Early in 2011, Bruce O’Neill made an important decision for Detroit-based Focus: HOPE’s Center for Advance Technolo-gies.

The software manages, plans and simulates production processes.

Although Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) is the nation’s oldest technological university, it’s on the cutting edge of advanced manufacturing.

Lean has rolled through our factories and generated profits at every turn.

In September, President Obama signed into a law the first major overhaul of the U.S. patent system since 1952.

Eaton Corp. produces more than 1 million engine valves per day for nearly every automaker and engine manufacturer in the world. One of the company’s largest manufacturing facilities, located in Kearney, NE, supplies highly engineered valves that increase fuel economy, improve efficiency and boost performance.

Designing and manufacturing high-bay warehouses is a specialty of SSI Schäfer, a German international logistics compa-ny. These warehouses feature welded steel beams that are used as horizontal load carriers in shelving systems.

Every day, Ossur Americas assem-bles and ships more than 800 cervical collar packages from its 52,000-square-foot facility in Paulsboro, NJ, to users worldwide. The company also develops, manufactures and assembles millions of prosthetics and other novel medical devices annually at the facility.

Every plant engineer knows that solving simple manufacturing problems can often yield great benefits. This was the case recently for Silver City Aluminum Corp., a Taunton, MA, producer of custom aluminum extrusions and finished parts since 1952.

There are a lot of ideas floating around Washington these days regarding the health and importance of U.S. manufacturing and what should be done about it.