Corporate execs back smart manufacturing institute

A newly launched public-private partnership, with participation from corporations such as Corning Inc. and General Mills Inc., is hoping to accelerate the adoption of smart manufacturing. 

The Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute, or CESMII, was announced by the Smart Manufacturing Leadership Coalition, or SMLC, on Feb. 7 in partnership with the U.S. DOE's Advanced Manufacturing Office within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.  CESMII aims to support the integration of advanced technologies and intelligence in U.S. manufacturing, radically improving precision, performance, quality, sustainability and energy efficiency. 

The institute is headquartered in Los Angeles through support from the city of L.A. and the University of California Los Angeles

"New and better manufacturing jobs for the existing and future workforce is a hallmark of smart manufacturing permeating U.S. manufacturing," SMLC said in a news release announcing the launch. "CESMII provides infrastructure and services to every type and scale of manufacturer, provider or user of smart manufacturing assets, no matter technical acumen, size, or financial status." 

Corning technology and engineering development manager Michelle Pastel said the Institute will empower the manufacturing industry through the strength of a national, industry-driven collaboration. 

"The power is in the 'we' of CESMII and the collaborative environment that the Smart Manufacturing Platform and Marketplace infrastructure will provide for legacy and future manufacturing systems," Pastel said in a statement. "CESMII enables the critical mass to widely adopt smart manufacturing and build the workforce skills needed to propel this capability forward."

According to the announcement, the institute seeks to give American manufacturers unprecedented, real-time control of energy use across factories and companies, increasing productivity and saving on energy costs by combining manufacturing, digital and energy efficiency expertise, technologies developed by the institute.

The institute will be led by Ray Collett as CEO. 

Jim Wetzel, SMLC's chairman and global reliability director of General Mills said in a statement: "The team is confident that Collett's multi-faceted background, extensive industry and startup experience, and demonstrated leadership well-positions CESMII to become a thriving, sustainable entity that attracts and retains manufacturing stakeholder involvement through delivering value-add."

Collett has held positions at large corporations such as Parker Hannifin and Nalco Chemical along with a number of startup organizations. He most recently served as the vice president of innovation and technology for Parker Hannifin, a global diversified motion control manufacturer.

CESMII includes a national network of regional smart manufacturing centers across the country. Advancements in the Institute's technology focus areas of sensors, controls, platforms and modeling will be interlinked by an open platform and marketplace for smart manufacturing. The regions will leverage these technologies and their service capabilities to form the virtual network of linked resources targeted towards each region's clean energy, industrial and workforce objectives.