January 6, 2014

Twenty five years ago, Americans watched as Japan became a formidable economic rival. As the U.S. saw its trade surpluses shrink and trade deficits grow, millions of high-skill, high-wage manufacturing jobs were lost. The pain was especially acute across the “Rust Belt”, a swath of states ranging from the northeastern U.S. to the Midwest. By the end of the 1980s, stopping the decline in U.S. manufacturing was more than just a matter of trade policy. In response, the MEP system was born.

NIST working on prototype for Sustainability in a variety of industries.
Manufacturers who are inclined to be engaging in sustainability, rejoice! A source to help navigate the dynamic and complex minefield of regulatory, voluntary, and performance aspects of sustainability is making great progress!
NIST, the National Institute for Standards and Technology, part of the Department of Commerce and parent of the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership, (MEP) (our benefactor at FuzeHub and the NYSTAR Regional Technology Development Centers (RTDC’s) has been hard at work to create a systematic means to adopt and implement sustainability in US Industries, particularly manufacturing.