iNDustry Labs seeing growth at Notre Dame
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The executive engineer-in-residence at iNDustry Labs at the University of Notre Dame says the organization has gained traction since its inception in 2019.
As part of the Labs for Industry Futures and Transformation, or LIFT, Network, iNDustry Labs provides support for the implementation of new technologies, such as automation, with manufacturing companies throughout the region to help grow, attract and retain talent.
John DeSalle says they want to capitalize on the 40,000 students at the nine higher education and vocational schools in St. Joseph, Elkhart and Marshall counties that could bolster the manufacturing workforce in the region.
In an interview with Inside INdiana Business, DeSalle said the region has the highest concentration of manufacturing jobs in the nation, but doesn’t have the best productivity.
“Unfortunately, we lag the nation when it comes to per capita income per capita GDP,” he said. “So we’re trying to deploy automation along with digital analytics…and in addition to that, grow and attract and retain talent.”
While the organization helps companies with automation, DeSalle said they are not trying to displace workers.
“That’s not our goal. Our goal is really that take the people we have upskill them make them more productive, increase company profitability, and add to the resiliency of the region.”
He said the automation projects that have been implemented with area companies has led to the need for additional skill sets among employees.
“Maybe the first time you put a robotic welder in your facility, you’re going to need people who know how to program that machine and know how to maintain that machine,” he said. “So along with our partners, we we deploy a lot of apprenticeship programs.”
The LIFT Network, led by the South Bend – Elkhart Regional Partnership and Northern Indiana Workforce Board, launched an apprenticeship program in 2021 with the goals of creating up to 400 apprentices across 130 companies going through the program by mid-2025.
DeSalle said iNDustry Labs, like everyone, was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but has seen tremendous growth in participation from manufacturing companies.
“We’ve done more than 160 projects with more than 50 companies, and with some companies, we’re on project 10 already,” he said. “And a lot of these around automation, how to deploy automation in a meaningful way to help them improve their productivity, increase their employee productivity or output and really increase skill sets.”
You can learn more about iNDustry Labs by clicking here.