Kansas State’s Advanced Manufacturing Institute named GLWN Center of Excellence

April 26, 2010

Great Lakes WIND Network™ (GLWN), an international supply chain network and advisory group in Cleveland, has named the Advanced Manufacturing Institute (AMI) at Kansas State University as the first-in-the-nation Center of Excellence to expand GLWN’s supply chain development efforts in the state of Kansas.

According to GLWN, as wind energy OEM and component suppliers continue to expand across the U.S. market, there is a growing need to develop the component supply chain to increase industry capacity, reduce logistic costs, and increase U.S.-manufactured content. In an effort to respond to these needs, GLWN developed the Centers of Excellence strategic initiative.

GLWN expects to establish a limited number of designated Centers of Excellence that serve key regions of the country where the wind industry is actively making new manufacturing investments or existing manufacturers are actively pursuing industry participation.

AMI, a department within the College of Engineering at Kansas State University, provides engineering and business services to manufacturers and entrepreneurs. Its engineering staff will work directly with GLWN staff to provide site assessments for manufacturers wishing to enter the wind industry supply chain, make recommendations on possible components to be supplied, and assess the organization’s overall production system.

The partnership also will enable companies that have met suitable criteria to participate in the GLWN Wind Alert System, which informs potential suppliers when an OEM or upper-tier supplier is sourcing a specific component that they are capable of producing.