Manufacturing Supply Chains

[Original post by Mark Schmit, NIST MEP National Accounts Manager]

The future success of any manufacturing company relies upon its ability to deliver the right product at the right time with the right quantity at the right price.  Products are branded and sold by individual companies, but those products are produced by supply chains.

U.S. manufacturing’s global competitiveness depends on the performance of companies at all levels of the supply chain.  Supply chain competitiveness depends not just on the performance of the supply chain’s individual members, but also on how the elements work together.   Collaboration among companies within supply chains is vital to business success, contributing to innovation, responsiveness to global market demand, quality improvements, sustainability, and other factors that differentiate companies from their competition.

A recent recognition of the significance of supply chains on global competitiveness in June when the White House assembled over 30 manufacturers at the Supply Chain Innovation Initiative Roundtable. Throughout the day’s discussion, manufacturing leaders shared their insights on the importance of collaboration among supply chain partners, leveraging U.S. innovation assets like those at the National Labs and the national network of MEP Centers and how-to scale technology resources and best practice resources to reach even the smallest companies in supply chains.

Mark Schmit has served multiple roles while with MEP and is currently the National Accounts Manager. In this role he is responsible for developing partnerships with both the public and private sector entities. Mark identifies new business opportunities that leverage state and federal funding with the goal to improve the competitiveness of US-based manufacturers. His major area of focus is supply chain improvement.