It seems improbable that something as rigid as a tree could be turned into a pliable foam that can pad the soles of shoes and cushion seats in cars, but Clemson University researchers have done exactly that. A research team in the Department of Automotive Engineering used…
I was humbled to have an opportunity to speak to the faculty of the Greenville Technical College Center for Manufacturing Innovation on the occasion of the 2021-2022 academic kick-off. Approximately 50 faculty members were in attendance to discuss plans for integrating the program under the new dean…
Within the OpExChange, our companies are all at some point of a continuous improvement journey – striving to improve both their bottom-line and top-line results by reducing waste and increasing value for their customers. Many are now incorporating industry 4.0 technology as a strategic part of this journey….
As manufacturing companies across South Carolina are racing back into normalcy, they are finding that things are not quite the same as prior to the pandemic. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the number of job openings has reached a series high point (the term…
One of the common attributes’ employees list for an ideal job is a stress-free work environment. Even if there was such a thing as a stress-free job, the reality is we would still carry our stress from home and other sources. To make matters worse, a study…
CONVERSE, SC, August 10, 2021 – Jerome Kirkland, Site Manager for BASF’s Converse manufacturing facility in Spartanburg County, has been named to the Upstate Workforce Investment Board. The board builds and maintains a workforce development system that meets the needs of employers of Cherokee, Spartanburg and Union…
Collaborative robots (Cobots) don’t get sick. They don’t take the long way to get to tools, they don’t have an after-lunch crash, and they don’t have bad days. Cobots meet a daily standard that is not only fixed, but also efficient and laser-focused enough to understand and…
All the 131 OpExChange member companies are at some stage of their continuous improvement journey. Some have been working on this for multiple decades and some are just getting started. Two things we all have learned through this: 1) The journey never ends. 2) No matter where…
Sleep Number Corporation, manufacturer of the award-winning 360® smart bed, hosted a plant visit for the OpExChange at their Irmo site last week. They shared that value stream mapping (VSM) has become an integral tool in their continuous improvement program. Although there is still room for improvement,…
Wilmington, N.C. (August 3, 2021) PolyQuest, Inc. (PQ), the leading distributor of PET resins and manufacturer of recycled PET resins in North America, announces the promotion of Ryan Nettles and Brad Willingham to Senior Vice Presidents. Joining PolyQuest in 2006, Ryan Nettles has demonstrated exceptional leadership of the…