Have you heard of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)? It’s a program of regional centers that assist small and midsized manufacturers (SMEs) to identify and adopt technologies as well as provide assistance to improve operations. There are MEP centers in every state and all of these centers offer a variety of services and education that can help you become more competitive and profitable.
MEP is part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and as such does get some funding from the federal government; the rest of its funding comes from state government, partnerships and fees for services. MEP was originally started in 1988 in response to concerns about losing jobs to Japan and doing something to help smaller manufacturers compete in a global market.
Politically it enjoys bi-partisan support because it has a good track record for producing results in the form of more jobs and increased U.S competitiveness.
Every MEP center is unique and offers a slightly different mix of education and services that can be free or involve fees to do specific and intensive work to improve a manufacturing operation. Manufacturers that have been surveyed after using MEP services have given them good marks, especially for the free services.
Here are some of the areas where MEP offers assistance:
• Lean and Continuous Improvement – If you are thinking of implementing lean manufacturing, then MEP could be a good place to start. Process improvement consulting is available from virtually all of the MEP centers and you can often get an understanding where to start with process improvement for little or no investment.
• Growth & Innovation – MEP centers can help you uncover or analyze opportunities for growth. Have an idea or new product? MEP can help determine the market potential and technologies that could make your idea or new product viable.
• Export – If you are not doing export sales and want to explore export as a way to grow, MEP has programs to help SMEs to learn and navigate the processes of becoming a successful exporter.
• Supply Chain – Improving the supply chain can be a complex undertaking that is beyond most SMEs’ staff and experience. MEP offers a good starting point that can be educational and possibly include working with MEP partners to do supply chain optimization projects.
• Sustainability – Going green is good business and improves the bottom line mainly by reducing energy consumption, but also by reducing other waste and negative impacts on the environment. MEP centers offer education and services to achieve improved sustainability.
• Technology Acceleration – Bringing the power of technology innovation to manufacturers is one of MEP’s main missions, this could mean helping you find the technology you need to bring a product to market, or it could be a direct transfer of technology from federal labs to your company.
• Workforce – Getting the right workforce to compete globally is critical and MEP offers a range of tools, services, training and other opportunities to help manufacturers approach workforce issues strategically.
Does MEP work or is this more big government spending to no avail? The numbers seem to indicate the MEP does work. In 2012 a survey of about 8,100 MEP participants showed these economic results:
Sales – $2.2B in New Sales and $6.2B in Retained Sales
Jobs – 18,789 Jobs Created and 43,914 Jobs Retained
Investment & Savings The Manufacturing Extension Partnership – Does It Offer Something for You? – $2.5B in New Investments and $1.2B in Cost Savings
If you are looking for ways to improve your strategic execution so you can become more competitive or simply want to grow your business, then your local MEP center could be a good place to start. Visit www.nist.gov/mep to learn more and to find your local MEP center.
