Advanced Manufacturing Network aims to end isolationism in industry.

High Tech Council, SPIRC join forces in collaborative group

DOWNTOWN - For manufacturing to thrive in Western Pennsylvania, local companies must interact, share information and educate one another.

That's the thinking of two local organizations - the Pittsburgh High Technology Council and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Industrial Resource Center - which plan to introduce a third industry group called the Advanced Manufacturing Network, with the goal of bringing companies into contact with one another in an effort to buoy advanced manufacturing in the region.

Advanced manufacturing is described as the application of high technology, human resources and …