March 2010 | Volume 5, Issue 1
NJMEP News
Expand Your Knowledge with NJMEP’s New Workshops
NJMEP is introducing a very special series of new workshops this year, many of which are free. Throughout the coming year workshop participants can learn the latest information on regulations regarding the environment and immigration, evolving legal issues regarding HR such as employee privacy rights and records retention policies. If you are interested in exporting your products or marketing your products and services to federal, state and local government agencies we have workshops for you. If energy is a concern, join us for a session that will discuss the availability of energy audits and introduce you to two key organizations New Jersey SmartStart Buildings and The Center for Advanced Energy Systems that can assist with energy related issues.
Are you in need of financial assistance to introduce new processes or to train your workforce? NJMEP is bringing DOL and EPA to Morris Plains to explain the programs that are available through their respective organizations and provide guidance on how to apply for the appropriate programs. If you are a manufacturer that has been impacted by foreign competition, our workshop on Trade Adjustment Assistance for Firms, a federal program that helps pay for projects to improve a firm’s competitiveness may be perfect for you.
In addition, we have added two new Lean workshops to our portfolio of Lean offerings: Lean Medical Office and Lean Hospital both with LIVE Simulation.
To learn more about our new workshops and to register go to NJMEP Events.
Innovation Drives Top Line Growth
Same old, same old is not the path to success. Our economy moves forward as a result of change. Companies develop new requirements and the solutions to meet those new needs is what moves our economy forward. Often the solutions to these “new” challenges stem from pure scientific research, other times the solutions come from applying a technology that was developed for one industry and transfered it to another. Finding these new solutions can be a challenge. Where do companies go to find new ideas and opportunities for growing the business?
USA National Innovation Marketplace
Vice President Biden announced the expansion of the USA National Innovation Marketplace (NIM), a service of the Department of Commerce’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership. The online marketplace brings together the ideas, products and future opportunities businesses need to identify new markets, diversify and create new jobs. The site enables companies in search of growth opportunities to find innovative ideas, speed up the R&D process and find more products, services, customers and markets to improve their top-line and become more profitable. For innovators, the site helps them to succeed by identifying buyers, investors, distributors and even financing.
The Marketplace uses an open innovation strategy that includes partnering, licensing, and co-development with partners outside of a company instead of traditional, internal research and development. The site helps connect innovation sellers, buyers, investors and distributors in all industries.
Top-Line Growth Workshops
NJMEP, which had been focusing its efforts on process improvement that delivers dramatic savings to the bottom line for its clients, is now deploying services that work both sides of the balance sheet – reducing costs and increasing revenues. These Top-line growth services target developing new products, adding new markets and increasing sales – enabling companies to not just survive but thrive in the global marketplace. With NJMEP’s assistance, companies improve their top line by developing a solid growth strategy that incorporates both technology and knowledge transfer to develop new products and add new markets.
Full Body Scanners: Technology Transfer on the Global Front
We spent the cold dark days of late December and early January reading about airport security and the pros and cons of the full body scan. Based on the Brazilian Tadarida bat, the full body scan employs millimetre-waves to detect and identify suspicious objects hidden under clothing. The system was originally developed for the European Space Agency to see through cloud and fog in the same way the bat uses high-frequency signals to navigate and locate insect prey in the dark. The system was developed by the Irish company Farran Technologies, under ESA’s Technology Transfer and Promotion Office and its business incubator program.
Applying It at Home
In the US, technology and knowledge transfer programs such as the Innovation Marketplace, the Robert C. Byrd National Technology Transfer Center and the New Jersey Business Incubator Network have helped innovators launch businesses, connect to companies and companies advance their R&D processes to develop new products.
Michel M. Bitritto, Director, NJ Meadowlands Commission Business Accelerator explained, “Incubators support the early-stage emerging businesses, the growth engines for new job creation in the new economy.” Incubators are designed to bridge the gap between an idea and an actual business. These networks help technology transfer projects get off the ground and assist in their development into viable businesses. Once established, these businesses can look to NJMEP for programs that will help them continue to grow.
Form Fit and Function Engineering (F3 Engineering), is an example of the success of these types of programs—the incubator network helped establish the company and technology transfer helped it broaden its market. The company, which has been awarded over forty-one defense contracts for its proprietary motion control products, worked with NJMEP to develop and implement a sales and marketing program to bring its magnetorheological fluid technology to the world of high performance motorcycles.
It seems the secret to stability, both in the air and on the road, lies in magnetorheological fluids— actively controlled fluids that change viscosity almost instantly and respond to dynamic conditions. In addition to F3’s solid presence in the military market the company now has a powerful presence in the world of motorsports through its Mark I Steering Damper. The Damper, which was developed in conjunction with Himmelsbach Racing, delivers the same advanced anti-vibration technology used by the Navy’s E-2C Hawkeye aircraft to Triumph, Suzuki and aprilla riders worldwide.
Innovative Thinking Drives The Economy As Well As Top Line Growth
Governments worldwide support efforts to assure innovation remains healthy in their economies. For manufacturing to succeed innovation must be an integral part of the process. Manufacturers must know how to identify potential markets, encourage creative thought in its workforce and find sources for streamlining the R&D process. Our scientists, innovators and entrepreneurs need viable means to create new businesses that can bring to market solutions to meet ever-changing global needs—solutions that will help grow the economy and ensure our manufacturers succeed.
To learn more about how NJMEP’s Top-line Growth workshops and The National Innovation Marketplace can help grow your business call us at 973-998-9801 or email NJMEP at ManufacturingMatters@njmep.org. Put Innovation in the subject line.
Manufacturing is Alive in New Jersey
by Robert Loderstedt, President & CEO of NJMEP
New Jersey isn’t simply “The Garden State.” Its small and midsized manufacturers are quietly contributing to the state’s economy and the international economy as well. NJMEP is featuring many of these manufacturers on its web site, spotlighting companies that are committed to keeping jobs in New Jersey.
NJMEP recently launched a web page showcasing these great companies. The Made In New Jersey webpage isn’t just a pretty interface; it’s a source for finding local suppliers to meet your company’s needs.
The State is home to companies producing products that increase energy efficiency, recycle materials and support other manufacturers. Our manufacturers help keep us fit with their aerobic equipment and nutritional supplements and they help keep our children occupied and fed. Many New Jersey manufacturers are ISO certified, incorporate Lean Principles and produce innovative products using sustainable materials. Lives are saved as a result of equipment manufactured in the state and a New Jersey “manufacturer” is a leading supplier of allograft tissue for transplants.
Manufacturers Save Energy and Help Save Lives
New Jersey’s Robert Lighting and Energy (RLE Industries) and Tektite Industries are two companies helping improve energy usage. Fairfield based RLE Industries manufactures energy efficient fluorescent, HID, and LED lighting systems. Further south, Trenton based Tektite Industries manufactures portable LED flashlights and lighting systems with diving, aviation, emergency services, military, and law enforcement applications. Its products can be found in South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, as well as in North America.
Odyssey Automotive Specialty, based in Wharton, manufactures first response EMS units that help save lives throughout the state and the Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation ships its tissue throughout the US and also educates the public on the importance of organ and tissue donation.
Manufacturers Recycle and Use Recyclable Materials
Absecon Mills, located in the Pinelands is an eco-friendly company. Eighty-five percent of its raw materials are recyclable, leaving no waste by-products in the manufacturing process. The company manufactures upholstery fabrics and wall covering from Polyolefin, a fabric manufactured from a by-product of gasoline manufacturing. After use, these fabrics and wall coverings are recycled to inert plastic resin pellets, which offset the need for virgin plastic pellets derived from oil production.
In addition to its sustainable products, Absecon Mills participates in New Jersey’s Clean Power Choice Program. The company utilizes wind power in its operations and manufacturing processes.
Easily recognized by anyone who has been in the paper products aisle of any supermarket or driven through Paterson on Route 80, Marcal Manufacturing is a leader in 100% recycled paper products: bath tissue, paper towels, napkins and facial tissue.
An “Earth-Friendly Paper Goods Company since 1950,” Marcal uses recyclables from more than 600 municipalities to create its Small Steps products. Beside its residential products, Marcal produces a line of specialized products for business and institutions; products enabling all of us to take small steps in greening our environment. CEO Tim Spring, a long-time conservationist and advocate, walked across NJ to raise money for charity and his passion is to convert everyone to 100% Recycled Paper.
Quality in Our Lives and in Manufacturing Processes
Whether you are improving the quality of your life or your company’s processes you will appreciate these New Jersey manufacturers’ efforts to provide first class aerobic equipment, nutritional supplements and quality industrial products.
Two New Jersey manufacturers help us keep our bodies fit. Aerobics, Inc., in West Caldwell, manufactures treadmills, elliptical machines and exercise cycles. Its PaceMaster treadmills were featured in the Discovery Channel’s series “How It’s Made.” Viewing it’s customers’ testimonials on its website, we see that buying American is important to consumers when given the choice.
Food Sciences Corporation, a full service contract and private label manufacturer of nutritional products and programs, specializes in the weight management industry. For more than 30 years, the company has manufactured its own product line as well as partnering with major US corporations, medical facilities and small businesses to create and manufacture custom formulations.
New Jersey manufacturers produce quality products. Connector Products Inc. was founded by Mario Polidori, a power utility worker who saw a need for connectors for commercial rail line and power generation applications. He developed the designs and patented the technology. Today the company is an ISO certified manufacturer delivering quality products to its customers.
Precision Escalator manufactures escalator parts, elevator products and moving walk components. The company’s founder, Greg Maroukian, began with a goal of delivering a few high quality products that would enable service organizations and mechanic customers to complete their jobs correctly and efficiently. The company, operating with lean manufacturing principles, continues to provide its worldwide customer base with high quality products for servicing escalators and elevators.
New Jersey’s Manufacturers
Throughout the State, manufacturers are producing products that assist other companies in their production processes and compete in the global economy. We’ve looked at just a handful of companies here. To learn more about the New Jersey manufacturing community visit the Made In New Jersey webpage at njmep.org. And, if you are a manufacturer that would like to add your company to the page, you’ll find the instructions there.
NJDOL to Train Workers for Green Industries
Regional Employment Development Initiative (REDI)
To assist companies in New Jersey who are working in all aspects of the “green” areas of energy efficiency and renewable energy, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development is seeking information on the skill needs of this sector so the skilled workforce necessary to grow New Jersey companies can be provided. As part of this project, a New Jersey supply chain will be developed by connecting New Jersey companies to other possible business partners in the state.
Through the up-to-date information provided by appropriate companies, training programs will be developed or updated; a searchable database will be completed and made available for everyone to use as they seek products/jobs/employees in this exciting, growing sector.
Please complete and return the enclosed survey so we have accurate, up-to-date industry information for this vital project to grow our New Jersey economy.
Thank you for your assistance in this New Jersey economic/workforce development project.
Eco-Industrial Parks and By-Product Synergy
Advancements in Greening Manufacturing
Many years have passed since GE built one of the nation’s first industrial parks in Cleveland. Today industrial parks are taking on a whole new meaning; they are becoming an integral part of an areas’ revitalization strategy and Green Initiatives. These next generation parks have become known as Eco-Industrial Parks (EIP) and often include By-Product Synergy. EIPs have been developed that range from one building such as the Phillips Eco-Enterprise Center in Minnesota to the 4,400 acre former Army base in Devens, MA. This new generation of industrial parks has brought jobs to disadvantaged areas, helped revitalized communities after military facilities have been closed and created a means to help its tenants manage production by-products.
New Jersey Manufacturers are faced with high costs as a result of regulation, taxation and being located on key real estate. Location, location, location is what drives real estate costs. Being in the Northeast Corridor offers businesses easy access to key markets, transportation, a highly qualified workforce and a quality life style…. all of which we pay dearly for. These positive regional attributes that drive up costs, combined with this new eco-industrial approach to development, can also attract jobs to New Jersey.
What, Why…
An industrial park is a community of manufacturing and service businesses located together on a common property. President’s Council on Sustainable Development defined an eco-industrial park (EIP) as a group of businesses that work together with the community to efficiently share resources (materials, water, energy, infrastructure, natural habitat, and information), enhance economic prosperity, and improve the environment. These parks are a reflection of the growing interest in Industrial Ecologyand Ecological Economics. Ernest Lowe, CEO of Indigo Development and author of two editions of a handbook for Eco-Industrial Park development, explains, “The goal of an EIP is to improve the economic performance of the participating companies while minimizing their environmental impacts. Tenants in an EIP see reduced costs as a result of shared services and host communities benefit from reduced demand on municipal infrastructure.”
By-Product Synergy (BPS), or By-Product Exchange (BPX) as it is sometimes called, is the practice of matching manufacturing by-products with potential users, helping to create new revenues or savings for the companies involved, while simultaneously addressing social and environmental impacts. It is one tactic for optimizing resource use in an EIP or in a broader network of firms,
…and Where
The concept of EIP as a model for local sustainable development began in 1994-5 with a US-EPA funded cooperative research project at Brownsville, Texas. Indigo Development collaborated with Research Triangle Institute in field research and preparation of the first Handbook for Eco-Industrial Parks. The most notable US demonstration of the concept resulted from the conversion of Ft. Devens, the former Army base in Massachusetts. Mr. Lowe, who has played a central role in the planning of other EIPs, explains how it got started, “The base decommissioning led to the loss of almost 3,000 civilian jobs. The Devens Enterprise Commission (DEC), guided by Peter Lowitt, decided to redevelop 1,800 acres of the 4,400 acre facility as an eco-industrial park and sustainable mixed use community, leaving remaining land as undeveloped open space. The property had been designated as a Superfund site, and required extensive environmental cleanup” said Lowe.
“In the last decade, public investment of $300 million enabled cleanup and rehabilitation of buildings and development of new infrastructure. The Commission attracted over $2.1 billion of private investment for new facilities at the site.”. “In addition,” Lowe added, “The 98 companies at the eco-industrial park hired 5,000 employees earning over $150 million annually. Bristol Meyers Squibb has a 97 acre campus; Evergreen Solar uses a 350,000 sf plant for the manufacture of photovoltaic panels; Magnum Motion develops special purpose maglev equipment and Devens also hosts the largest construction and demolition recycling site in the US. In addition to industrial usage, 2000 units of housing with high performance design that uses less than half the energy of standard building design is under construction.”
Deven’s environmental programs include: EcoStar an awards program using 25 standards for company environmental performance. DEC supports business collaboration to utilize by-products, share costs of joint training, share transportation resources, and otherwise work together. The Devens Eco-Efficiency Center offers a wide range of services to tenant companies.
Pedricktown, NJ is home to Energy Freedom Pioneers’ eco-industrial park. The. park is located on land that was formerly Camp Pedricktown. Energy Freedom Pioneers’ mission is to help fulfill New Jersey’s Renewable Energy Standard by delivering up to 8 MW of clean, reliable power to the grid from solar and biopower production as well stimulating the local economy by creating high quality jobs while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by relying on proven, reliable, cost-effective carbon-free sources of electricity.
The park’s onsite infrastructure and proximity to railways, freeways and ports adjacent to major metropolitan cities has attracted clean energy manufacturers. In addition to providing an eco friendly environment for manufacturers, Energy Freedom Pioneers has partnered with Salem Community College to provide internships for the college’s associate degree in applied science in both nuclear and sustainable energy.
Londonderry NH’s EIP grew as a result of a recycling company approaching Stonyfield Farms Yogurt to use its grey water to rinse plastics. The company wanted to establish a plastic recycling operation on vacant land next to the dairy. Stonyfield, a leader in sustainable business practices, and Londonderry decided to explore the opportunity to create an ecological industrial park on the 100 acres of town-owned land adjacent to the company.
In 1996 a set of covenants and governance system was set up that requires all tenants in the Londonderry complex to develop an environmental management system, track their resource use, set environmental performance goals, perform third party ecological audits and report progress to the Community Stewardship Board. Businesses established in the park include a power plant, a medical supply distribution firm, software firms and rental car operators, all of which adopted the eco-industrial practices mandated by the park.
Bayshore Recycling Corp (BRC), a “family” of seven diversified companies, is located on a 52-acre waterfront property in Woodbridge Township. The complex is often referred to as Middlesex County’s Eco-Complex and Energy Campus. BRC’s President Valerie Montecalvo, explained, “Bayshore grew from our family owned and operated heavy highway construction company. We believed there was a more environmentally friendly way to construct highways.” That “small” idea helped change the way New Jersey approached its highway construction and launched Bayshore, where all operations onsite remove every material that can currently be recycled from the construction and demolition industry’s waste stream.
In 2008, Bayshore Recycling Corp installed the largest photovoltaic system in the recycling industry. The system is part of a much larger plan for the company, which is actively taking steps to become the most diverse Energy Campus on the East Coast. Plans are under development to create a diverse campus of “green” businesses that use each other’s manufactured product to advance the latest construction recycling technologies as well as derive its power from an onsite facility.
Building on Success
EIPs are operating worldwide from NJ and NH to Canada to China. Some are small and some are vast. Often tied to energy sources such as landfill, natural gas or solid waste, these parks or industrial ecosystem projects improve the economic performance of the participating companies while minimizing their environmental impacts.
Currently, individual companies are looking for ways to apply that core premise of an EIP—improving its tenants’ economic performance by utilizing their under-valued by-product streams. Size is no deterrent to managing a company’s by-products. Imperial Billiards, in Hope Township, is a small manufacturer of pool tables, shuffleboards and bars that turned its sawdust into a new product line. Valerio Vindici, co-owner of the company took a customer’s comment to heart and within months was supplying his sawdust to wood pellet manufacturers and distributing the resulting product.
US Foods turned its contribution to landfill into a profit center. Rather than paying $50-80,000 annually to dispose of its large amounts of shrink-wrap, US Foods purchased a compactor. They then sold the compacted wrap to a manufacturer of decking material adding $12,000 to its bottom line.
By-Product Synergy groups are springing up throughout the U.S. Chicago, Houston and Kansas City have established BPS projects and six Gulf Coast Dow Chemical Company facilities participated in a study that focused on the reuse of nonchlorinated wastes. The study, the first part of a two-part project, estimated 155 million ponds of nonchlorinated waste products per year could be reused if Dow implemented certain projects. Long term, the project hopes to identify opportunities for synergy among various diverse companies and industries.
Opportunities Exist
EIPs and By-Product Synergy can help New Jersey companies improve their operations by reducing waste management costs and move a company into the ever-growing in importance, Green Frontier. If you are interested in learning more about EIPs, By-Product Synergy or have materials to dispose of, email us atmanufacturingmatters@njmep.org or call us at 973-998-9801.
Client News: N.J. Burger King Testing Energy-Producing Speed Bump
Jerry Lynch from Sigma Design and its “Motion Power Energy Harvester” was featured on Fox News. The device is designed to capture kinetic energy from vehicles that would otherwise be lost, in this case when drivers hit the brakes to pick up their Whoppers. It’s being tested at a Burger King on Rt 22. Click here to read the article.