3 Things To Consider This Friday

All-new Honda Odyssey rolls off Alabama assembly line 

By Michael Tomberlin
April 25, 2017

On the same site where it broke ground for its first Alabama auto plant 17 years ago to the day, Honda Manufacturing of Alabama (HMA) rolled out the first of the latest model of the Odyssey minivan produced at the plant.

 More than 1,500 associates at the plant celebrated the start of mass production of the 2018 Odyssey, slated to go on sale this spring at Honda dealerships nationwide.

HMA is the exclusive manufacturer of the popular minivan.

For the rest of story, visit Alabama NewsCenter.

Igniting Industrial Growth: Jumpstarting Emerging Industrial App Economy

By Rob McKeel, GE Automation & Controls, President and CEO 
April 21, 2017

“There’s an app for that.”

Everyone knows the phrase. As consumers, we live in a world of apps. We track mileage and heartrate on our morning run, set a reminder to call the doctor’s office when it opens, reroute our commute to avoid traffic delays and stream music while we go. And that’s just before 8 a.m.

 Now machines are joining the game. In fact, machine data is growing twice as fast as other data, making Big Data even bigger.

For the rest of story, visit IndustryWeek.

Trends In Access Governance Technology And Potential Impact On Manufacturers

By Dean Wiech
April 27, 2017

 As the identity and access governance market has matured, the affordability and ease of implementation has become such that it is now within the budget realities of many small and medium sized manufacturers. In fact, with the explosion of cloud applications usage, access governance can actually be a time- and money-saving endeavor.

 The days of employees and managers being chained to a desk behind a PC or work station are rapidly disappearing and the workforce is now using multiple devices for accessing cloud and web applications from multiple locations.

For the rest of story, visit Manufacturing Business Technology.

Alabama Defense Contractors Eligible for Market Expansion Services

By Karen Yarbrough
April 27, 2017

 The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) is working with the Department of Defense (DoD) to help companies who support the DoD to expand their businesses. The Alabama Defense Industry Diversification Analysis Project (ADIDAP) provides qualifying Alabama businesses an opportunity to receive market diversification services at no cost to their organization.

The U.S. Department of Defense, through its Office for Economic Adjustment (DoD-OEA), is funding this project to better map the defense industrial base supply chain in Alabama and provide diversification assistance to small and medium-sized businesses that support DoD operations.

 Organizations that support the DoD may receive assistance in key areas including: strategic management planning; sales and marketing support; product or service development; quality systems and operational efficiency.

More details about Market Expansion Service eligibility, Visit Strengthen My Company.