RIT Remanufacturing Programs Receive $400,000 from New York State Assembly
Morelle has served as the principal advocate for this funding since 1998. He says the overriding benefit has been the ability to create new jobs in New York. One of the entities created with this funding is the Imaging Products Laboratory. Since 2001, this initiative has supported research on and evaluation of remanufactured toner and ink cartridges to assure standardized quality and to help original equipment manufacturers and remanufacturers improve their products.
“The work of Dr. Nabil Nasr and his remanufacturing team at CIMS is essential to providing assistance to manufacturing companies across New York state,” says Morelle. “I’m proud to champion RIT and the vital support it provides to so many small businesses and people in the workplace, and I will continue to ensure this effort remains viable and extremely successful.”
Assemblyman Gantt, dean of the Rochester area delegation and one of the original sponsors of legislation that established CIMS in 1992, adds, “This is exactly the kind of economic impact that we envisioned when making the initial state investment in CIMS. The research creates jobs and benefits the environment. It’s a win-win for the region and the state.”
CIMS is home to the National Center for Remanufacturing and Resource Recovery (NCR3). The mission of NCR3 is to deliver advanced technologies and tools for efficient and cost-effective remanufacturing and the design of products that have no negative environmental impacts.
Remanufacturing is a process by which retired or nonfunctional products are restored to “like new” condition through a series of after-market operations. These products offer the same performance and durability as new ones but require much less processing and energy. As a result, remanufactured good can be sold on the market at a much lower cost.
“The far-reaching benefit of our work is to enhance the competitiveness of the targeted manufacturing firms while creating and retaining jobs in the manufacturing sector,” explains Nabil Nasr, CIMS director.
Since 1998, the assembly support has enabled NCR3 to assist 378 of the state’s manufacturing businesses. Nearly 800 jobs have been either created or retained as a direct result of NCR3 research, and the companies project a sales increase of more than $78 million.
One of those companies, Optical Technologies Corp., is an industry leader in imaging supplies, coatings and products. According to Lester Cornelius, OTC president, recommendations that resulted from previous research have improved his company’s productivity by 22 percent.
“They made us more profitable,” states Cornelius. “The CIMS team made us look at our own possibilities for growth in a different way. They showed us how to become stronger by getting more volume out of our existing processes.”
BACKGROUND: The Center for Integrated Manufacturing Studies (CIMS) at Rochester Institute of Technology exists to increase the competitiveness of manufacturers through applied technology and training. Established in 1992, CIMS provides technology and workforce development solutions that strengthen industrial clients’ ability to compete in the global marketplace. CIMS represents a dynamic collaboration of in-house technical experts, as well as academic, industry and government resources.
Other major initiatives sponsored by CIMS include the System Modernization and Sustainment Center, the Sustainable Systems Research Center, the Center for Excellence in Lean Enterprise, the Manufacturing Technologies Program, and the Occupational Safety and Ergonomics Excellence Program.