Renton WA Ñ March 10, 2003 Ñ Vykor, a provider of strategic sourcing solutions for heavy manufacturing companies, has formed an academic advisory board in a bid to tap into the latest supply chain and manufacturing research from leading academics.
The new board includes representatives from Arizona State University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford Graduate School of Business and University of Wisconsin-Madison. The solution provider said the board is intended to couple the progressive research initiatives from these institutions with Vykor's operational and industry expertise to create a better understanding of manufacturing trends and technologies.
Vykor said its solutions will enable the research institutions to create, capture, quantify and optimize manufacturing processes for engineered machine parts and tooling.
"A principle value Vykor delivers is the ability to integrate and leverage a diverse set of manufacturing and business knowledge into an optimized production strategy for lower part costs and reduced schedules," said Todd Wallen, vice president of product strategy at Vykor. "The Vykor Academic Advisory Board, with its distinguished membership, adds to our value as we incorporate the leading intelligence from North America's best universities."
Members of the new board include James Patell of the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. Patell is the Herbert Hoover professor of public and private management and co-director of the Alliance for Innovative Manufacturing at Stanford.
"Today's business drivers of cost and competition will compel manufacturing companies to redefine the way they produce products and work with their suppliers," said Patell. "I have been involved with Vykor from its inception, and I look forward to supporting Vykor in providing tools that will enable manufacturing companies to understand and control their costs and schedules for engineered parts and tooling."
Also joining is Donald Rosenfield, senior lecturer in operations management at the M.I.T. Sloan School of Management and director of the Leaders for Manufacturing Fellows Program, a dual degree Master's program run by the School of Management and the School of Engineering in partnership with global corporations.
"Outsourcing is being viewed by today's manufacturing companies as a significant method to reduce costs," said Rosenfield. "Any benefits, however, need to be balanced against the need to retain production knowledge throughout the supply base. I am pleased to assist Vykor in developing technologies for [original equipment manufacturers (OEMs)] to identify, capture and leverage manufacturing knowledge throughout the global supply chain."
Jami Shah, professor of mechanical engineering and director of the Design Automation Lab at Arizona State University, will also join the board, as will Raj Veeramani, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with joint appointments in the College of Engineering and the School of Business. Veeramani also is director of the UW Consortium for Global eCommerce, which he established in December 1998.
For a look at how one manufacturer is using Vykor's solutions to reduce its costs, see the article "Finding Hidden Gold in Streamlined Processes" on iSourceonline.
