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Advanced Manufacturing

Manufacturing has been a cornerstone of Greater Lansing’s economy for more than a century. Today we’re leveraging the labor skills and equipment of our extensive manufacturing base to help an increasingly diverse range of industries become competitive players in today’s dynamic international marketplace.

Greater Lansing Manufacturing Highlights

• 40,000+ Greater Lansing residentsemployed in this sector

• Diverse range of fields including automotive, packaging, aerospace and energy

• Sizes range from “niche” manufacturers to large-scale

• 200 million consumers are within a day’s drive of our area—and easily connected by our extensive network of highways, rail and air.

Top Employers

Company	# Local Employees
General Motors	5800
Peckham, Inc.	1400
Dart Container	1200
Demmer Corp.	1110
Spartan Motors, Inc.	730
John Henry Company	609

 

An experienced labor pool and affordable labor costs

Locate in Greater Lansing and tap into one of the country’s most extensive supplies of skilled manufacturing labor, backed by competitive labor rates.

Standard Occupational Classification Code	Occupation	Hourly Wage
510000	Production Occupations	$19.25

 

 

Manufacturing excellence + world-class research = innovation and growth

You’ve probably heard the word “synergy” a few too many times, but bear with us. Because there’s no better way to describe what happens when you combine the resources and expertise of Greater Lansing manufacturers, with one of the world’s top research facilities: Michigan State University (MSU).

MSU is recognized internationally for its excellence in manufacturing research and application and we’re extremely lucky to have them right in our own backyard!

Here are just a few of the MSU programs that are helping us grow world-class manufacturing companies right here in the Lansing area:

• Engineering Technology Transfer and Industry Relations

Connects businesses with faculty researchers and helps take innovation from the laboratory to the marketplace.

• Fraunhofer Center for Coatings and Laser Applications

Innovative research and development in coating and laser technology.

• Center for Low-Cost High-Speed Polymer Composites

Bringing cutting-edge advances in injection-molded thermoplastics to the production floor.

• Energy & Automotive Research Laboratories

30,000 square-foot world-class complex houses the University’s research on automobile engine efficiency, alternative energy, and emission reduction.

Ratings/Rankings

• MSU ranks # 9 in Production and Operations Management by US News and World Report

• Business Development Outlook magazine ranked Lansing #1 among cities with the greatest growth in automotive manufacturing from 2006-2007

General Motors: Building on a history of innovation to create the automotive industry of the future

In a time of extraordinary change, General Motors (GM) continues to make its mark on the world of automotive manufacturing—and its Greater Lansing-area plants are playing a critical role.

• 2008 Car of the Year—the Cadillac CTS—is produced locally

• Lansing Delta Township plant was the first assembly plant in the world—and one of just 350 buildings total—to earn gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®).

• Vehicles built in Lansing are shipped to 43 different countries

• Highly advanced lean manufacturing techniques are helping to ensure future competitiveness