DIGITAL MANUFACTURING & DESIGN INNOVATION INSTITUTE Grand Opening

Posted by ASK Power

May 12 2015

The Grand Opening of the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute (DMDII) on Chicago’s Goose Island was on May 11, 2015. It was a big day, after 2+ years of anticipation! A very exciting grand opening with all of the notables present! It was nice to be invited as recognition for the work we have been doing in representing small to medium manufacturers.

DMDII

The DMDII led by UI Labs is a consortium of 73 companies, nonprofits, research labs and universities partnering with the federal government to create a novel partnership between world-leading manufacturing experts and cutting-edge software companies to enable interoperability across the supply chain, develop enhanced digital capabilities to design and test new products, and reduce costs in manufacturing processes across multiple industries.  The digital hub is backed by $70 million Department of Defense grant and another $250 million in private sector, academic and and other local governmental funding.

The vision of the DMDII is to be “a unique public-private partnership acting as a world-class, first-of-its-kind manufacturing hub.  The Institute has the capabilities, innovative spirit, and collaborative expertise to transform American manufacturing.”  The institute will be a research and development center for digital manufacturing and design plus workforce development and education specific to digital manufacturing.

DMDII_wall_v2

 

Links to other articles and press releases regarding DMDII:

Chicago Tribune - UI Labs set to open doors of new digital manufacturing Institute

http://www.chicagotribune.com/bluesky/originals/ct-ui-labs-to-open-doors-bsi-story.html

World Business Chicago

http://www.worldbusinesschicago.com/dmdii/

NBC Chicago - Emanuel: "Olympic Gold-Winning" Bid Helped Land Digital Manufacturing http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/obama-midwest-manufacturing-247086581.html

Chicago Magazine - The Immense Ambition of Chicago’s Digital Manufacturing Hub
http://www.chicagomag.com/city-life/March-2014/The-Immense-Ambition-of-Chicagos-Digital-Manufacturing-Hub/

Press Release - President Obama Announces Two New Public-Private Manufacturing Innovation Institutes and Launches the First of Four New Manufacturing Innovation Institute Competitions
https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/02/25/president-obama-announces-two-new-public-private-manufacturing-innovatio

Industry Week – Advancing the Business of Manufacturing
http://www.industryweek.com/innovation/chicago-new-home-digital-manufacturing-and-design-innovation-institute

dmdi_building

 

 

Topics: Manufacturing News

ASK Power President, Steve Kase, invited to White House roundtable on exports

Posted by ASK Power

October 04 2014

Steve Kase, President of ASK Power was invited by Congressman Bill Foster to participate in a roundtable discussion on exports at the White House.  The roundtable, in the Roosevelt Room of the West Wing, was hosted by United States Trade Representative Mike Froman and Assistant to the President and Director of the National Economic Council Jeff Zients. The event focused on exports for small businesses. 

Kase_-_Foster_photo__White_House

“Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, so I am pleased that the White House is working to support small and medium business exports,” said Foster. “Small and medium businesses have great potential to play a bigger role in exports, but we need to do more to support them and navigate an extremely complex process.  Additionally, we need to provide stability by passing a long-term extension of the Export-Import Bank, an essential service for export businesses of all sizes.”

“Job creation disproportionately comes from small to medium manufacturing entities; but, they are disproportionally under-represented in export activities,” said Kase. “I was particularly encouraged by the Trade and Economic wings of our executive branch's intention to coordinate best practices across exporting states. Their leadership and employer organization’s cooperation can support SME’s efforts to navigate the complexity and risk of export toward more profitable sales and job creation.”

At the meeting the group discussed efforts to get more small and medium businesses involved in exports. In 2013, Illinois exported $66.1 billion in merchandise, supporting 339,421 Illinois jobs.

ASK Power is an Aurora, IL based manufacturer of electrical connectors for the Truck, Automotive, Telecom, Utility, and Military marketplaces. In 2012, Kase was Chairman of the Board of the TMA, Illinois’ Largest Full Service Manufacturing Association.

Foster is a scientist and businessman who worked at Fermi National Laboratory for over 20 years.  Foster’s business career began at age 19 when he and his brother co-founded Electronic Theatre Controls, Inc., a company that now manufactures over half of the theater lighting equipment in the United States.

This meeting is part of the continuing effort by President Obama's National Export Initiative that was announced in the January, 2010 to increase US exports.

Topics: ASK Power

National Manufacturing Day

Posted by Sharon Gryska

October 03 2014

On October 2nd,  President Barack Obama issued a presidential proclamation declaring October 3, 2014 National Manufacturing Day.  The President stated the following in his proclamation:  “On National Manufacturing Day, more than 1,600 American manufacturers will open their doors and take up the important work of inspiring our young people to pursue careers in manufacturing and engineering. Today's science, technology, engineering, and math graduates will power the next chapter of American production and innovation, and harnessing their potential is an economic imperative. When our manufacturing base is strong, our entire economy is strong. 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".  Presidential Proclamation.

In a speech Obama made at Northwestern University on October 2 he stated: “When our manufacturing base is strong, our entire economy is strong. 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.”  Video of remarks made at Northwestern University

President Obama also announced several initiatives aimed at manufacturers including a new Manufacturing Innovation Institute competition, a Digital Tour of American Manufacturing, and resources to help manufacturers locate in the United States.

On the Third Annual Manufacturing Day more than 1,600 U.S. manufacturers are opening their factories to members of the public and it will be the largest to date.  Working with schools, local governments, and communities, manufacturers are welcoming more than 50,000 people into American factories to experience the strong future of American manufacturing and to excite young people about the promising careers in manufacturing and engineering. This effort is supported by the Department of Commerce and manufacturing industry associations.  

Manufacturing Day is a non-profit organization whose mission "is to expand knowledge about and improve general public perception of manufacturing careers and manufacturing's value to the U.S. economy."  It is also working to address the shortage of skilled labor in the manufacturing industry and to change the perception of manufacturing jobs today.

 

Topics: Manufacturing News

1 Year Copper Prices and Price Charts

Posted by Sharon Gryska

June 17 2014

 

1 Year Copper Prices - Copper Price Chart

 

Steve Kase on Illinois Business

Posted by Steve Kase

June 12 2014

Steven Kase on Illinois Business this Week 3/27/14

Todd Beauchamp of ASK Products elected Director of TMA

Posted by Sharon Gryska

June 12 2014

Todd Beauchamp, Sales and Marketing Manager for ASK Products has over 20 years of business experience. He currently chairs the TMA's Marketing Committee. He has been selected to serve on the TMA Board of Directors for the next term.

 

Todd Beauchamp has recently been elected to the Tooling and Manufacturing Association (TMA) Board of Directors.

ASK Products has been involved with the Tooling and Manufacturing Association for X years and the owner Steve Kase recently served as the Chairman of the Board.  The TMA 

Topics: ASK Products

3 Tips For Using HubSpot's Blogging Application

Posted by Blog Tipster

October 31 2012

Tip 1: Embedding Video into Your Blog

 

To embed a video like the one above, you'll need to do the following:

  1. Most video sites like YouTube have an "embed" source code that you can copy and paste. For YouTube, this code is listed just to the right of the video itself, under a person's username.
  2. Open up the HTML Editor in HubSpot by clicking the "HTML" button in the toolbar. Then, paste in the source code at that point of the article you'd like the video to show up.
  3. Save! This tip will work on the rest of the CMS as well, not just in the blog. Just click on "Add Module", and add an HTML module. You'll be able to paste in the source code directly, and the video will exist as a stand alone module on your site.

Tip 2: Automate Your Social Media Publishing

If you use the HubSpot blogging platform, then we'll be able to automatically publish your content for you.  To set up Social Media Publishing, complete the following steps:

  1. We need to add your social media credentials before we can automate your blog publishing to their feeds. Under the Promote tab, open up HubSpot's Social Media application.
  2. Click the "Social Media Accounts" button. When prompted, add your credentials for the social media sites you'd like to publish to.
  3. Once your credentials are entered, head back to your blog's homepage and click on the "Options" link (to the right of the "Create Article" link).Your blog options will appear.
  4. Click on the Social Media Publishing tab. Under Social Media accounts, check off the boxes of the social media feeds you'd like your blog to publish to automatically. Remember to click "Update" at the bottom of the screen.
  5. When publishing content to your networks, you’ll need a line of explanatory text to let people know what they’re seeing. To write this line, write your slug in the "publishing slug" field, directly above the list of your social media acccounts. This is the text that will appear in Facebook and Twitter along with a link to the blog article.  For example, you might write "Check out my new blog post!"

Tip 3: Text Formatting 101

You can edit the fonts of your website by going to Settings > Template Configuration in HubSpot, and then click on "Advanced Configuration". Throughout this list, you'll see places where you can change the font of your different headers.

One caveat to this, however: The fonts you can use on a website are dependent on the fonts that are available on a visitor's machine. If you try to name a font that the user does not have on their computer, it will default back to something standard (usually Arial or Helvetica).

Most machines are preinstalled with dozens of fonts, so the trick is knowing which fonts are likely to be installed on which computers. For a list of the fonts supported on most browsers, view this article on Success.

Topics: HubSpot Tips

All posts

Subscribe to Updates

Recent Posts

Posts by Topic

see all

Request a Quote

sp-sicamegroup.jpg
  
MadeInUSAgraphic.png1674 Frontenac Rd | Naperville, IL 60563
866.457.4830 toll-free | 630.896.4092 fax
Website Disclaimer © 2023 ASK Products, Inc