Grand Rapids Reporter

Michigan is persuading manufacturers to invest in new levels of technology.

The Michigan Economic Development Council (MEDC) aims to expose the state’s manufacturing sector to Industry 4.0 or i4.0, which consists of upgrades such as interconnectivity, automation and machine learning. Its goal to get 6,200 small and midsize companies to invest in “digital ready” upgrades by 2025, according to Bridge Michigan.

On Dec. 8, the Michigan Strategic Fund Board, which authorizes business development to state appropriations, ratified the MEDC’s $8.55 million budget on the effort.

“We know through our extensive research that Michigan companies continue to be vulnerable to disruption from automation across the manufacturing sector,” MEDC President and CEO Mark Burton told Bridge Michigan.

According to the report, manufacturing remains the top employer and also generates about 20% of the state’s gross domestic product. In October, the sector employed 564,700 workers. The MEDC believes its five-year strategic plan in 2019 as the “reason why the attention to the small- and midsize manufacturers makes sense for the state’s investment.”

The sector is represented in five focus industries in the strategic plan as primaries for business growth and retention -- advanced manufacturing, medical devices, mobility and automotive manufacturing, technology and engineering. According to MEDC, these industries are “where Michigan has a distinct competitive advantage." 

The five-year strategic plan was approved during the second week of December. According to Bridge Michigan, it consists of the following:

• A $2.5 million agreement with Automation Alley to provide statewide outreach and Industry 4.0 readiness assessments to manufacturers, and a $3.05 million agreement with MMTC for similar services. 
• Up to $2 million in grant funding for a nonprofit or regional governmental organization to increase manufacturers’ readiness to adopt Industry 4.0 technologies. 
• $1 million to McCann Detroit for an in-state advertising campaign about Industry 4.0 awareness and services.

“So far, only 12% of small to mid-size manufacturing companies have adopted I4.0,” MEDC Chief Business Development Officer Josh Hundt told Bridge Michigan.