Pontiac, Michigan – Oakland County manufacturers are encouraged to participate in a virtual information session to see if they qualify for grants to purchase Industry 4.0 state-of-the art digital technologies and become part of the county’s distributive manufacturing network.

The session, set for August 12 at 11 a.m., is offered by Oakland County and Automation Alley to qualified small and medium-size manufacturers. The program goal is to build a product independence pipeline with up to 300 of the county’s small and medium-sized manufacturers. These manufacturers would help fight the COVID-19 pandemic and future pandemics without having to rely on other countries to produce critical personal protective equipment (PPE) for our health care workers, hospitals, first responders and residents.

“There is an urgent need to move these companies into digital manufacturing quickly,” Oakland County Executive David Coulter said. “Our companies need to be nimble and responsive as digital-ready sources of essential manufactured PPE as well as being prepared for future disruptions.”

Oakland and Macomb Counties, in partnership with Automation Alley, announced the program in June. The Industry 4.0 PPE Resilience Grants Program is funded by $10 million from Oakland County and $2 million from Macomb County.

The 45-minute session will be led by Sean Carlson, deputy Oakland County executive, and Tom Kelly, Automation Alley executive director and chief executive officer.

Interested manufacturers can register for the no cost virtual session at https://members.automationalley.com/events/details/virtual-info-session-ppe-resilience-grant-program-for-oakland-manufacturers-15027.

A separate virtual session will be held for Macomb manufacturers on August 26 at 11 a.m.