CGAM Equipment Library Injects Collaboration into Hudson Valley Manufacturing

By John MacEnroe

A while back, I was meeting with our friends at Sono-Tek, the Milton, NY producer of ultrasonic spray systems, when I learned about another world-class Hudson Valley manufacturer.

You know the sort of questions you ask when visiting a client for the first time as a new set of eyes. “What sort of competition do you have in the marketplace?” I asked. Steve Harshbarger, President of Sono-Tek, humbly responded that while there is a foreign competitor or two that was able to produce a nozzle that looked like the genuine Sono-Tek product, it was unable to provide the same results.

“So you have a virtual monopoly in your niche?” I asked. Again humbly, “Yep.”

As we continued our tour, Steve brought me into a laboratory area and pointed to a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). “Did you know that was paid for by TSEC (The Solar Energy Consortium), and is housed here at Sono-Tek? This is the first phase of a precision measurement TSEC SMARTT LAB.” I admitted to familiarity with CGAM’s (Center for Global Advanced Manufacturing) equipment library inasmuch as HVTDC along with TSEC and the Council of Industry were founding members. “In addition to Sono-Tek, nearly 40 other companies have used the SEM in the past year,” he continued. “It cost about a hundred grand. None of us could afford to make that level of investment on our own, but here it is helping Sono-Tek and 40 other companies.”

This is the power of collaboration. The $100 thousand investment resulted in the hiring of an operator and the facilitation of innovation in more than three dozen companies, a clear example of how the “new” New York can expand its competitive edge.

News