebec:
Its own 526-employee research center is the driver of a wide range of products and technologies and 124 partnerships
Focal points include:
o The Smart Grid
o Automotive electric motors….think Tata’s Indica Vista EV
Hydro-Quebec routinely puts out feelers, RFIs, or “calls for tenders”. They are open to partnerships with companies outside Quebec and from other countries
The downside of innovative collaborations can be the complexity. The upside is enormous leverage from outside resources, and it far outweighs the downside. What a great thought to end the forum!
So we say: “Vive la manufacturing!” Let us hear your thoughts on these comments and other ideas that come to mind.
Great Lakes Manufacturing Council View
This blog is devoted to the discussion of issues in manufacturing in the Great Lakes Region. Contributions from the Executive of the Great Lakes Manufacturing Council, and its members will seek to stimulate positive discussions of our heritage and our future.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Great Lakes: Time to work on our self image
There are many exciting regions in North America, and they tend to have very positive self-images. Somehow, the Great Lakes region lost that confidence, and the image we put out for the world tends to be apologetic, rather than proud. We need to change that.
One of the most valuable exercises we can undertake is to pull together all of the image-affirming facts about our home, and show them to the world. I am certain there are thousands of sound bite-sized facts that are worth sharing with the world. We've coined a couple of the in the "Did you know" format like: "Did you know that if you combined the GDP of the 8 Great Lakes States and the 2 Great Lakes Provinces, you'd have the second largest economy in the world?"
Here's a challenge for the reader - identify as many "Did you know" facts about your home state or province, or the region, and share them here.
One of the most valuable exercises we can undertake is to pull together all of the image-affirming facts about our home, and show them to the world. I am certain there are thousands of sound bite-sized facts that are worth sharing with the world. We've coined a couple of the in the "Did you know" format like: "Did you know that if you combined the GDP of the 8 Great Lakes States and the 2 Great Lakes Provinces, you'd have the second largest economy in the world?"
Here's a challenge for the reader - identify as many "Did you know" facts about your home state or province, or the region, and share them here.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Welcome to the GLMC Blog!
Keep your eyes on this site for news and views from the board and members of the Great Lakes manufacturing Council.
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