Published: Saturday, December 16, 2006
New technology could renew manufacturing here
A business owner sees highly advanced manufacturing plants coming here.
By DON SHILLING
YOUNGSGTOWN — Friday marked the first step in what Mike Garvey hopes is the renewal of manufacturing in the area.
Scientists from the federal government and private companies came to his company, M-7 Technologies here, to test a new technology Garvey thinks can bring about a revitalization.
The technology uses laser scanners to create three-dimensional, digital images of an object, building or space. The scanners measure 100,000 points a second, and those measurements are fed into computers to create a highly detailed image.
These scanners can be used in medicine, road construction and other industries, but Garvey is pushing M-7 to be at the forefront of their use in manufacturing.
His company just scanned a BMW plant in South Carolina in preparation for the installation of a new paint shop.
The goal, Garvey said, is to help industry create highly advanced robotic systems called "lights out manufacturing," meaning there is so little human action needed that the lights can be out on the manufacturing floor.
The scanners help bring this about by delivering the precise measurements that are needed to install such equipment.
Potential for leadership
Other than a federal agency in Washington, no part of the country has yet emerged as the leader in the industry, Garvey said.
"We'd like Youngstown to be considered as the center of excellence for this technology," he said.
If this area became the recognized leader in creating advanced manufacturing designs, then companies would locate plants here, he said. Unlike traditional plants, which are being moved to low-wage countries, these futuristic sites would be so automated that they could succeed in this country, Garvey added.
"Instead of trying to bring in one employer of 5,000, we'd like to see 100 employers of 50," he said.
Alan Lytle, a researcher with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, said Garvey and his staff are pushing as hard as anyone to make manufacturers aware of the potential of the scanning technology.
"They're early adopters. They see the vision, and they want to participate," Lytle said.
The federal agency is working with Garvey and others in the industry to create performance standards for the scanners so they can be compared. Lytle came to M-7's shop in the Ohio Works Industrial Park to run the first experiment of a test that has been developed.
Lytle said the industry's standards committee chose Youngstown for the test because of Garvey's involvement.
Results will be reported in industry journals and at conferences and then members of the standards committee will vote this summer on whether to accept it, Lytle said.
Another interested company
Another scientist who attended the test was Steven Hand of Maglev, a company based in McKeesport, Pa., which is attempting to build a network of high-speed trains.
Maglev likes the scanning technology because it allows steel supports for high-speed rails to be built with exacting specifications, Hand said.
M-7's main business is making and repairing equipment for steel mills.
Garvey plans to expand the scanning business, however, and house it in a building on West Federal Street downtown.
This site is being renovated with state money by the Youngstown Business Incubator.
M-7 employs 20, but Garvey expects to hire about 10 workers next year as he begins marketing the new service.
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