Michigan Business Network

Originally uploaded October 29th, re-edited Nov. 26th. Chris Holman welcomes Tom Kelly, President & CEO, Automation Alley, Troy, MI. Chris had several things he wanted to catch up on with Tom: Q. Before we get started, can you remind our listeners what Project DIAMOnD is? Project DIAMOnD –which stands for distributed, independent, agile manufacturing on demand – is an initiative powered by Automation Alley and funded by Oakland County, Michigan. Project DIAMOnD was developed in October 2020 to accelerate digital transformation among Michigan manufacturers. In Phase I of the program, which was funded by $10 million from Oakland County and $2 million from Macomb County, Automation Alley distributed 300 3D printers to small- and mid-size manufacturers at no cost, provided workforce training, and networked the printers to be used to fulfill emergency orders at scale. In 2021, the network concept was validated, as it printed and shipped 8,000 tourniquet parts to fulfill a request from the Ukrainian Defense Min