At Manufacturer's Edge, we celebrate manufacturing 365 days per year and Manufacturing Day 2020 was officially observed on Friday, October 2nd. But, many people like to take the entire month of October to recognize the many outstanding contributions made by our friends and partners in the manufacturing industry. Last month, we had the pleasure of interviewing one such superstar for the NOCOM 2020 B2B celebration and thought you might enjoy the Avid Product Development success story as well!

Governor Jared Polis recently made an official declaration designating October Colorado Employee Ownership (EO) Month. Did you know that there are many different options for providing employee ownership opportunities? Co-ops, employee stock ownership plans, profit and gains sharing are just a few of the means by which a company can provide for their employees today while also securing the stability of their company tomorrow.

If you are already employee owned, share your story with the

Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) and

If you would like to find out more about how employee ownership options can help you attract talent and ensure lasting success for your company, find out more about the

As a first-grader walking twilight streets with classmates in Youngstown, OH, I learned about Halloween’s best practices: knock on a neighbor’s door, recite the “Trick or Treat” mantra, open my pillowcase to receive candy, move on to the next house. I also learned that some people begrudged such traditions, mistrusted young masked children, and anticipated potential cheaters. One woman accused me of being a repeat visitor because of the black construction paper witch’s hat I wore. Intimidated (but recognizing the injustice of false accusation), I protested that our whole class at St. Edward’s School had made the same hats. I also realized that what I had considered an asset (strength)—my handmade costume accessory—was also a vulnerability (weakness).

Disappointed that my pillowcase was not an ounce heavier and perplexed by the conflicting perceptions of my witch’s hat (after all, parochial school teaching encouraged clear definitions of right and wrong), I retreated to the sidewalk to wait for my friends to continue our quest for Halloween loot. My confidence was shaken.

Technology implementations often show this kind of duality. For example, connecting factory systems (operational technology) to front/back-office systems (information technology) sounds like a good idea for streamlining business-related activity—something like having everyone in class work on the same (witch)craft project. But this newly integrated asset can also create a new attack surface or vulnerability. In the case earlier this year of a US natural gas producer, an email message carrying a ransomware payload was opened by an employee using the information technology (IT) system, which was connected to the operational technology (OT) system of the gas compression facility. This compromised OT-driven machines, leading to their malfunction and consequent shut down to prevent further damage. The collateral effect was that the pipeline was unavailable for two days. Such attacks on industrial control systems have increased over 2000% in the past year, according to a recent IBM report.(...)

Read the full article on our website

We are living in interesting times!

The political environment of today is nothing like we have ever seen. COVID is running rampant around the world, the stock market is up one day and down the next, and many are concerned about their jobs or where their next paycheck is coming from.

Even with all of that, I am optimistic for the future – especially regarding manufacturing.

All agree that manufacturing needs to, and will continue to, come back from overseas. Automation is becoming far more accessible and affordable, allowing us to meet the surge that I believe will be coming. Additionally, new and advanced training programs are becoming more available. If we have learned one positive thing from COVID, it is how to meet and learn remotely, and that is opening up opportunities that we have never experienced before.

One last comment, regardless of your political affiliation, there is one thing that all of us can and should do in a free society – get out and vote!

Visit our website for a complete calendar of

manufacturing events taking place around Colorado