Purdue TAP celebrates 25th anniversary, nearly $1 billion in impact
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University's Technical Assistance Program is celebrating its 25th anniversary with an annual report showing it has had nearly a $1 billion impact in Indiana since its inception in 1986.
Along the way, TAP has assisted more than 11,000 organizations, businesses and hospitals/health-care providers, trained more than 21,000 employees, and saved or added more than 10,000 jobs in the state.
"Through TAP, Purdue helps anticipate and meet the needs of businesses, manufacturers, health care providers and government organizations in every county in Indiana," said David McKinnis, TAP director and assistant vice president for engagement. "Behind each of these numbers is a person, company or an organization whose future is more secure because of TAP."
For 2010-2011, TAP reports it:
* Provided services that helped Indiana companies increase or retain sales worth more than $43 million.
* Helped companies realized cost savings of $16.55 million and invest $47 million in capital investment.
* Worked with 790 employers, hospitals, health care providers and governmental units in 88 of the 92 Indiana counties.
* Trained 3,239 employees and creating or saving 2,464 jobs.
"During the recession, many employers have had to re-evaluate and fine-tune processes, while others have shifted gears to take advantage of new opportunities," McKinnis said. "This, in turn, led to a need for workforce training. TAP is ideally equipped to help on all these fronts."
TAP provides short-term assistance on a broad range of business and technical issues using faculty and graduate student expertise. In addition, TAP is helping transform hospitals, implement electronic health records and promoting energy efficiency. Training also is provided in areas of Six Sigma certification and quality assurance, team building, leadership development and green workforce training.
One business that used TAP during the year is Swiss-based Endress+Hauser Group, a global leader in measurement instrumentation services and solutions for industrial process engineering. It had made a $20 million investment in its production and calibration facility at Greenwood, Ind. To improve and formalize training in the new facility, Endres+Hausser tapped Purdue and its Manufacturing Extension Partnership. The goal was to implement lean manufacturing principles. Employees and supervisors received 3,200 training hours.
The result? Processing time was reduced almost in half, and production increased 20 percent facility wide.
The partnership has "sparked a complete mindset change among all of our associates at the Greenwood facility," says Hans Peter Blaser, general manager of the company. "Our employees are now fully committed to changing our facility for the better and to improving operations."
Purdue's Green Enterprise Development Program, offered through TAP's Energy Efficiency and Sustainability Group, provides more than 64 hours of instruction, best practices training, exercises and interactive simulations, and case-study analyses that can be delivered on site or in public workshops. TAP partnered with the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) to create the SME Green Manufacturing Specialist Certification exam, the nations' first comprehensive, independently validated credential in the area of sustainable manufacturing.
Working with the Purdue-led ManufacturingHUB.org, TAP is making powerful software tools easy to use via the Internet. TAP will help 50 Indiana manufacturing companies improve their engineering design and innovation capacity with access to sophisticated, complex modeling and simulation tools. Initially the focus is on gas and liquid flows, prediction of the strength of mechanical parts and supply-chain management.
HealthcareTAP is helping medical professionals adopt electronic health records and provides short-term assistance with performance and quality improvement training focusing on quality of care, safety and efficiency. Its Indiana Health Information Technology Extension Center has enrolled approximately 2,000 primary-care providers in its electronic health record effort. Of those, 200 have already met the requirement to receive federal incentive payments totaling $10 million.
TAP provides up to five days of no-cost assistance. About 68 percent of its budget is supported by state appropriations and government agencies. The remainder is from service fees.
More information about TAP and its various programs can be found at https://www.tap.purdue.edu/
Writer: Jeanne V. Norberg, 765-494-2084, jnorberg@purdue.edu
Source: David McKinnis, 765-494-9189, mckinnis@purdue.edu