Automation body recognised!

100 world-class manufacturing companies and individual leaders have been announced as winners of the 2013 Manufacturing Leadership 100 Awards (ML100 Awards). These awards Recognise the world’s finest best practices in manufacturing and supply chain management. New technologies, global economic uncertainties, industry convergence, and breakthrough best practices are transforming the manufacturing ecosystem at an accelerating rate, forcing manufacturers to continuously rethink how they can maximize the value they deliver to their customers.

The 2013 ML100 Award winners, selected by Frost & Sullivan's Manufacturing Leadership Council are located in countries throughout the world, including the US, Canada, China, Germany, India, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Switzerland.

Award nominations were judged across 11 categories. The Automation Federation is one of seven award recipients in the “New Workforce” category.

The award, in particular, recognizes the significant partnership formed in 2012 between the Automation Federation and the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), which is designed to expand automation instruction among community colleges in the US, and greatly increase the number of community college graduates with the technology training needed for careers in advanced manufacturing.

Through the partnership, community colleges within the AACC—particularly those located in largely industrial areas experiencing significant shortages of qualified manufacturing workers—have the opportunity to join with the Automation Federation as members of a workforce development consortium called the Automation Community College Consortium. The consortium will assess local workforce needs in creating and implementing factory and process automation curricula, technical training, and National Association of Manufacturers (NAM)-recognized automation certifications as part of the National Skills Certification developed by the Manufacturing Institute.

"The Automation Federation is honoured to be recognized for its efforts to build the next generation of automation professionals and stimulate growth in advanced manufacturing through the Automation Community College Consortium,” says Michael Marlowe, Automation Federation Managing Director and Government Relations Director. “Being honored as a 2013 Leadership 100 Award recipient reflects our ongoing commitment to and the progress we’re making in workforce development for advanced manufacturing.”

The other awardees included Johnson Controls Inc., and Agilent Technologies among many others.

The winners will be honored on May 15 at a celebration that follows the ninth annual Manufacturing Leadership Summit in  Florida (USA), a gathering of manufacturing leaders from around the globe.