OpportunityTitle: Advanced Manufacturing Technology Services
AdditionalInformationOnEligibility: Applicants for this program must be active MEP Centers that are operating pursuant to a current NIST MEP cooperative agreement.  A MEP Center may work individually or may include proposed subawards to eligible organizations or proposed contracts with any other organization as part of the applicant&#8217;s proposal, effectively forming a team. An MEP Center may serve as the MEP Center applicant on only one (1) proposal. There are no restrictions on the number of applications in which MEP Centers may be proposed as subrecipients or as non-funded collaborators. See Section III.A. of this NOFO for more information regarding funding opportunity eligibility. MEP Centers are strongly encouraged to propose projects that demonstrate program delivery approaches to be applied on a regional or on a national basis, and that would be implemented through teaming arrangements involving the meaningful participation of multiple MEP Centers and other partners, thereby serving small U.S. manufacturers in multiple states.  Applicants proposing regional or national projects involving the meaningful participation of multiple MEP Centers may receive priority from NIST during the award selection process.  See Section I.C. of this NOFO for information on the Program Priorities.
Description: NIST invites proposals from current recipients of Manufacturing Extension Partnership Center cooperative agreements (MEP Centers) to deploy advanced manufacturing technology services to U.S. manufacturers in the broad area of Industry / Manufacturing 4.0, with an emphasis on serving the technology-based needs of small U.S. manufacturers (hereinafter referred to as small U.S. manufacturers). For the purpose of this program, Industry / Manufacturing 4.0 includes any combination of technologies that, when implemented individually or collectively, enables the operation of digitally-connected, smart manufacturing systems within factories and across manufacturing supply chains. Implementation of these Industry / Manufacturing 4.0 technologies by small U.S. manufacturers should facilitate improved product quality and innovation, improved manufacturing process efficiency, and increased supply chain connectivity. Ultimately, this should result in small U.S. manufacturers being more competitive in the marketplace and being afforded business growth opportunities. See Section I. in the Full Announcement Text of this NOFO.
GrantorContactEmailDescription: grants@nist.gov
GrantorContactText: Leon Sampson &lt;br/&gt;NOFO Coordinator &lt;br/&gt;Phone 301-975-3086