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Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center (IMEC)

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IMEC is a team of improvement specialists and technicians dedicated to providing organizations in Illinois with the tools and techniques to create sustainable competitive futures. The experienced hands-on team at IMEC works closely with its clients to plan critical business improvements in the areas of Leadership, Strategy, Customers, Operations, Workforce, and Results.

With more than 50 full-time staff and partners positioned statewide, IMEC delivers the local expertise to not only PLAN and strategize, but to IMPLEMENT those processes and EXCEL the effectiveness of client improvements. In fact, IMEC assists more than 700 companies each year with successful business improvement projects. As a result, IMEC has demonstrated a return on investment that exceeds 19:1. This is made possible as organizations become more effective and efficient - and together with IMEC – grow their competitive futures. 

Manufacturers throughout the state of Illinois have turned to IMEC to help tackle some of the industry’s most difficult topics like:  Skilled Labor, Continuous Improvement, Technology, Risk Management, Leadership Development, Supply Chain, Process Design, and much more!

For example:  Atlas Tool & Die Works, Inc. was faced with a new customer requirement for compliance to the recently released NIST Special Publication SP 800-171, Atlas Tool & Die Works realized their small manufacturing business must act quickly and address the government regulation. NIST SP 800-171 Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information in Nonfederal Information Systems and Organizations is a requirement for all Department of Defense (DoD) contractors that process, store or transmit Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) to meet the DFARS minimum security standards. Lacking a full-time information technology staff, Atlas needed the extra support and called upon IMEC as a trusted resource to help decipher the guidelines, assess their current vulnerabilities and execute the improvements before a strict deadline.

Zach Mottl, Chief Alignment Officer from Atlas Tool & Die Works stated, “I don’t know how we would have done this without IMEC. As a small company, we’re limited on financial and administrative resources for this type of compliance. Our internal people are stretched thin, so having IMEC as an extension of our team has been tremendous.”

Their Results?

  • Increased cybersecurity compliance from initial assessment of 40% to 100% compliance in 6 months
  • Full compliance to NIST SP 800-171
  • No reported intrusions or violations since the organization achieved compliance
  • Increased awareness and participation by staff in information security programs and reporting

Click here for more information about IMEC’s solution for Atlas Tool & Die Works, Inc.

View the One Pager for Illinois

Success Stories

Maximize Your Potential

Reported Year
2023
Howe Corporation started their connection with IMEC, part of the MEP National Network™, back in 2014. Initially connecting with IMEC through a grant, their initial projects were focused on plant layout and lean. Howe stayed connected with IMEC to continue to find ways to grow and, in the past 3 years, they’ve collaborated on projects such as ISO

Be Found Online

Reported Year
2023
Looking to branch out and reach more markets, Spoerer felt that the next step would be to upgrade her website and eCommerce marketplace. At the time, IMEC, part of the MEP National Network™, had recently released their “Cook County Manufacturing Reinvented Grant”, designed to help small to mid-sized manufacturers (SMMs) with funding for projects to

Establishing A New Website with Help from IMEC

Reported Year
2023
Steven Plastics needed to dramatically increase its market awareness and promote its extensive range of processing capability from 75 to 3000 tons. As a smaller company, having an online presence was a goal for Steven Plastics to help them grow their reach. However, being a small company also meant they had fewer resources and less time to put

Manufacturing reports

A Practical Guide to Value Stream Mapping

Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is a flexible, easy-to-use diagnostic tool that does a tremendous job of representing a process from start to finish. It’s visual, easy for most people to follow and understand, and promotes focused discussion, brainstorming and problem solving among a diverse group of participants. This e-book will go into further details about the basics of Value Stream Mapping.

How Illinois Manufacturers are Adopting Advanced Technologies: An Insight Report on Automation, Workforce, and Productivity

IMEC, Illinois Manufacturer’s Association, Technology and Manufacturing Association, and the Valley Industrial Association have partnered with the W.E Upjohn Institute for Employment Research to hear directly from small and medium-sized manufacturers about what was driving technology adoption, how they are implementing it, challenges they face, the benefits and opportunities of advanced manufacturing technologies, and how workforce development needs are changing due to technology adoption.

Created March 18, 2019, Updated February 16, 2024