FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 10, 2020
For more information please contact:
Zenagui Brahim
President, NH MEP
603-226-3200
zenaguib@nhmep.org
On Thursday, October 29th, the 18th Annual Governor’s Advanced Manufacturing and High Technology Summit was successfully conducted online with over 200 participants in attendance, (mostly small to medium-sized manufacturers) making it one of the largest manufacturing events to be held virtually since COVID-19 began. Mike Mastergeorge, Vice President of Brazonics Inc. kicked off the summit thanking the teams at NH MEP, NH Department of Business and Economic Affairs, and the NH Business and Industry Association. He thanked People’s United Bank and BAE Systems as the major sponsors and acknowledged the other sponsors as well. He introduced Taylor Caswell, Commissioner of NH Department of Business and Economic Affairs, who made opening remarks and introduced Governor Chris Sununu. The governor acknowledged progress made in manufacturing and other sectors and encouraged manufacturing innovation in the state as the sector recovers.
David Jenelle, Senior Vice President at People’s United Bank, made some remarks on the bank role in manufacturing and introduced the morning keynote speaker Doug Woods, President of The Association for Manufacturing Technology. Doug has led the effort in developing MTConnect, the industry-wide interoperability standard that has grown in usage and implementation across a wide scope of manufacturing operations around the world and has overseen the development of MTInsight, a customized manufacturing business intelligence platform.
Doug’s keynote title was “Manufacturing the Future: Transformative Technologies’ Role in Accelerating out of the COVID Crisis”. He indicated that despite a 30% market loss in 2020, trends are showing to be over 40% in 2021, which will help recoup losses and move the industry back on track. He discussed lessons learned from the pandemic, identifying that Supply Chain Risks have not received appropriate strategic attention. He described a “Manufacturing Utopia” where ideally, clients get “what they want, when they want, where they want, and the way they want their products,” saying this can be achieved through 1) Mass Customization, 2) Smart Factories and 3) Democratization of Innovation and Learning. Doug advised that transformative technologies such as those under the Industry 4.0 umbrella are no longer limited to billion dollar companies. They can be achieved through scaling up crowd source funding and leveraging open source platforms.
Doug emphasized that intelligent data is at the core of digital transformation. To give a fresh perspective, Doug cited several practical examples of how both small and major companies are using AI/Machine Learning, Advanced Cognitive Automation, Generative Design and Augmented Reality, Additive Manufacturing, Digital Twin and Manufacturing as a Service (MaaS).
After the keynote, participants could choose 2 available concurrent workshops to attend:
Sustainability Around Your Lean Factory, Changed Work Environment During COVID-19, Technology Driven Market Intelligence (TDMI) and Workforce Development & Training Resources. NHMEP Project Managers facilitated each workshop, all of which featured leading expert panelists in Manufacturing and the New Hampshire Educational system.