As this blog reported earlier in the week, President Barack Obama visited Indiana on Friday for Manufacturing Day along with Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker. During their visit to Millennium Steel in Princeton, President Obama announced a $200 million nationwide manufacturing initiative to fund the creation of an Integrated Photonics Manufacturing Institute, the next step in the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation. The Department of Commerce will also publish a resource to help manufacturers locate in the country without outsourcing.

"When our manufacturing base is strong, our entire economy is strong," said the President during his Manufacturing Day proclamation. "Today, we continue our work to bolster the industry at the heart of our nation. With grit and resolve, we can create new jobs and widen the circle of opportunity for more Americans."

Also on Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the latest national employment numbers, with America's jobless rate falling below 6 percent for the first time in six years. September was the 55th consecutive month of job creation, an unprecedented streak, and the unemployment rate has fallen by 1.3 percent over the last year. In the manufacturing sector, 700,000 jobs have been added since 2010.

The White House published a series of charts showing more encouraging signs for the United States' manufacturers: the sector generates $2.1 trillion, more than all but eight nations worldwide, and manufacturing supports one out of every seven private sector workers. The U.S. has also recently retaken the lead for global inbound investment, ahead of China.

Indiana's manufacturers have many software resources available from local companies to aid in the smooth running of their operations. Manufacturing ERP software comes with features to plan and track every step of the production process, from inventory to distribution.

A bill that would create a National Network for Manufacturing Innovation passed a voice vote in the House this week and is back in the Senate, where a committee approved it in the spring, for a full vote. The Network, which has already received support from senators from both parties as well as Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, would create manufacturing innovation centers funded with both private and public money, including from universities, federal agencies and state and local governments.

A pilot institute centered around additive manufacturing was created in Youngstown, Ohio, in August 2012, and it currently includes 40 companies, 11 non-profits, nine research universities and five community colleges. Three more, focusing on the areas of composite materials, digital manufacturing and next-generation energy sources, have also been approved. The Network is modeled on the German Fraunhofer Society, which already oversees seven institutes in the United States.

As this blog has mentioned, the Midwest region is the nation's manufacturing leader, but officials warn that the entire country needs to work to ensure that the sector continues to move forward. "The reality is if we under-invest in our future, we're going to be left behind," said Pritzker.

And even regions that already have a strong manufacturing sector can benefit from the presence of major innovation centers, as Youngstown has. According to the incubator's COO, the institute has helped local manufacturers implement modern technology to boost their production.

Manufacturing ERP software is one technological solution that can help companies by streamlining every step of their operations, from the planning and inventory stages to distribution.

Metal recycling company Huntington Aluminum announced plans this week to expand operations with the construction of an addition to its plant, while also doubling the number of employees over the course of the next three years. An investment of $2.76 million will allow for a 40,200-square-foot expansion to its Huntington facility. The company, which currently employs 40 people, will begin hiring in October and add 41 manufacturing jobs between then and 2017.

Eric Doden, president of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, noted that the company's success is especially remarkable after a fire at the plant earlier this year. His organization has offered Huntington Aluminum up to $300,000 in conditional tax credits and training grants, which it will receive if it meets its job creation goals. Both the city of Huntington and Huntington County also approved incentives, leading to the company's decision to expand on site.

"We are pleased that the state of Indiana, the city of Huntington and Huntington County are all helping us grow right here in Huntington," said owner Roger Kilty. "We were at a crossroads: either stay as we are and turn away business or expand. We've chosen to expand in Indiana."

Huntington mayor Brooks Fetters and Larry Buzzard, the president of the county's Board of Commissioners, were pleased with the news. "The company believes in our community so strongly that it is willing to brand our city's and county's name itself into their business identity," said Fetters.

Added Buzzard, "Our economic development team is especially eager to help locally owned industries grow."

For Indiana's booming manufacturing sector, locally available ERP solutions can help boost business. Manufacturing ERP software allows businesses to manage every step of the process, from inventory planning to distribution.

Electronics manufacturer Samtec has announced that it will begin building a new 70,000-square-foot facility in Scottsburg, in southern Indiana. The plan calls to break ground this month or next and finish construction by mid-2015 in an area adjacent to the Mid-America Science Park (MASPark). With the move, 300 new jobs will relocate to the region.

Samtec, founded in 1976 and headquartered in New Albany, makes cables and other connectors and employs 4,000 people worldwide, with manufacturing plants from Costa Rica to Singapore. Of the new factory, the company's global facilities manager said, "The new facility will help us streamline operations in southern Indiana and provide greater efficiencies in distribution and logistics. Scottsburg has numerous economic amenities that align with our global growth initiatives as a service and quality leader."

The city and MASPark also hope that the facility will attract new entrepreneurs in the electronics sector to what is already one of America's premier manufacturing regions. "This is exactly what the community's leadership set out to accomplish when they envisioned, planned and built a world-class science park in Scott County," said MASPark's executive director. The park's construction was the result of a community effort that began in 2004.

Southern Indiana's manufacturing sector has experienced accelerated growth for several months, cementing its place as one of the state's main economic drivers. The recently released Chicago Business Barometer, which showed overwhelmingly positive data, revealed that the one area that has been slow to recover has been employment. A major new facility such as this one is therefore very good news for the region.

The Midwest's manufacturers have locally available business management software solutions at their disposal to help streamline their operations. Inventory, job costing and manufacturing software are all useful tools for a company to thrive in a competitive sector.

British product recovery company HPS has announced the relocation of its North American headquarters to the Indianapolis suburb of Fishers. HPS, based in Nottingham, develops customized product-recovery systems for manufacturers. The systems allow for the hygienic transfer of liquids for chemicals, food (including pet food) and drink, household and personal care products and paint. Through the process know as pigging, which involves pressurized pipeline flow, this technology allows for the recovery of most of the product which would often be lost during transfer.

The company's decision to move its North American HQ to Indiana from the East Coast was motivated largely by geographic location. CEO Gilbert Murphy explained that the new location "will enable us to efficiently reach the majority of our customers and to focus on further expanding our North American sales, engineering and customer-care operations." Existing customers already include The Coca-Cola Company, Kraft Foods, Procter & Gamble and Unilever, as well as small and medium-sized manufacturers.

The move is also further evidence of Indiana's preeminent position in America's manufacturing industry, a fact that is not lost on HPS sales director Jim Rowe. "We already provide services to a number of Midwestern manufacturers," he says, "and our new office in Fishers provides us with the resources and central location that will enable us to meet our aggressive business expansion and customer-service objectives."

Nearly a third of Indiana's GDP comes from manufacturing, according to the most recent data. Manufacturing ERP software can help local companies get ahead by organizing all of their business activities in one place. Inventory, marketing, payments and shipments can all be easily logged and tracked with software that is adjustable to the needs of each individual enterprise.