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MEP Success Stories from Iowa

Fox River Mills Partners with CIRAS to Develop a TCO Model

Reported Year
2021
Sales were negatively impacted due to the COVID pandemic and leadership requested assistance developing a total cost of ownership (TCO) model specific to their business that would help support their efforts to grow revenue. Specific efforts were aimed at showing the value of domestic, more reliable supply chains with shorter lead times.

Woofables Uses COVID-19 Slump to Plan Future Growth

Reported Year
2021
CIRAS strategic adviser Joy Donald said the bakery had been dividing its effort between giving extremely personalized service to its boutique clients and also providing more standardized products for retail markets. Serving both markets limited growth, because the boutique work took time away from the large-volume, more generalized products desired

New Normal: Dickson Industries Growing with Gowns

Reported Year
2021
Dickson Industries made its name making medical fabrics and garments before venturing into various lines of food-industry clothing and pre-consumer products, such as specialized netting used to enhance the flavor of meat during smoking. When the coronavirus decimated demand for food-industry products, Dickson officials realized that they were

Capstone Helps Life Line Open New Door

Reported Year
2020
To help Life Line grow, Folience reached out to CIRAS, part of the MEP National Network™, and Iowa State University for assistance. Specifically, the company needed assistance in designing an ambulance with a motorized sliding side door— a new feature that’s expected to make it safer and more convenient for emergency medical crews to operate in

Pandemic Prompts Collaborative Response from Iowa Manufacturers

Reported Year
2020
Through the initial outbreak of COVID-19 CIRAS focused largely on removing obstacles preventing manufacturers from addressing Iowa’s PPE crisis. CIRAS, part of the MEP National Network™, worked with The Dimensional Group to identify tooling needs and locate raw materials so that they could rapidly start producing plastic face shields that would

Inventory Management Support with Walsh Door & Security

Reported Year
2020
Dave Hunt, hardware inventory control manager for Walsh Door & Security, said the company needed help with the different ways to calculate inventory, such as the value of the inventory on the shelf, the cost of it sitting on the shelf, or how many times the inventory turned. Hunt turned to classes offered by CIRAS, part of the MEP National Network™
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