The North Central Pennsylvania Pressed Materials Consortium released a new plan for the transformation and growth of the region’s primary manufacturing sector
The Consortium has spent 18 months building an updated roadmap for the pressed materials industry in Cameron, Clearfield, Elk, Jefferson, McKean and Potter counties.
The plan is entitled “From powder to power: positioning the pressed materials industry as an engine for U.S. innovation and growth.”
This plan marks a major effort to grow the region’s core manufacturing base, titled the “pressed materials” industry.
Globally, pressed materials is an aggregate industry that includes activities related to powder metallurgy, press-and-sinter manufacturing, metal additive manufacturing, metal injection molding and isostatic pressing and encompasses a broad range of substances that are shaped, pressed or compacted to form solid objects.
Northcentral Pa. employs 9,000 workers in the pressed materials industry, representing 43% of industry employment nationwide and 10% of all regional employment.
The region is home to over 64 companies specializing in powdered metallurgy and emerging manufacturing processes.
However, the industry is projected to lose a substantial share of jobs in the coming decade. This industry also has limited investments in innovation, automation and next-generation opportunity development, seeing the region lose out on growth that has been realized in China and other competing countries.
This action plan focuses on the retention of these employment opportunities for the region and a plan for benefiting from the growth in expanding markets and applications.
The plan’s two core initiatives focus on the formation of a regional industry organization and the creation and management of a new collaborative R&D facility for the industry.