Page 49 - BusinessWest March 3, 2021

Holyoke
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Meanwhile, some projects that were “percolating,” as Vega put it, before the pandemic and back-burnered to one extent or another are perhaps poised to be revisited and moved off the drawing board. These include some indoor agri- culture that is not cannabis-related.
“The biggest price-point stuff that they’re talking about right now is let- tuce and herbs,” he noted, “because there’s a quick-growing cycle; you can turn lettuce around in 30 days. So many restaurants want locally grown, hormone-free lettuce ... there’s real potential there, and they can grow other vegetables, too. The price point is not as good as cannabis, but we’ve been talking about urban farming
for a while, and we’re trying to create opportunities.”
On a Roll
Speaking of cannabis, while the pandemic has slowed some aspects of that sector, the industry is poised for additional growth, especially in the Paper City. The next important chapter looks to be written by Truelieve, which just received its occupancy permit. But there are many companies with plans in various stages of development.
Indeed, Vega said, there are two growing facilities now online and three dispensaries, but, overall, there are 40 host agreements and 40 provisional licenses at the state level.
As for Truelieve, its story touches on many of the opportunities and chal- lenges that Holyoke and its old mills present, said Ricci, who started by not-
Trends
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mize physical assets, digital collabora- tion tools give manufacturers ways to boost productivity while enhancing quality.” And those who do it first — and well — will achieve a significant competitive advantage.
Internet of Things
The Internet of Things (IoT) has long been a trend to watch in manu- facturing, and this year is no different. As it continues to grow in prominence and becomes more and more wide- spread over time, IoT technology will drive value for the industry by allow- ing organizations to make measured, informed decisions using real-time data in an effort to increase efficiency and positively impact their bottom lines.
According to a recent study con- ducted by the MPI Group, approxi- mately 31% of manufacturing produc- tion processes now incorporate smart devices and embedded intelligence. Furthermore, more than one-third of manufacturers have established plans to implement IoT technology into their processes, while 32% plan to embed IoT technology into their products.
ing that the company was mostly in Florida before last year, when it started expanding aggressively into other states, including a cultivation facility in Pennsylvania (added through acquisi- tion) and dispensaries in Connecticut and other states.
“We really see 2021 as a big year for national expansion and being a true multi-state operator,” she explained, adding that, when looking for places
in which to broaden the portfolio with new facilities, Truelieve focuses on cities and towns with large minority populations, communities that clearly need the jobs and everything else these
“
had certainly seen better times, we thought, ‘we could invest here and provide the jobs.’”
When we found this location in Holyoke, an area that
ing the historic mill has been “a huge undertaking,” Ricci said, adding that the company entered into a sale/lease- back arrangement in order to secure the nearly $40 million required for
this project (cannabis operations can- not obtain traditional bank financing, because the product is illegal on a fed- eral level).
The actual buildout was an involved process that began more than a year ago and was slowed by state mandates that shut down many types of con- struction during the early months of the pandemic.
“The property is beautiful in its own
the most promise for jobs and overall impact on the city and the region, and he can envision the day when perhaps eight to 12 such ventures are operating in the city.
And, like his predecessor, he sees opportunities not merely for the grow- ing and selling of cannabis, but also encouraging businesses that can provide needed products to those ventures.
“A lot of the products used by these businesses are made in Texas and Flor- ida, the simple things like the planters — we should be making those here in Holyoke,” he noted. “I equate it to the ‘green’ industries. It’s great seeing solar fields — we have some in Holyoke — but we should be building solar panels in Western Mass., not just installing them.”
Bottom Line
Making progress in that area is just one of the ways Holyoke will be looking to regain the considerable amount of momentum it lost to the pandemic.
The city that had come so far in the past decade has the foundation that Vega mentioned in place. It has the building blocks, and it has a cannabis industry hungry for the open spaces, low energy prices, and other amenities that this city can provide.
The pandemic certainly slowed the pace of progress, but Vega and other officials are confident that the Paper City can soon regain its stride. u
George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]
blog post from EAM-Mosca Corp., showcase why predictive maintenance (PM) is so valuable to organizations today. PM helps companies reduce costs, decrease failures, minimize scheduled downtime, and optimize parts delivery
Effectively conducting predictive maintenance is no easy task, however. Adopting a (successful) predictive maintenance model requires manu- facturers to gain insights into the vari- ables they are collecting and — more importantly — how often those vari- ables present themselves on factory floors. Therefore, it’s imperative for manufacturers to possess accurate and relevant knowledge about their equip- ment. They must know what previous failures have taken place, and they need to make decisions around lead time — becausem the closer to failure a machine is allowed to go, the more accurate the prediction will be. u
This article was written by the Assoc. of Equipment Manufacturers.
ventures bring to the fore. “Investing in a majority minority
community was important to us,” she said. And upon concluding that the Bay State would be a good market to enter, Holyoke soon came onto its radar.
“We wanted to make sure, going in, that we were revitalizing and adding to the community and providing jobs; those kinds of things are important
to us as a core value of the company,” she noted. “When we found this loca- tion in Holyoke, an area that had cer- tainly seen better times, we thought, ‘we could invest here and provide the jobs.’”
As for the site in Holyoke, renovat-
IoT technology offers both remote- monitoring and predictive-mainte- nance capabilities, making it even more valuable for organizations look- ing to maintain visibility of equip- ment performance from afar. With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to impact the industry in 2021, IoT tech- nology will continue to be a go-to for manufacturers looking to maintain efficiency and productivity.
Localized Production and Near Sourcing
The rise of customization and per- sonalization has given way to large opportunities for manufacturers will- ing — and, perhaps more importantly, able — to succeed in a localized econ- omy. By rethinking the way products get out to the public, organizations can craft an ecosystem of smaller, flexible factories located near existing and pro- spective customers.
Manufacturers are used to think- ing on a global level. However, shifting their focus to a local level, they may be better able to meet the ever-chang- ing needs, wants, and preferences of the markets they serve. Consumers are making it abundantly clear that
way — there’s big, wide staircases and beautiful brickwork, but ... it needed a lot of work,” she told BusinessWest. “It has been a challenge, and not just to set up different rooms, but to make sure everything was set up properly.”
Staffing is the next challenge to be overcome, Ricci said, adding that final inspections of the facility are expected sometime this quarter, with growing due to begin, as noted, in the second quarter.
Other facilities are in various stages of the pipeline, said Vega, who told BusinessWest that, while the city is wel- coming all types of cannabis business- es, the larger cultivation facilities hold
authenticity matters, and a localized approach to manufacturing is prov- ing to be among the most effective ways to for organizations to respond accordingly.
The impact of COVID-19 also can- not be discounted. The pandemic has led manufacturers to re-evaluate and reconsider sourcing, largely due to sup- ply chain disruptions (especially in the earliest days of COVID-19). As a result, manufacturers have made a concerted effort to bring their operations closer to where their offerings are sold, and there has been an increasing desire on the part of many companies to source raw materials from domestic suppli- ers. All this is being done in an effort
to avoid pandemic-related disruptions and support the U.S. economy during these uncertain times.
Predictive Maintenance
It’s no secret that the ability for manufacturers to predict impending equipment failures and — more impor- tantly — prevent equipment downtime is incredibly impactful to their bottom lines. Advancements in technology now allow organizations to do just that (and much, much more).
The benefits, according to a recent
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