July 5, 2011

 Washington, D.C.– Nevada Senator Harry Reid today announced a $315,000 grant for Nevada Industry Excellence (NIE), an essential program working directly with Nevada companies across the state to strengthen their global competitiveness and create jobs by providing information, decision support and implementation assistance in adopting new, more advanced technologies, techniques and best business practices.

“These resources will allow businesses in our state to access the tools they need to become more competitive in the global economy and to put Nevadans back to work,” said Reid.  “This initiative is essential to creating jobs right here in Nevada by giving a much needed boost to the state’s small- and medium-sized manufacturing firms that are struggling in this difficult economic climate.  This is exactly the kind of program Nevada needs to achieve our goal of ensuring that everyone who wants to work has that opportunity.”

Nevada Industry Excellence is Nevada’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership under the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Partnership program.  NIE has provided business and technical solutions to Nevada’s industrial community since 1995.  NIE offers cost-effective solutions for top-line growth and operational efficiency to small and medium-sized manufacturing business, and the mining and construction industry in Nevada. 

From the Nevada Industry Excellence Web site: 

TESTIMONIALS FROM NEVADA BUSINESSES:
“Nevada Industry Excellence is very well networked and has provided helpful assistance and information about Quality Systems over the years Custom Stamping has been in Carson City.”
— Tom Rettura, Quality Assurance Manager, Custom Stamping- Carson City, NV

“Nevada Industry Excellence staff went out of their way to integrate themselves into our organization, made a logical assessment of our needs and assisted us every step of the way to implement the best ideas of Lean Manufacturing.”
— Ron Wardle, Electronics Branch Manager, Young Electric Sign Company (YESCO)- Las Vegas, NV

“With Nevada Industry Excellence’s assistance we were able to reduce our manufacturing costs by over 27%. Our customers have been very pleased to see our implementation of Lean, especially 5S, visual workplace and standardized work procedures.”
— John Collier, Plant Manager, Herb Trade- Reno, NV

“I want to thank you for the opportunity and experience you provided Taiyo America with regards to your Growth Services program. Taiyo America come away from the seminar more energized, more driven, and certainly more focused with regards to innovation and product development. We also appreciated the input from MAP members and other outside parties in the idea mining sessions. You helped to “take the blinders off” and get us to take a look at opportunities outside of our comfort zone.”
— Dave Rund, President, Taiyo America, Inc.- Carson City, NV

“It’s good to know that you are there when we need you. for all our Energy Service needs”
— Erich Trombley, Supervisor Key Account Management, Southwest Gas- Las Vegas, NV

“I wanted to thank you again for allowing our team leaders to attend the course. Several of them came back energized about the concepts they had learned and we’ve started making changes to our flow lines as a result.”
— Michael Meguiar, GE Transportation, Las Vegas Plant Leader

“Nevada Industry Excellence is a tremendous resource — especially for small companies that cannot afford a large technical staff. They saved us a huge amount of money. MAP’s Lean Manufacturing training was a catalyst for us. After attending the training we decided to make a commitment to this. Through Nevada Industry Excellence’s Lean Manufacturing principles Polymer was able to reduce its buildings from five to two, floor space was cut by more than 50 percent and profits more than tripled.”
— Paul Gossi, Plant Manager Polymer Engineering Corporation’s

“Once the ideas were brought to the attention of the employees, it happened very quickly. They removed obsolete parts and equipment and made space for their redesigned flow lines. Employees redesigned the assembly process into a cellular flow system for one product line. The Flow Line pilot test conducted on the first product line showed a 64 percent reduction in manufacturing time, a 49 percent decrease in work in process (WIP), and a 33 percent decrease in product travel distance. Most of the decrease in WIP was focused around the product inspection/test area that was formerly the bottleneck.”
— Betty Anderson, Operations Facility Manager ABB’s Carson

“Lean manufacturing is dramatically reducing the cycle time required to ship our products. The improved cycle times are directly linked to the top-notch customer service we are now able to provide, over 98 percent shipped on time.”
— Gerald Jearman, Plant Manager Springs Window- Reno, NV

“The initial Value Stream Map was the right starting place because it now gives a direction with concepts and goals that must be considered prior to any reorganization. Nevada Industry Excellence’s assistance has been just right in identifying new ways to look at a facility that I see everyday.”
— Don Graham, General Manager Jensen Precast- Sparks, NV

“Nevada Industry Excellence was the pinnacle to our success. We had an aggressive timeline and started without a single procedure in place. Without Nevada Industry Excellence and Prism eSolution’s assistance, we would still be in the infancy stage of the project. This certification has helped our marketing of TST. As we developed the procedures, we streamlined and improved our processes. The results: better yields, more productivity, and processes under control.”
— Sean Alarcon, Engineering Manager, Tsuda SurfaceTechnologies, Inc.- Henderson, NV

“Nevada Industry Excellence’s help was invaluable. They contacted us initially regarding the training program and then led us through the grant process. It was a great cooperative effort that ultimately resulted in approval of our application by the Nevada Commission on Economic Development.”
— John Mansanti, Mine General Manager

“We use Nevada Industry Excellence’s local resources to supplement our management team here at Dura-Bond. Customized training is just one of the benefits realized - not to mention the savings in time and money.”
— Chuck Barnett, President Dura-Bond Bearing Company- Carson City, NV