Jeffrey M. Krause
Executive Director & CEO SME
SME SPEAKS GUEST EDITORIAL New Year, New Opportunities A
s SME’s new executive director and CEO, I would like to express to you how excited I am to be leading this great organization. What drew me to SME was its
breadth of services, capabilities and rich history—all of which contribute toward moving manufacturing, and the workforce that supports it, forward.
I consider myself very fortunate to be part of an indus- try for over 30 years that plays such a critical role in the prosperity of the world. We all lived through the 18-month “Great Recession.” We can now take a brief moment to refl ect that we are now experiencing a very innovative time of “manufacturing renaissance,” where our manufacturing industry is experiencing a rapid resurgence. Through this resurgence, job opportunities are abundant, the industry is profi table, manufacturing continues to lead the headlines, and technological advancements and innovation amaze with their applied ingenuity. There are, however, with the fast pace of innovation, unique challenges and solutions to trying to connect the people together with the rich manufacturing knowledge and developments. You may be asking yourself, how does all that relate to
SME? Throughout its 83-year history, SME has increasingly become the go-to organization for connectivity to manufac- turing knowledge and resources. What started as a society with 33 members has evolved into a broad organization with fi ve key business units—Tooling U-SME, Advanced Manufac- turing Media, the SME Education Foundation, SME’s Events and Membership—each offer our customers a unique value proposition tied to SME’s overarching focus of connecting manufacturing knowledge. Here are some brief examples: • Tooling U-SME provides the current and future manu- facturing workforce with the tools they need to be successful in a manufacturing environment;
• Advanced Manufacturing Media compiles the latest technological advancements in a variety of different print and digital platforms, keeping the manufacturing community informed and educated;
• SME Events offer individuals and companies a fi rst- hand opportunity to showcase and experience the latest and greatest technologies;
• SME Membership is comprised of manufacturing ex- perts in their fi elds who share their wealth of manufac- turing knowledge; and
• Through its programs and funding, the SME Edu- cation Foundation is ensuring that there is a new generation preparing for the abundance of manufac- turing careers.
As I mentioned earlier, one of the many reasons I was drawn to SME was because of the breadth of these products and services. As SME’s CEO, I intend to further develop our relevance in the manufacturing marketplace and continue the quest to offer innovative approaches, networking and solutions. This may be accomplished by expanding and enhancing events, publishing white papers, creating new media products and training and development courses, and additional activities to address the growing challenges per- taining to workforce development. By continuing to evolve SME’s products and services, SME will contribute as a leading, knowledge-based source to paral- lel the ever-evolving world of manufacturing. With so much importance being placed on manufacturing, SME is uniquely positioned to make a difference in the industry itself and in the lives of the many individuals involved in this crucial industry. As SME’s broad customer base, you obviously play a criti-
cal role in making SME successful. As such, I would like to invite you to share your thoughts and suggestions with me. Please feel free to email me at
leadership@sme.org.
February 2015 |
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