Decades ago, one of our clients here at Enterprise Minnesota patented one, single item. From that one piece of creative engineering sprung a lucrative business, which has now lasted for more than thirty years. This company represents the end of an era. Thirty years from now, a similar business that can drive one successful product to decades of robust growth and profitability will not exist.

From my many relationships and experiences with leaders in the manufacturing world, I observe two things about the future of manufacturing in Minnesota:

First, manufacturing will continue to be the supporting backbone of Minnesota's economy.

Second, it is inevitable that the face and style of manufacturing success will change quickly.

Manufacturers today compete on a dynamic landscape that requires foresight, creativity, and agility in their products and customers. What follows is Enterprise Minnesota's philosophy on how manufacturers will thrive in the 21st Century.

1. Nurture Continuous Improvement
Systematically Lean and other improvements should evolve from the awareness that your organization can always improve in every process-that you can get rid of even more things that have no value to the process and ultimately the customer. Lean principles are not limited to your factory floor. Instead, it is essential to think enterprise-wide. Any part of your business that is process driven - and what isn't? - can improve. Take out the ingredients that aren't necessary for the final product.

2. Be a Lean Green Machine
"Going Green" does not mean recruiting a hippy for your board of directors. Green manufacturing is really a derivative of lean management of your resources. With the double-digit growth rates of China's and India's economies, opportunities for trade are also growing. But this growth also means heightened competition for the world's energy resources. Consider going green as a business proposition. The more efficient you are about the use of your resources, the healthier your business becomes.

3. Recruit, Retain, and Train Your Talent Pipeline
To have a talented, experienced, and dedicated workforce, you must do three things: recruit, retain, and train. Recruit the best workers, instead of simply having people come to you. Retain the benefit of experience by helping older workers to stay in the workforce. And, train your current workers to be the best, not only in a technical capacity but also in the way they work with others.

4. Stop Whining about Going Global
One crucial difference between companies that are advanced and those that are "struggling" is seen in their attitudes toward the growing global economy. Probably 80 percent of companies here in the U.S. see a global economy as something extremely frightening or at least unsettling-a competitive threat to their businesses. But leading-edge companies see global as an opportunity to reach new markets.

5. Have a Culture of Innovation
A generation ago, our management teams might have stopped to marvel at the dramatic changes that occurred in the previous decade. Today, business and market transformations occur almost annually (i.e. iPod generations advancing so fast that last year's must-have is now the "old" version). If you are standing still, you are losing ground. Your culture should thrive on innovation, from the CEO's office to the factory floor. Remember that innovation is not always a product. It might be thinking of new markets, or developing a new message.

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Company Profile
Founded more than 35 years ago, Harmony Enterprises, Inc. designs and manufactures waste management and recycling equipment. The company employs 60 workers in the small southeastern Minnesota city of Harmony. They offer more than 40 standard and custom designed models of vertical balers, and with customers in retail, industrial, medical, and other industries, Harmony Enterprises' products are found worldwide. The company prides itself on a global focus on quality, profitability, and safety.

Situation
For years, customers requested products and features that Harmony Enterprises could not meet with their standard models. While the company did custom work, they saw an untapped market if they could create new features and products to meet the demand from these customers. Planning another phase of growth, the company projected that they could add an additional $5 million dollars in sales revenue over the next three years if they could capture this additional market. But Harmony Enterprises needed new ideas. With a plan for growth and without ideas, their projected growth turned into a $5 million gap.

Solution
Harmony Enterprises needed to generate ideas to grow their business, and they needed help doing it. Having a longstanding relationship with Minnesota Technology, Inc. that began over 13 years ago, they knew where to get help. Harmony Enterprise President Steve Cremer met with Minnesota Technology field specialists to plan the project. Together, they decided that the Eureka! Winning Ways program fit their needs. The program focuses on small to mid-size businesses by generating ideas that, in turn, generate growth. Always an innovative company, Harmony Enterprises has implemented lean manufacturing, lean technology, and value-stream mapping. Likewise, in this instance, Harmony Enterprises wanted to be one of the first in the entire state of Minnesota to go through the process if Eureka! Winning Ways. They selected 12 employees from all areas of the business to participate. The field specialists facilitated the process among Steve and his employees that eventually created 64 new ideas. Through the program's filtering process, the group narrowed those down to four ideas that were sent to Eureka Ranch for consideration. Eureka Ranch put the four ideas to test with their computer-based idea-assessment system Merwyn. Based upon idea-ranking results returned by Merwyn, Harmony Enterprises narrowed down their focus to two ideas that could close their $5 million gap.

Results
Harmony Enterprises took their ideas generated from the Eureka! Winning Ways process and allocated two teams of employees to determine if each was market-ready. The teams researched implementation, customer-need, and probable costs. After a month researching, the evaluation teams concluded that both ideas were market-ready. However, the evaluations also found that one idea could be implemented immediately, while the other would require technical expertise outside of the company's workforce. Moving ahead to implement the idea that could be used immediately, Harmony Enterprises rolled-out a new feature to customers in October 2007. It is an automatic wire feed to bale cardboard in recycling compactors, which allows customers to greatly reduce time and energy. From this one new feature developed through the Eureka! Winning Ways process, Harmony Enterprises expects to fill at least 30-40 percent of their projected $5 million gap over the next three years. Currently, they are in process of bringing in outside expertise to implement the second idea and further eliminate their gap. In addition, they plan to continue using Eureka! Winning Ways to find even more ways to grow their company - including another idea generation session this summer.

Testimonial
"Eureka! Winning Ways helped ideas become the organization's ideas. It really has brought the whole organization together because everyone is interested in success of our ideas and helping play a part of it." Steve Cremer, President

To find out how Enterprise Minnesota can help your business grow, visit our website

• Joining Forces: Alliant Techsystems announced June 10 that it will combine its Launch Systems and Space Systems groups into one organization spanning 6,600 employees and 10 states. The new Space Systems group will be the most extensive solid rockets launch systems provider in the world.

• New Products: Manufacturing giant Cargill wants to make you healthy. The company will be showcasing its newest health food product concepts at the 2008 Health Foods Internation Exposition and Conference on June 18 and 19 in Dallas, Texas. Visit booth #902 for a chance to learn about the company's latest food projects, including pomegranate-flavored, heart-health drinkable yogurt, black currant-flavored low-fat yogurt smoothies, and cherry walnut chewy granola bars.

• Approved: Medtronic, Inc. received FDA approval for a TalentTM thoracic stent graft, a new medical device designed to treat thoracic aneurysms without open surgery. Approximately 60,000 Americans have thoracic aneurysms, which frequently result from hardening of the arteries or hypertension. The device, which ranges in size from 22 to 46 mm, has multiple customizable features, which makes treatment accessible to 25 percent more people suffering from the condition.

• An award: Ethisphere Magazine has named commercial cleaning and sanitizing company Ecolab one of the World's Most Ethical Companies for the second year in a row. Ecolab is one of less than 100 companies honored with the distinction this year.

• Another award: Working Mother magazine named General Mills one of the 2008 Best Companies for Multicultural Women for the fifth straight year, citing spectacular support of inclusiveness and outstanding mentoring resources at work. The full report on the winners is located in the June issue of Working Mother.

• Purchased: St. Paul-based CHS, Inc. recently purchased transportation assets of Central Carriers, Inc., a company in Rugby, North Dakota. Assets include 17 tractors and 27 trailers, which CHS says will be helpful in meeting needs of its North Dakota transportation operations, such as bringing gasoline, diesel fuel, propane, and crop nutrients to local farmers.

• Approved: Plymouth-based AGA Medical Corporation has received the CE mark approval for their newest product, the Amplatzer(R) Vascular Plug III, which is now available in the European Union. The nitinol device is implanted through a catheter to close holes or malformations in the body's veins and arteries.

• Acquired: Stork Materials Technology, of St. Paul, recently acquired a controlling interest Garwood Laboratories of Pico Rivera and San Clemente, Calif., with an option to purchase all remaining shares in the future. Garwood Laboratories provides product qualification and development testing for the aerospace, military, telecommunications, automotive, commercial and medical markets.

Upcoming Events:

Enterprise Minnesota Lean Workshop
June 25, 8 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Lean Manufacturing 101
Medina Entertainment Center
500 Highway 55, Medina, MN 55340
This one-day seminar mixes multimedia and live presentations for an entertaining and informative session on how to implement lean techniques into your organization. The cost is $350 and lunch will be provided. To register, call Enterprise Minnesota's events line at 612-455-4239, or visit our website

CMMA Breakfast Meeting and Legislative Forum
June 26, 7:30 - 9:30 a.m.
St. Cloud Technical College
St. Cloud, MN
This is an interactive session, as four local members of the Minnesota House of Representatives report on recent legislation, with a focus on manufacturing issues. Registration is $15, with breakfast included and may be completed via email to midwest@runestone.net

Enterprise Minnesota Business Event
Managing Your Supply Chain to Strengthen the OEM/Supplier Relationship
July 16, 2008
8:00 - 11:30am
University of Minnesota College of Continuing Education and Conference Center
St. Paul, MN
The modern OEM/Supplier relationship is not as simple as just price and delivery. It has evolved into quality, cost, innovation and financial management. In this exclusive event, you'll get insider insights from Bill Byrkit, Director of Strategic Sourcing, Anderson Windows and Rich Pogue, CEO, Remmele Engineering, two innovative and experienced business leaders who work at the cutting edge of today's manufacturing supply chain systems. To register, call Enterprise Minnesota's events line at 612-455-4239, or visit our website

LifeScience Alley Event: Competitive Intelligence
July 19, 2008
8:00am - 12:00pm
LifeScience Alley Event: Competitive Intelligence
DoubleTree Park Place Hotel
St. Louis Park, MN
This full-morning program will begin with an introduction of competitive intelligence (CI). The second part of the program will focus on the application of competitive intelligence principles to business practices with examples. To register, visit their ">website

Upcoming September Magazine Issue: Manufacturing Poll
For anyone who has ever wondered what the rest of the manufacturing industry really thinks about current trends, our next issue is a must-read. We're getting manufacturers' honest opinions on the work-related issues they care about most: trends in the economy, the manufacturing workforce, and the industry as a whole, and we'll publish the detailed results for you. See you in September! To sponsor this important poll, please call Laura Cohen at 612-373-9562.