UB Center Boosts Business By Helping Companies Improve Their Competitiveness

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Birdair, Inc., the Amherst company whose air-supported and fabric-membrane structures include the elegant, white-peaked roof of the new Denver airport, knew it had a winning design proposal for the new Shanghai Stadium in China.

Unfortunately, it also had a language barrier.

"No one in our company speaks Chinese," said Jon Duncan, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Birdair. "And unlike some other Asian countries, in China most people don't speak much English. That makes it difficult to conduct negotiations, even if they are interested in your technology."

To solve the problem, Birdair turned to the Center for Industrial Effectiveness (TCIE) at the University at Buffalo. Based in the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and affiliated with the UB School of Management, TCIE promotes economic growth in Western New York by helping local companies, which pay fees for service, become more competitive.

"We told Birdair that if they could communicate in Chinese, it would show the people in Shanghai they were that much more serious," said Rebecca Landy, executive director of TCIE.

Mai Tong, Ph.D., a native of China and a postdoctoral researcher in UB's engineering school, began working with Birdair. Each time documents were faxed from Shanghai, he and a team of UB graduate students translated them into English, then translated Birdair's responses into Chinese and prepared them on computers at UB that print Chinese characters.

"Once we began communicating with them in this way, it quickly turned from a competitive situation into a negotiating situation," said Duncan. "The ability TCIE gave us to communicate helped us secure the contract. We are tremendously grateful for their assistance."

Using a Chinese translator to quickly respond in overseas negotiations is just one example of how TCIE individualizes its approach to helping companies be more competitive.

€ It has worked with 125 firms in Western New York.

€ It has been credited with creating or saving 5,000 jobs in Western New York companies ranging from multinationals like General Motors and Pratt & Lambert to mom-and-pop-type operations with fewer than 40 employees.

€ It has helped 20 firms obtain training grants totaling more than $1.3 million from the New York State Department of Economic Development and the state Urban Development Corporation.

€ The National Association of Management and Technical Assistance Centers has awarded TCIE two national awards for excellence in strategic training and development programs.

€ When the New York State Department of Economic Development instituted a state-wide Industrial Effectiveness Program, it was modeled on work that TCIE and the Western New York Economic Development Center performed for a Southern Tier company in 1987.

While just a few years ago 90 percent of TCIE's funding came from state grants, the center now receives 60-70 percent of its support as fees for service from companies it assists.

"We don't take a cookie-cutter approach," added Landy. "Every project is tailored to what a company needs."

€ Helped Moog Inc. develop an ergonomics system that improved accident and injury rates by 69 percent.

€ Provided Strippit Inc. with training assistance that helped the company create 50 new positions.

€ Organized and trained cross-functional teams at Sherwood, a division of Harsco Corp., that helped slash the cost of a valve for patio grills by even more than management had requested.

Unlike other university-based centers created to address competitiveness of local firms, TCIE takes advantage of the broadest range of resources in the community, not just those available at UB. Landy noted that other such centers often bid only on aspects of a project in which their home institutions have expertise.

"TCIE is institutionally 'blind,'" she explained. "If a company has a need UB can't fill, but a community college can, then we'll use the experts at the community college." The center also makes companies aware of community and government resources, some that are available to them at no charge.

According to Landy, TCIE's success may be attributed in part to its interdisciplinary nature, unique among economic assistance centers.

With roots in both engineering and management, the center calls on faculty members and graduate students, usually with industry experience, who can address problems ranging from plant layout, manufacturing systems and processes, to a host of engineering and scientific specialty areas, to technical writing, product and market research and employee training.

"Our Center for Industrial Effectiveness provides both manufacturing and service industries a unique window into the University at Buffalo," said Mark Karwan, Ph.D., acting dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. "It is an effective mechanism with which to support economic development in Western New York by leveraging the university's human resources and expertise."

Landy stressed that another plus for TCIE is that staff and consultants -- including professors who have worked extensively with companies, graduate students with industry experience, private consultants and even experts at other companies -- share a strong industrial orientation.

In addition to services for which there is a fee, TCIE offers a range of services to companies at no cost. These include locating appropriate resources in the university and community, researching information requests, providing new business leads to local industry, recruiting student interns and initial consultations to assess company needs.

TCIE also administers part of the UB component of a new program called SPIR, the Strategic Partnership for Industrial Resurgence program. Through SPIR, a consortium of State University of New York engineering schools recently received state funds to offer technological support and research-and-development capabilities to small- and medium-sized companies, and to help develop partnerships with large companies in the state.

Companies interested in TCIE's services may contact it at 636-2568.