“‘The initial budget came back from OMB … at zero.”
The Manufacturing Extension Partnership is being threatened with budget cuts again (almost an annual event). The MEP offices around the country provide lean training and consulting, particularly for small and medium size manufacturers. Is this a service that the government should be providing, or should private sector consultants fill this role?
What do you think? Please scroll down (or click) to post a comment. Or please share the post with your thoughts on LinkedIn. Don't want to miss a post or podcast? Subscribe to get notified about posts via email daily or weekly.
Mark Graban is an internationally-recognized consultant, author, and professional speaker who has worked in healthcare, manufacturing, and startups. His latest book is Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More. He is author of the Shingo Award-winning books Lean Hospitals and Healthcare Kaizen, as well as The Executive Guide to Healthcare Kaizen. He also published the anthology Practicing Lean that benefits the Louise H. Batz Patient Safety Foundation, where Mark is a board member. Mark is also a Senior Advisor to the technology company KaiNexus.
Latest posts by Mark Graban (see all)
- Interview with Mit Vyas: Insights on Learning from Toyota, Entrepreneurial Success, and Mindfulness Practices - March 29, 2023
- Recorded Webinar on Building a Culture of Continuous Improvement through Organizational Habits - March 22, 2023
- From Fear to Improvement: Results of Our Poll on Companies' Responses to Mistakes - March 16, 2023
Helping small and medium-sized manufacturers fund improvement efforts is a good idea but government subsidies to consulting firms are not. NIST is not competent to pick consultants for manufacturers and the MEPs are unfair competition to other service providers.
Government support should go directly to manufacturers, to pay market rates for consultants or contractors they choose.