Group launches passenger rail manufacturing center in Ohio

EWI launched a first-of-its-kind Passenger Rail Manufacturing Center from its headquarters in Columbus, Ohio. The mission of the Center is to develop and strengthen manufacturing supply chains for the rail and rolling stock industries, improve railroad product affordability and develop technical innovations that will allow railroad manufacturers to collaborate effectively with original equipment manufacturers and deliver a new wave of manufacturing job opportunities at the state and national level.  

Establishing the Passenger
Rail Manufacturing Center is a strategic move by EWI based on data predicting
that passenger rail service will experience strong national and international
growth in the coming decades, driving the need for new and improved passenger
rail equipment and infrastructure.

Launched by a start-up
grant from the Ohio Department of Development, the Passenger Rail Manufacturing
Center intends to assist Ohio manufacturers in securing a leading share of the
emerging passenger rail market and in exploiting the capabilities of
underutilized manufacturing plants and workers.

Says Suhas Vaze, director
of the new center, "One of the fastest ways to achieve introduction and
adoption of advanced manufacturing technologies for a U.S.-based passenger rail
industry is to actively facilitate and manage technology transfer from the U.S.
Department of Defense, oil & gas, aviation and automotive supply chains to
rail industry supply chains. EWI has been a highly effective technology bridge
for these supply chains for more than two decades and we are well-positioned to
serve as the technology bridge for stronger rail car supply chains."

The Passenger Rail
Manufacturing Center is one of five centers and consortia operated by EWI that
establish public/private partnerships to advance U.S. manufacturing
competitiveness.

EWI is an engineering and
technology organization dedicated to materials joining and allied technologies.
It provides applied research, manufacturing support and strategic services to
nearly 2,800 member company locations of global leaders in the aerospace,
automotive, defense, energy and chemical, government, heavy manufacturing and
electronics industries.