Week 21 in Manufacturing News

U.S. Department of Energy Announces $67 Million to Enhance Manufacturing Competitiveness Through Innovation; UK manufacturers warn of slow recovery from coronavirus; REPORT: New Operational Practices to Consider in the Time of COVID-19; our challenges for implementing data strategy in manufacturing

U.S. Department of Energy Announces $67 Million to Enhance Manufacturing Competitiveness Through Innovation

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) announced a $67 million funding opportunity to stimulate technology innovation, improve the energy productivity of American manufacturing, and enable the manufacturing of cutting-edge products in the United States.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy.

UK manufacturers warn of slow recovery from coronavirus

More than a third of UK manufacturers have warned that it will take over a year to return to normal trading, with bosses increasingly resigned to a long and slow economic recovery rather than a V-shaped bounce back after the coronavirus crisis eases.

According to a survey conducted by Make UK, the group that represents the interests of the sector, the proportion of manufacturing companies that say it will take more than 12 months for normal conditions to return

Source: Financial Times.

REPORT: New Operational Practices to Consider in the Time of COVID-19

The report is a collection of emerging strategies and new operational practices that many leading manufacturing organizations of all sizes are considering and/or implementing to guide their workplaces and employees safely through the pandemic.

The report can be found at The Manufacturing Leadership Council.

Four challenges for implementing data strategy in manufacturing

1. Leap of faith – to see a real impact from data projects often requires a lot of information, and therefore a lot of time is spent gathering data before real insights can be deduced.
2. Culture and change management – people are the biggest factor in implementing and getting value from data projects.
3. Organizational coordination – organization-wide data-management strategies are the key to effectively coordinating and focusing efforts. 
4. Keeping it alive – a lack of ownership and robustness, as well as poor communication, can lead to employees disengaging with data systems. 

Source: The Manufacturer.