Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources / Oklahoma State University

OSU and Industry...
An alliance for excellence

By Donald Stotts and Adam Huffer

Persons working in manufacturing positions account for 14.5 percent of Oklahoma's 1.5-million-person work force. Both numbers could increase steadily because of a cooperative effort by the Oklahoma Alliance for Manufacturing Excellence and Oklahoma State University.

"By working with the Alliance, OSU will provide small- and medium-sized manufacturers with engineering assistance to help quickly resolve their problems," says Timothy Greene, associate dean for OSU's College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology (CEAT).

Assistance will be offered through the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, the statewide agricultural network that is part of OSU's Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.

"The university has been making agricultural knowledge available through Cooperative Extension offices for years; it seemed natural to use the same successful model to provide field-based engineering services,” says Bill Barfield, head of OSU's Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering.

The field-based engineering positions were made possible through grant monies obtained from the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Alliance President Randy Goldsmith says Manufacturing Extension Partnerships (MEP) funding will be routed through the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST). Funds then will be given to the Alliance, a nonprofit organization that provides development assistance to small Oklahoma manufacturing companies.

MEP grant monies will be available for three years. Federal funds for the first year will exceed $194,000 and will be matched by funds from state and local governments, industry, educational institutions, and other sources.

"We are excited about the partnership in education and engineering with OSU," Goldsmith says. "This will help us assist small, rural manufacturers better."

Early plans call for applications engineers to be stationed at two Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service istrict offices the first year, with an additional engineer being placed in a district office the following year.

"If there are problems that can't be solved by field engineers, then OSU's faculty is large enough and has such a diversity of expertise that we can help them solve about any problem," Barfield says.

Barfield says OSU's mission as a land-grant university is to extend scientific-based knowledge to improve the quality of life for Oklahomans.

"Helping existing entrepreneurs can be as important to economic development and strengthening local communities as trying to bring new businesses to the state."

Greene agrees, saying the loss of manufacturing firms from small communities and rural areas can be particularly devastating.

"There is a ripple effect. If the manufacturing goes, doctors, dentists, and service industries often follow, until towns are shadows of what they once were."

By placing applications engineers at sites around the state, OSU and the Alliance hope to provide increased engineering expertise to small- and medium-sized manufacturers.

Two Oklahoma Joe’s employees prepare a smoker for painting.
The Stillwater company has grown from a small rural
business to one that markets internationally.

In the past, Alliance broker agents have helped Oklahoma manufacturers identify financial avenues and locate markets. They have not been in a position to offer engineering technology to many small, rural companies in need of engineering support. OSU's applications engineers will provide this assistance.

Although broker agents are expected to provide most of the referrals, requests can come through many sources, including county, area, and district offices of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service.

"When a request for engineering assistance is made, we will identify the problem and possible solutions," Greene says. "If appropriate, we will provide that solution, or help them contact an engineering consulting company."

Initially, the service will be free, but at some point a fee will be required from the manufacturer. The fee structure currently is being established.

The field-based service being offered by OSU and the Alliance is not designed to compete with privately owned engineering consulting firms, according to Greene and Barfield.

"Many small manufacturers do not have the profit margin to hire consulting engineers," Barfield says. "But they still require engineering assistance if they are to expand and be competitive."

Barfield and Noyes anticipate that as sales and profit margins increase, the small manufacturer will be able to hire private consultants to handle work initially being done by OSU engineers.

Nor will the OSU-Alliance partnership rely just on university faculty for engineering and technology transfer.

"Technology programs are available through Tinker Air Force Base and federal laboratories," Barfield says. "OSU has been working on this type of technology transfer for a long time. We will do whatever we can to help small manufacturers access the latest technology."

Agriculture at OSU Spring / Summer 1997
Agriculture at OSU Home Page

Agriculture at OSU is provided for online viewing by the Department of Agricultural Education, Communications, and 4-H Youth Development, Division of Agricultural Science and Natural Resources at Oklahoma State University.