(The Center Square) – America gained a new appreciation for supply chains and manufacturing during the pandemic, and now a new program in Illinois is helping to make sure the shelves stay stocked well into the future.
With a welcoming response from industry, Illinois is celebrating the recent launch of a supply chain center envisioned as a way to revolutionize manufacturing. The program, available in all 50 states through the U.S. Department of Commerce, uses database technology to make sure the industry has the resources it needs to grow.
“We’ve learned so much from the pandemic and the aftereffects of the pandemic of the critical importance of supply chains,” said David Boulay, president of the Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center, a nonprofit economic development group. “As we’ve gone into some new normal of the economy, these supply chain challenges continue to ripple.”
Together with the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, IMEC will be working to team up manufacturers and suppliers in a virtual effort to keep resources flowing. Though initial contacts are virtual, the program also invites in-person visits at industrial sites.
“The real work begins with that dialogue and conversation with the company to understand in more detail what they’re looking for. And then our team uses data analytics, the databases we have, to search out the solutions,” he said.
According to Boulay, companies can start the conversation very simply through the IMEC website.
The potential to make a difference with the Manufacturing Extension Partnership program is significant in Illinois. Boulay described the state as a powerhouse with manufacturing consisting of well over 18,000 such companies drawing on supply chains in every sector.
Suppliers also will benefit.
“We can help the Illinois suppliers really localize or strengthen their supply base here in the state,” Boulay said.
