Dear CESMII Colleagues,
We are in unprecedented times. At CESMII, we recognize the very real impact and disruption that concerns over the COVID-19 virus have on lives – within our ecosystem and all around the world. We take these concerns seriously and are taking steps to keep our employees, members and partners safe, including instituting a work-from-home policy for headquarters staff and postponing our Annual Meeting scheduled for early March. Your health and safety are of utmost importance to us.
In the midst of these new realities, our work continues. We are in the planning stages to roll out important content from the Annual Meeting to you through virtual and regional events. We’ll leverage all the online and collaboration tools at our disposal to share important news, announcements, training, demonstrations and updates so you’re informed. Please stay tuned and ready to actively engage.
Your continued engagement is just as important today – and perhaps even more so – than it was prior to the spread of the COVID-19 virus. You’re part of an ecosystem tasked with ensuring the viability of American manufacturing. Smart Manufacturing has long been viewed by many as a potential global business disruptor – powerful, rapidly evolving technologies & knowledge enabling the transformation of manufacturing operations, business models and supply chains – with significant economic value to those who recognize the possibilities and harness its power fastest and most effectively. Every industrialized nation in the world is working to realize this value, and we are doing so together, as an ecosystem of manufacturers, technology vendors, systems integrators, academic institutions and government entities. We’ll turn disruption into opportunity for all of American manufacturing.
Today, COVID-19 is a deadly disruptor with no transformative upside. It is impacting all aspects of life around the globe and showing the importance of manufacturing to daily life everywhere, as supply chains for critical medicines, food and consumer packaged goods are stressed beyond capacity. CESMII has already been contacted by partners in the Midwest US working on a regional “Accelerated Recovery Plan” to bolster their economy after the virus is contained. They know the importance of manufacturing to their local economies and Smart Manufacturing to their local manufacturers. This is just one example of the important work that continues at CESMII, along with the:
- research to advance the integration of advanced sensors, data ingestion, contextualization, modeling, analytics and platforms;
- introduction of Self-Serve Smart Manufacturing;
- advancement of the Smart Manufacturing Innovation Platform technologies;
- evolution of our regional network-of-networks to industry and expertise-centric Smart Manufacturing Innovation Centers;
- continuation of our Education & Workforce Development training and deliverables;
- collaboration with key industry partners, such as the OPC Foundation and Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC);
- bolstering of CESMII’s headquarters staff; and, much, much more.
Please know that CESMII’s leaders take today’s global realities very seriously, as we do our responsibilities to democratize Smart Manufacturing and make it available to all US manufacturers. We encourage you to stay engaged and help us provide the leadership to accelerate the recovery for all. Let us know how CESMII and Smart Manufacturing could help your accelerated recovery plan.
Sincerely,
CESMII Leadership Team