Purdue marks relaunch of initiative to support manufacturing growth
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Officials at Purdue University this week celebrated the relaunch of the Indiana Manufacturing Competitiveness Center, or IN-MaC.
Established in 2012, IN-Mac was designed to help Indiana manufacturers with their digital transformation to Industry 4.0 and support workforce development efforts to help students transition to industry jobs.
Director Nathan Hartman says the relaunch aims to bolster that commitment by placing a greater emphasis on training workers on the skills they need.
“The state of Indiana’s economy today is as focused on manufacturing as it has ever been, but we face some challenges,” Hartman told Inside INdiana Business. “[There’s] not enough workforce to support the manufacturing that needs to be done. But not just not enough people in general…not enough people with the right kinds of technology and computing skills that are necessary for a more robust and, frankly, more automated manufacturing environment.”
Hartman said many companies are looking to deploy automation in many cases because they can’t find enough skilled workers to do the work.
IN-MaC, which is based out the School of Engineering Technology at Purdue Polytechnic Institute, is refocusing its efforts on three key areas:
- Manufacturing workforce and education to build and upskill talent
- Technology demonstration to help Indiana companies adopt cutting-edge tools
- A state-of-the-art testbed where companies and researchers prototype new ideas in a digitally connected environment
“The relaunch has entailed a more direct focus on helping manufacturers integrate and deploy these newer technologies in a way that meets a business case,” said Hartman. “Obviously deploying technology just for deployment sake is really not what most organizations want to spend their resources on. Obviously, they want it to have some kind of a business benefit.”
IN-MaC will also continue to focus on outreach to students throughout the state, particularly through its Design and Innovation Studios at local schools.
Hartman said it’s important for the center to emphasize STEM-related skills to elementary and middle school students through design and maker projects, which serves as a twofold exercise.
“One is tapping into younger children’s creativity and that interest in in making and building things, but also reinforcing what the state has laid out as math and science standards for children at that grade level,” he said. “So it raises awareness of manufacturing-oriented careers without having to have a multimillion-dollar investment in equipment or training.”
IN-MaC has some form of workforce development activity in every Indiana county, Hartman said, who added his ultimate goal would be to see a Design and Innovation Studio in every elementary and middle school in the state.
Marcus Wagner, principal of DeKalb High School in Waterloo, said being involved with IN-MaC has helped reframe what is possible for students.
“We’ve gone from just preparing graduates to launching futures,” Wagner said in written remarks. “One student recently told me, ‘I never thought I could do this—now I know I can.’ That’s the power of partnership.”
Indiana higher education institutions like Vincennes University and even some companies, such as Honda Manufacturing of Indiana LLC in Greensburg and Endress+Hauser in Greenwood have opened their own Design and Innovation Studios over the last few years benefiting both students and employees.
“Through these partnerships, students aren’t just learning about manufacturing—they’re living it,” said Stephanie Spillman, workforce principal specialist at Honda. “It’s the kind of preparation that lasts a lifetime.”
Hartman said he’d also like to see growth in IN-MaC’s efforts to boost manufacturers’ integration of research and technology, showing how people interact with the new technologies in the workplace to do a more effective job regardless of their role with the company.
“A lot of times people shy away from some of these technologies because they see them as being hard or difficult or not particularly approachable,” he said. “But what we’re trying to do with IN-MaC is lower that barrier [and] show them applicable ways that this technology can help them.”