Pittsburgh Re-imagines Manufacturing
For the first time since the 1970s, more manufacturing jobs returned to the US in 2016 than left our shores. Surprised? As the managing director at one of the nation’s only hardware startup accelerators, and based in one of the hottest tech cities in the US (Pittsburgh), I’m pleased with the news, but I can’t say I’m surprised.
Over the past four years at AlphaLab Gear, we’ve seen the financial and logistical advantages of having our startups work directly with regional and other domestic manufacturers to learn from their expertise. There is enormous benefit to the startup that gains a knowledgeable, accessible partner and the US manufacturer that opens up new customer channels to growing businesses.
True to the lean startup model of putting out a product, getting customer feedback, and iterating, we’ve done a complete redesign of our curriculum at AlphaLab Gear with this focus on manufacturing in mind. The 38-week accelerator program has now been broken down into two major milestones for physical product startups: Product & Market Validation, and Manufacturing at Scale.
Our Manufacturing Program Manager, Afshan Khan, is leading the charge to get these new companies prepared to scale their businesses. Afshan is a former CEO of a regional manufacturer. Combined with her decades of first-hand manufacturing experience, Afshan brings a network of other experts in production, automation and other technical fields with the knowhow that is concentrated in the Pittsburgh region’s hardware and robotics centers. The startups we work with are finding more and more often that manufacturing here in the US is often the best decision to build their company’s prototypes, early manufacturing runs, and future production.
On September 6, Afshan will be leading a panel on “When to Manufacture in America” at the OnRamp Manufacturing Conference in Milwaukee. She’ll be joined by an expert group of startup CEOs and engineers who understand — financially, logistically, and socio-economically — the pros and cons of manufacturing in the US versus abroad. The OnRamp Manufacturing Conference brings together leading corporations, investors and startups to showcase the ideas, technologies and institutions disrupting and reinventing the manufacturing industry.
The following week, we’re launching the AlphaLab Gear Manufacturing Module with a select group of startups, focused on manufacturing at scale: design for manufacturing, tooling, regulatory compliance, quality control, vendor negotiations, inventory management/fulfillment, and connections to manufacturers and supply chains.
There are plenty of opportunities to get connected to AlphaLab Gear and the Pittsburgh startup scene. Applications will open on December 1, 2017 for both the AlphaLab Gear Spring 2018 cycle (accelerator program) as well as the AlphaLab Gear Hardware Cup, an international pitch competition where physical product companies compete for a shot at $50,000 cash and hardware glory. Learn more about AlphaLab Gear here and sign up here to get updates.
The US is reclaiming its role as a manufacturing leader, and physical product startups are at the forefront. Pittsburgh is leading this effort. As American’s production center for the last century, Pittsburgh has the talent, skills, and network of manufacturers to be the epicenter once more of innovative manufacturing.
