Ohio

Lima, Ohio’s future as a national manufacturing hub began when Ephraim Shay began manufacturing his unique design for steam engines, the Shay Locomotive, for the lumber trade in 1880. Over the years, many manufacturing companies sprang up to support the Lima Machine Works’ production of Shay locomotives, establishing the city’s reputation for excellence in manufacturing. Today, three heavy steel producing plants remain, as well as the Ford Lima Engine Plant, the oldest and largest Ford plant operating in Ohio, which is expected to produce as many as 700,000 engines in 2015.

In 2015, EDA awarded $450,000 to the Ohio Energy and Advanced Manufacturing Center to establish the Center for High Strain Rate Metal Forming Commercialization in Lima. The technology of high strain rate metal forming is an unexploited opportunity due to the transformative ability of this technology to reduce manufacturing costs in several ways. By linking metal forming manufacturers with university researchers, government economic development entities, and supply chain vendors, the Center will leverage existing resources, collaborate, and co-invest to nurture manufacturing innovation among all sizes of manufacturers to accelerate commercialization and innovative adaptation. As a sustainable manufacturing innovation hub, the Center will create, showcase, and deploy new capabilities to modify existing products with value added design, create new products with quicker turnaround, and reduce manufacturing costs associated with tooling, energy use, line space, and removal of markings from machinery contact. Finally, the Center will support innovative, semi-experimental applications of high strain rate metal forming processes that can positively impact commercial production.