RCBI
Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow
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Next year the Robert C. Byrd Institute for Advanced Flexible Manufacturing (RCBI) will mark an important milestone — its 20th anniversary.
That’s 20 years of supporting, assisting and championing manufacturing.
Twenty years of working with companies to help improve their manufacturing and operational practices. Twenty years of introducing new technologies and providing technical training, shop-floor assistance and access to the latest computer-controlled manufacturing equipment.
Twenty years of advancing economic development in West Virginia with a goal of transforming the Mountain State into a powerful player in the global economy.
Today’s RCBI stands as a tribute to the vision of West Virginia’s legendary Robert C. Byrd who saw the exciting possibilities of “a unique blend of academia and industry, working together” to help manufacturers and entrepreneurs keep pace with the challenges presented by today’s highly competitive economy.
Senator Byrd played a pivotal role in RCBI’s creation and has been a tireless advocate for it in the two decades since.
“The future of our state and nation depends upon the ability of our private sector to compete economically in the global arena,” says Byrd. “The Robert C. Byrd Institute for Advanced Flexible Manufacturing exemplifies how government and academia can help industry to prepare our nation for the economic challenges of tomorrow.”
Since it began in 1990, RCBI has served — by providing modernization, technical training, technology and specialized manufacturing assistance — nearly 4,700 manufacturers that employ more than 77,000 individuals. Many of those have been in West Virginia; others in a primary service region that includes nearby portions of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio, and still others in 17 states scattered across the United States.
The Early Years
What would grow to become RCBI was born in Old Main, the oldest building on the Marshall University campus in Huntington, W. Va. There, in the late 1990s, a team of researchers envisioned what they originally dubbed “The Factory of the Future,” a project that would bring together local manufacturing industries and government agencies with a goal of enhancing the capabilities of existing industries by providing a basic array of manufacturing equipment and systems.
In a written proposal, the researchers noted that the project would strengthen the economy of West Virginia and the region by offering incubator services for new businesses as well as fostering the growth of existing small ventures. The proposal described the project as a “viable option for initiating economic restructuring in the state, especially in southern West Virginia.”
Larry Kyle, who then headed the Economic Development Authority (EDA) Center at Marshall, was among the individuals who worked on the early phases of the project.
“I was there when there wasn’t an RCBI,” recalls Kyle. “It was exciting. We got to meet some of the smartest people in the world.”
Kyle says Marshall gained a $30,000 federal EDA granttojump-startthedesignandimplementation of the research, education and demonstration program. Prior to receiving the federal grant funds, MU faculty members donated their time to get the project going.
“We couldn’t afford employees,” says Kyle. “We didn’t have the money.”
The original concept of RCBI was written through Marshall’s Research and Economic Development Center (REDC). Kyle says it was the purpose of the REDC to start things like the Institute and then “let them go on their own.”
The young program quickly outgrew the space available for it in Old Main and moved to a two-story structure at 1050 Fourth Avenue in downtown Huntington. A former bank, the vacant building had been leased to Marshall University.
Operational Funding Gained
The start-up funding from the EDA didn’t scratch the surface of what was necessary to get the program up and running but, thanks to Senator Byrd’s efforts, a grant was obtained from the U.S. Air Force, soon followed by a grant from the Department of Defense (DoD).
The funding from the Air Force and the DoD represented recognition of the critical need for a strong, capable, competitive and just-in-time manufacturing base to support the nation’s military. RCBI offered a promising vehicle for strengthening that base.
From its Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center in downtown Huntington, RCBI began addressing industry’s everyday needs, providing manufacturers with leased time on the latest high-techproductionandprototypingequipment, while also delivering technical training and workforce development programs.
In 1996, Charlotte Weber, a West Virginia native and former member of Senator Byrd’s staff, assumed the Director’s post at RCBI and quickly recognized that RCBI never would meet its potential with just the one location in Huntington. It needed to have strategic locations that provided West Virginia and the region’s manufacturers and entrepreneurs with easier access to its technical service offerings.
RCBI Goes Statewide
Implementation of the statewide expansion began early in 1997 and today RCBI operates additional Advanced Manufacturing Technology Centers in Charleston, Bridgeport and Rocket Center (near Keyser in the Eastern Panhandle).
The first completed satellite facility, the RCBI Charleston Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center, is on the Marshall University Graduate College campus in South Charleston. It began serving industry needs in December 1997.
The initial RCBI Bridgeport Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center became operational in March 1998.
The RCBI Rocket Center Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center, located on the grounds of a U.S. Navy-owned ordnance plant, became fully operational in April 1998.
Each RCBI Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center is literally a “teaching factory,” where manufacturers and their workers can obtain hands-on training with computer-controlled mills, lathes and other state-of-the-art technologies they need to remain competitive.
Each facility is staffed with highly skilled machinists, engineers and trainers who work 365 days a year, 24/7 to ensure the viability and competitiveness of our region’s industrial base. Each is equipped with state-of-the-art production-size equipment strategically located to assist the region’s industry and entrepreneurs, computer labs, video-teleconference facilities and much more. Overall, the four locations house more than 80 pieces of computer-controlled production equipment, ranging from mills and lathes to computer-numerical-controlled (CNC) equipment to a 5-axis machining center and abrasive water-jet cutters.
Headquarters in Huntington
Huntington has served as the headquarters for RCBI since its inception. The Huntington Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center focuses on the metals manufacturing, tool and die and heavy-equipment parts production markets.
The Charleston center focuses on manufacturing and fabrication, coal and chemical products and heavy equipment parts.
Director of Manufacturing Services Arley Carpenter says RCBI is able to offer the use of advanced machinery to manufacturers that they may not have in their own shops. “The accessibility of advanced technology is the major benefit to the manufacturing industry.”
Carpenter says the key aspect of RCBI services to manufacturers is access to the latest in technology, machinery, reverse engineering and manufacturing. “They are able to see the advantage of this type of technology,” he says. “It’s definitely been a plus for the industry and for RCBI. It is a win-win situation.”
The Bridgeport facility focuses on meeting the needs of north-central West Virginia’s fast-growing aviation/aerospace industry. Originally housed in a former aircraft hanger, it moved into a handsome new state-of-the-art facility at the Benedum Industrial Park in November 2006.
Bridgeport is also home to the RCBI Composites Technology & Training Center, which provides comprehensive composites training capabilities, design assistance, development analysis and evaluation to support the aerospace/composites industrial base.
The Composites Center, the nation’s first ISO-certified composites center, was established through funding secured by Senator Byrd. In addition, Senator Byrd secured additional funding opportunities with NASA to assist West Virginia’s quickly growing composites industry.
“The RCBI Composites Technology & Training Center helps the regional composites industry in particular and manufacturing industry in general by bringing much-needed services and facilities to composites fabrication and repair, processing, non-destructive evaluation and dimensional metrology virtually to their doorstep,” says Mushabbar Karimi, senior manufacturing engineer at the center.
Since it opened in 2001, the RCBI Composites Center has focused its efforts on aerospace, aeronautics and other commercial and defense markets. With the specialized production and prototyping equipment available in Bridgeport to serve both metals-and composites-sector requirements, the RCBI Center has provided assistance to more than 600 manufacturers. Further, the Composites Center has worked with more than 16,500 employers and employees in the aerospace community to meet the sector’s specialized technical training and assistance requirements.
RCBI’s Rocket Center facility focuses on metals manufacturing and fabrication as well as composites manufacturing. RCBI’s Rocket Center facility is also home to West Virginia’s only public/private model shop, providing research and development assistance through prototyping opportunities.
A Wide Range of Services
RCBI provides a wide range of services and programs, including:
Technical Services offers customers the leased use of state-of-the-industry production equipment and technical expertise. RCBI develops the skills of its customers to program, set up and operate computer-numericalcontrolled (CNC) equipment for production or prototypes. In addition, RCBI provides equipment demonstrations and technical training in its proper use.
Workforce Development and Technical Training meets the needs of manufacturers through a series of technical, hands-on, training courses and seminars by experienced specialists.
Course instruction is tailored to meet manufacturers’ particular needs. Offerings range from basic blueprint reading to introductory and advanced CNC machining.
The Business Development group offers expert assistance and guidance for federal government and industrial or commercial contracting opportunities through utilization of online networking (www.21stmanufacturing.org). It has generated in excess of $350 million of Department of Defense (DoD) and NASA manufacturing opportunities over the past five years, according to Tom Munich, Director of Business and Project Development.
The 21ST Century Manufacturing Network features a large database of nearly 300 manufacturers in West Virginia and surrounding states, emphasizing the use of technology to enhance the private sector. The service supports procurement efforts to enhance the West Virginia Department of Defense (DoD) supplier base through access to electronic network parts catalogs and other DoD sourcing centers and prime contractors.
The RCBI Machinist Technology Program focuses on providing aspiring machinists with a nationally recognized certification upon completion of either a full-time course (12 months) or a part-time course (24 months). Under the guidance of an 11-member Industry Advisory Council, the training program teaches communication and organizational skills, computer training, safety skills instruction in bench and basic metal cutting operations, and introductory computer-controlled machining. Program graduates earn individual credentials from the National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS). Through August 2009, more than 250 individuals had completed the program successfully.
The Quality Certification group assists manufacturers with development and implementation of documented quality systems. It oversees the need that manufacturers have to develop and implement registered quality systems for proper documentation to become effective suppliers in the global market. The group provides training at any RCBI Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center or at the client’s site.
RCBI’s Future
Weber is proud that RCBI is realizing Senator Byrd’s vision for a program that works hand-in-glove with West Virginia, the region, and now the nation’s manufacturers and entrepreneurs. “RCBI has had a positive, measureable impact across the region,” she says. And she makes it clear that she’s determined to see this positive impact continue.
“It’s absolutely certain,” she says, “that the future will bring new challenges to the manufacturing sector in West Virginia and the nation, and it’s equally certain that the dedicated, hard-working team we’ve assembled at RCBI will confront those challenges head-on. That’s how we’ve always done things and, I believe, has been a big factor in our success.”
RCBI was one of several similar centers opened in various locales around the nation at roughly the same time. One by one, each of the others has faltered. Only RCBI remains.
“We’ve not only survived, we have thrived,” says Weber. “And we have 20 years of experience that we stand ready to put to work on behalf of manufacturers and entrepreneurs – not just in West Virginia and the region, but anywhere our assistance and expertise are needed.”
