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Manufacturing Innovation Blog

Powered by the Manufacturing Extension Partnership

Ken Voytek

Ken Voytek

Mr. Voytek is the Manager of the Program Evaluation and Economic Research Group and the Chief Economist with the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Program at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). In his spare time, he collects baseball cards, reads obscure books and articles, and shares his bubbly personality with family, friends, and colleagues.

Production factory workers in the current health environment wearing masks

Thinking Anew about Manufacturing

Ken Voytek
The last couple of months have caused manufacturers and MEP Centers to think anew about many things — supplier, customer and workforce relationships; the economy; outsourcing, insourcing, and
Female manuel workers team working on the production line in factory stock photo

Managing Productivity

Ken Voytek
I’ve made it my personal crusade to keep a focus on the fundamental importance of productivity to manufacturers, to the MEP Program, to the MEP Centers that do the daily work of helping small
woman working on a tablet in a manufacturing facility

The Importance of Productivity

Ken Voytek
Productivity matters. It matters a lot. Yet it often seems that folks talk about productivity, but don’t do anything about it. At least, it feels that way to me when I go outside of the MEP National
manufacturer with an ipad controlling a robot

What Happens in Georgia...

Ken Voytek
…Should not stay in Georgia. Every two years, the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy (STIP) program and Kennesaw State University survey manufacturers
50 Shades of Productivity Performance

50 Shades of Productivity Performance

Ken Voytek
In some earlier posts, I wrote about the variation across states and industries in terms of productivity at a particular point in time. I like to think about these measures as gauges of what I call
Ho, Ho, Ho…An Early Holiday Present

Ho, Ho, Ho… An Early Holiday Present

Ken Voytek
Every year, I take some time to look at what manufacturing clients across the MEP National NetworkTM are saying about the future and the challenges they face. It’s usually part of my New Year’s
What Industry is in Your Wallet?

What Industry is in Your Wallet?

Ken Voytek
Previously I wrote a blog about the differences across the 50 states as measured by manufacturing value added per employee. The differences across the states were quite large and I suggested that much