Elenco Electronics, the creators of the award-winning Snap Circuits brand of educational circuit-building toys, announces that it has been named a participant sponsor of The Smart Factory @ Wichita, a new Industry 4.0 immersive experience center, established by Deloitte and Wichita State University in Kansas.
The Smart Factory facility, located on Wichita State University’s Innovation Campus, is a 60,000 square foot sustainable space that includes a fully operational production line and experiential labs for developing and exploring smart factory innovative capabilities. As a participant sponsor, Elenco will work with Deloitte to advance the execution of smart factories and enable manufacturers to quickly adopt state-of-the-art, Industry 4.0 technologies to drive new business models and boost quality, productivity and sustainability.
As part of the sponsorship, Elenco has worked closely with Deloitte to develop the Smart Rover STEM circuit kit, which is a Bluetooth-controlled, customized version of Elenco’s popular Snap Circuits Snap Rover educational vehicle building kits. These special edition kits, manufactured at the plant, will exemplify the capabilities of the new end-to-end smart factory production line. Ultimately, the kits produced at The Smart Factory will not be sold but donated to schools to promote accessibility and STEM education.
“Elenco has long been a leader in STEM education, and we are proud to work with them to help foster the next generation of STEM talent,” said Stephen Laaper, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP. “The Smart Rover will provide students with hands-on learning to help them develop skills in programming, problem-solving, and innovative thinking that will be critical to accelerating the future of manufacturing. This educational experience enabled by the Smart Rover will introduce many students to potential career options in technology and manufacturing they may not have previously considered.”
The Smart Factory @ Wichita is a highly digitized, connected production facility that uses technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and robotics to help companies manufacture products, create new business value, unlock data-driven insights, and automate or eliminate business processes. These technologies enable people to do their jobs in a more productive and efficient manner while improving quality and overall safety. The Smart Factory @ Wichita will bring digital transformations to life by demonstrating how to merge existing technologies with new innovations, sparking a dialogue about how companies can accelerate their journeys toward scalable and sustainable capabilities.
“We are delighted to work with Deloitte to benefit STEM education,” said Jim Cecchin, president of Elenco Electronics. “This collaboration also represents an exciting opportunity to celebrate our company’s 50th anniversary and the 20th anniversary of Snap Circuits, honoring our continued commitment to the evolution and growth of STEM learning and discovery.”
2022 marks a watershed year for Elenco, including the company’s 50th anniversary, 20 years of the Snap Circuits brand, as well as several industry award nominations. Founded in 1972, what began in the basement of electrical engineer, Gil Cecchin, eventually became a company that grew into producing educational kits for academic institutions to teach the basics of electronics and engineering, and eventually, to the toy space, with the introduction of Snap Circuits in 2002, reaching a wider audience of young learners through the power of play. Follow the celebration all year long at www.elenco.com/celebrate.
Visit https://www.thesmartfactory.io/home to learn more about The Smart Factory @ Wichita.