How We All See Europe and How Europe Sees Itself

Well, I'm just wrapping up a 40+ day visit to Spain, Italy, Germany and Denmark, and so I sort of appreciated this humorous look at different ways various peoples see Europe.  It is from the great blog, Strange Maps:  http://bigthink.com/ideas/24357

Top 10 Ideas and Innovations in Manufacturing, Regional and Green Development

I'm wrapping up my 36 day "green business" development project, supported by the German Marshall Fund of the US and WIRE-Net, in Barcelona, Bologna, Essen, Stuttgart and Denmark with a few ideas and observations that have come to me as I've seen what our European counterparts are doing in their regions:

1. Firms that sell a product are moving into a service provider and systems approach in order to add value beyond the widget they make. 
2. Successful firms are constantly scanning and using new technology in their field, and use this focus as another element of value-add to their customers and owners.
3. Entrepreneurial and Urban Development:  Barcelona Activa's "best practice" model of entrepreneurial development marries the energy of start-up entrepreneurs with urban redevelopment in the @22 District in downtown Barcelona.
4. Stuttgart defines itself in terms of its strongest technology:  mobility (not cars).  They showcase the future of the mobility industry through their new downtown "e-mobility" showroom (see photo), which features the latest developments in electric, hybrid and fuel-cell technology for cars, public transport, and bicycles (Stuttgart is quite hilly).
5. The financial and economic crisis has thrown a damper on the emergence of the green economy, but everyone says it will be back stronger than ever.  This is a field with hundreds of opportunities for almost every company and region.
6. European regions have more experience in the green field, but it is still wide open and there is plenty of room for US based efforts to yield payoffs.
7. Energy efficiency is the tip of the green economic spear:  Cleveland has the tools to make its 1000 manufacturers among the most efficient on the planet, and 2011 is the year to make this happen.  This will create valuable links between Mayor Jackson's Sustainability 2019 Initiative, and the bedrock of our region's economy.
8. Design matters:  In Barcelona, Bologna, Stuttgart and Copenhagen you could see regional players getting good leverage from a focus on design.
9. We need more "Manufacturing Matters" true believers!  As a new colleague in Bologna put it, "here, manufacturing is a religion", and company leaders know and appreciate the resources the region invests in the producing sector.
10. It is fine to have a focus on bio-info and nano, but regions with an impressive legacy of making and designing things should not turn away from that asset.  I saw this expressed in Barcelona, Bologna and Stuttgart especially.  The Danes have realized they made a mistake in the 1980s as the dot-com bubble inflated, as did the European Union with its service economy proclamations.  They are turning back to a focus on their manufacturing expertise.  Without the ability to make things, the ability to drive innovation and high value services will be hamstrung.

Honoring the Ruhrgebiet's legacy of Fire, Industry and Art.

Link to Photos of Barcelona, Bologna, and environs

Here is a link to photos of my first two stops on this project:  Barcelona, and Bologna.

Better modern architecture in Barcelona...better food in Bologna (IMHO).

Let me know what you think of the photos.

Small-Wind Supply Chain in Parma -- Italy, not Ohio

John Colm and Matteo Rossi, engineer at Tecnopali.  The firm is moving into solar and wind applications for its monopole products.

In Parma, Italy I visited an innovative manufacturer of monopole  towers for uses in electricity transmission, street lighting, and other uses.  The firm, Tecnopali, uses modern design to create architectural products that go beyond the norm in urban applications. 

Tecnopali is also leading a partnership of about 10 other firms and the University of Parma, all located in the same Italian region, to develop an innovative small wind turbine (up to 200 kw) but 30% more efficient than current off the shelf designs. Most of the turbine components are made within a 20 minute train ride.

The partnership is applying for funding from the Region Emilia Romagna to advance their work on the small turbine and hopes to hear in October if the application has been accepted.

Tecnopali develops its own machinery to fabricate the monopoles, and developed and manufactured the solar panels as well.  If they bring the same inventiveness to the wind turbine project, there is no doubt we'll see an innovative, efficient "green product" within a few years.

Parma is both a city and a province about 90 minutes west of Bologna.  It's part of the Emilia Romagna region of Italy, which is the heart of Italy's manufacturing.

Manufacturing is a Religion

Yesterday, I visited the Industriali Reggio Emilia, an important manufacturing organization in Italy (Reggio Emilia is the heart of Italian manufacturing).  Here, and elsewhere in Emilia Romagna, "manufacturing is a religion", as one local expert put it.

Click here to see a NY Times article on how a small Italian village is making money selling wind-generated electricity to the grid.

Today, I'm visiting with a firm that makes towers for a variety of electrical uses, including for small wind generators...in Parma.

Make it Yourself

I mentioned the terrific exhibit in Barcelona at the display featuring the work of their Design Hub, in my earlier post.  This link is to an article in the New York Times today that describes this growing "do it yourself" manufacturing movement.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/29/the-rise-of-the-3-d-printers/?hp

Grow with Green: Sustainable Manufacturing

For the last two days, I and my colleague Daniel Bianchi of the Center for Community and Labor Research have been meeting with companies and industry center leaders in Barcelona and Valencia, Spain.  The project, "Sustainable Manufacturing Regions", is funded by the German Marshall Fund of the United States.  The project continues with a week in Barcelona, Bologna Italy, Essen Germany, Denmark and Stuttgart Germany.

On this blog, I'll be posting initial reflections on what I'm learning about how companies are jumping barriers to entry in new environmental or clean-tech markets.  I'll also be reflecting on what regional and other governments are doing to assist firms in their regions to overcome barriers to entry.  The idea for the project grew out of the work our team has done at WIRE-Net, and in particular our work with GLWN, our Global Wind Network, in helping US and Canadian based firms connect to new market opportunities in the wind industry. 

A view of Barcelona's shipping operations.

In Barcelona, I toured a comprehensive manufacturing support organization, ASCAMM, as well as the very interesting Design Hub-Barcelona, where the pictures below were taken.  The photo below shows how data from an ultrasound device can be used to create 3-dimensional models of fetuses for use in medical treatment. Imagine holding such a model, instead of staring at a fuzzy image of your yet-to-be-born child on an ultrasound monitor.  For more photos of Barcelona and the Design Hub, click here.  A short drive to Valencia brought us to meetings with IMPIVA's team, and introduced us to their alternative energy cluster, AVA-ESEN.  We visited Power Electronics, a small firm that partners with the IMPIVA sponsored Energy Technology Institute to fuel growth of 30% annually, including their new product, solar power inverters, a product line that will comprise 20% of their total sales within a few years.  The visit wrapped up with our tour at Florida University in Valencia.  This unique cooperative owned and managed private university, offers high school, technical and degree programs in a variety of business occupations, including manufacturing engineering.

Just some of the interesting uses for the new rapid prototyping and 3-D, computer controlled manufacturing equipment featured at Barcelona's Design Hub.