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Manufacturing for Tommorrow
Will Connecticut's manufacturing economy transition to the new ‘best in breed'?
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Business New Haven
1/7/2002
By: Mimi Houston
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Connecticut at one time was a mecca of manufacturing. All along the major rivers, brick buildings stood spewing smoke into the air and churning out truckloads of whatever their particular product happened to be. My own grandfather was the proud immigrant-owner of a thriving foundry.
These manufacturers played a key role in the state's economy. Today, many of their buildings have been converted into interesting office space or residential condominiums. Those less fortunate stand empty, in various states of disrepair. What once served its community by providing jobs and a solid economic base is now an eye-sore that depresses real estate values.
Is traditional true-blue Connecticut industry gone forever? Even now, many of those manufacturers who are still here are either closing their doors or considering it. What lies ahead for the state's manufacturing sector?
Ali Montazer, Ph.D., professor of industrial engineering at the University of New Haven, has among his many duties the responsibility of training tomorrow's workforce, including those who will enter the world of manufacturing.
What is different in today's manufacturing arena?
It appears that since the break up of the Soviet Union and the switch in the defense industry, the whole picture of manufacturing in Connecticut has changed. So many of Connecticut's companies that were involved in the defense industry, due in part to the Soviet Union, left the state. Some of these companies went down south, and a lot of them went overseas. They went overseas because labor there is much cheaper, and there are much more lenient environmental laws-maybe even none at all. Fewer regulations and responsibilities for the safety of workers make it easier and less expensive for investors and entrepreneurs to do business. There is tremendous competitive pressure now put on businesses to produce at less cost.
Does this mean Connecticut's manufacturing days are numbered?
Not likely. It seems that we cannot stay idle. The state is moving along toward a new breed of manufacturing. One aspect of this is manufacturing is high-tech-mostly in the field of electronics. We're now employing a different breed of engineers, who are more degreed. This is much different than in the days of the older, apprenticeship-style employee.
New companies like this are forming, and some are moving into the state from New York. I've even heard, but cannot confirm, that some companies are coming back to Connecticut from the South.
Why is Connecticut attractive to the new breed of manufacturers?
We have a more educated workforce, that's number one. We also operate with more lenient tax laws. Those are the two top reasons companies are drawn to the state.
Will other areas of manufacturing move in to replace the defense industry?
There's a very exciting branch of manufacturing technology that is growing here: the bio-manufacturing, biotechnology area. There are two or three regions of the country that are strong in biotechnology. Massachusetts is one, and always has been, probably because of Harvard and MIT. But now Connecticut seems to be drawing some of those firms here. In the past several years a bunch of new biotechnology firms have sprung up.
Initially they start out as research entities in biotechnology-involved in finding new drugs for a wide range of diseases. Once they come up with the product, they contract production out to other companies. Some of these other companies are in Connecticut. Smaller biotechnology companies developing their own drugs would probably expand and maintain manufacturing operations in the state in the future.
Are there other changes in the way these manufacturing plants of the future are running?
There is manufacturing still here, but not the traditional, old manufacturing. Now it is cleaner, safer. There is a new term-lean-you know, like in lean and mean. Lean means more cost efficient. It's optimal in every way-more bottom line-driven. It's about getting more for your money, and along the way making sure you're in compliance with the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), and with regulations providing for the health and safety of workers. Lean means that optimal functioning is achieved in a competitive, no-frills way. Quality is tops, and so is timing. Everything is on time.
So, your money is in?
Biotechnology, bio-manufacturing, bioengineering-these are all interrelated. It really looks like this is the next big thing for Connecticut.
How are you and others in your field preparing tomorrow's manufacturers?
The university offers educational courses and seminars in a variety of forms for people involved in manufacturing. For our engineering students, we have a concentration for manufacturers within the industrial engineering department. Industrial engineering is a term that really covers a wide range of capacities. The concentration is in some ways still traditional, but is meant to prepare students for the growing demand in bio-manufacturing and biotechnology.
In closing, are you optimistic about Connecticut's manufacturing future?
Oh yes. It's exciting. We're now combining the traditional manufacturing of things with state-of-the-art, computer-controlled machines. This creates a friendlier environment where the human-machine interface is at its best in terms of ergonomic standards.
...
Manon Cox is vice president of corporate development for Protein Sciences, a biotechnology firm located in Meriden, she has this to say about her company's role in the future of a Connecticut tradition.
What does your company do in the biotech field?
We are making proteins in insect cells, and working with the government and with other pharmaceutical companies. We have fermenters-like what you use to brew beer-only we're growing insect cells. We infect them with viruses. We've done work with influenza vaccines, HIV/AIDS vaccines, and now we're moving into making proteins for cures for unmet needs-diseases such as Alzheimer's. These are diseases that we don't yet know how to treat. However, we have a lot of interesting leads and ideas that may lead to cures for them.
Is your company committed to operating in the state?
This is our twentieth anniversary year in Connecticut. We're expecting to expand our production facility and our whole operation. We're staying in Connecticut at this time-we're on 27 acres-so we have no shortage of land here. We'd like to move into larger scale manufacturing. Right now we manufacture in amounts up to 500 liters. We'd like to expand to two or three times that much, depending on what the market is going to do.
Do you find Connecticut a welcome environment for your company and for others like it?
I think that the state now has a program where they want to develop the biotechnology industry. The government is pushing for it. Everyone is interested in developing an industry where you need a more educated workforce. There are a lot of universities and schools here that educate people to work in the biotech area, and they also want to develop places for their graduates to work.
But manufacturing costs have become an issue. There are states where the costs are ten to twenty times lower than they are here.
Is Connecticut responding to the needs of the industry?
Well, we're not yet there. We're just now getting information on the table from the government-there is a lot more interest now in writing joint grants between the universities and schools and the biotechnology industry. But, you know, Connecticut is relatively late. Maryland, for example, has for a long time realized this potential, and has already attracted biotech firms from all over the country. In the beginning, Connecticut really missed the boat.
Are we on board now?
Five years ago Connecticut did not have the business climate. When we went to the various national biotechnology meetings, we were practically harassed by other states with reasons why we should move there. Connecticut faces a lot of competition. We've been trying to work with the state for a long time and we've seen a positive turnaround. Now that they're paying attention to us, we don't plan to move to Maryland.
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