The Institute for Smart, Secure and Connected Systems at Case Western Reserve University has been chosen to lead a Smart Manufacturing Innovation Center in Cleveland.
The innovation center will focus on helping small and medium-sized manufacturers adopt smart manufacturing technologies to reduce changeover time and scrap, increase worker safety, and make equipment more effective, Case Western Reserve said in a press release.
Adopting smart manufacturing — also known as Industry 4.0 — is critical to helping manufacturers stay relevant in an increasingly connected and global economy, the university said.
Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Institute advocates using advanced sensors, data and platforms to accelerate the adoption of smart manufacturing to improve manufacturing, the university said.
Northeast Ohio has more than 7,000 small and medium-sized manufacturers, according to Team NEO, the business and economic development organization focused on job creation in Northeast Ohio. Meanwhile, manufacturing continues to be critical to Ohio’s economy, employing more than 640,000 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
"This $500,000 SMIC project is a direct result of years of collaboration between academia and the public and private sectors in Northeast Ohio," said Nick Barendt, executive director of the university's manufacturing institute and who will direct the Cleveland smart manufacturing innovation center, in the release.
Team NEO's Smart Manufacturing Cluster will work with Bennit AI, the Chagrin Falls, Ohio, software company, to lead the engagement and smart manufacturing assessment efforts of the new center, the university said.
The Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network in Cleveland, better known as MAGNET, will lead smart manufacturing implementations for manufacturers at the center, the university said.
