Stanley Black & Decker opens Advanced Manufacturing Center of Excellence

Stanley Black & Decker has opened its 23,000-sq.-ft. Advanced Manufacturing Center of Excellence, called “Manufactory 4.0,” in Hartford, Conn. It houses the company’s Stanley+Techstars additive manufacturing (AM) accelerator program to help bring AM startups to Hartford.

Stanley Black & Decker currently operates about 30 manufacturing facilities in the U.S., including three in Connecticut, with more than 100 manufacturing facilities globally. The company has three locations designated as “lighthouse factories,” which have partially implemented Industry 4.0 across their facilities from manufacturing execution systems to 3D printing, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence. With the support of the Manufactory 4.0 initiatives, the company plans to update an additional 25 facilities to lighthouse factories by the end of the year.