EXECUTIVES GIVE INFORMANCE MANUFACTURING OPERATIONS EXCELLENCE SUMMIT FIVE STARS

Visionaries shared vision for driving shareholder value through operations.

REDWOOD CITY, CA - Booz & Co., IBM, Sigma Breakthrough Technologies, Inc., Allied Reliability, and Lean Value Solutions International, together with Informance International, recently hosted the Manufacturing Operations Excellence Summit for executives who are eager to improve operations through initiatives such as Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma and Total Productive Maintenance. For two days last week, delegates participated in a dynamic exchange of ideas, best practices, and proven practical theories. The event was designed to help manufacturing executives leverage the success of their peers from world-class companies across a variety of manufacturing industries.

Throughout the event operations and improvement executives from companies like Abbott Laboratories, AkzoNobel, Cargill, ConAgra, Flowserve, GlaxoSmithKline, JohnsonDiversey, Kraft Foods, Novartis, Pepsico, Clorox Company, Unilever, Ventura Foods and many other global firms shared and gathered fresh ideas and new approaches to achieve their operational excellence objectives. Ms. Pat Hatem, plant manager of JohnsonDiversey’s showcase manufacturing facility in Racine, Wisconsin remarked, "This is exactly the kind of thought leadership my company needs to breathe new life into our continuous improvement initiative – certainly we have already made improvements, but building on and sustaining those improvements can be a challenge. The Summit gives us greater insight to be able to achieve this goal."

More than eighty delegates listened as Ms. Carol Ptak, CFPIM, CIRM, Jonah, PMP, delivered an engaging and insightful opening keynote presentation, and then participated in a series of panel discussions, interactive presentations, and networking sessions. Ms. Ptak is an Executive in Residence at Pacific Lutheran University, a former president of APICS and a leading authority in the use of ERP and supply chain tools to drive improved bottom line performance. An exclusive book signing was held during the event, during which participants visited with several manufacturing performance authorities, including Ms. Ptak, to seek opinions about their unique performance challenges. Prominent authors included:

• Carol Ptak, co-author of Necessary But Not Sufficient: A Theory of Constraints Novel,
  
  
• Conrad Winkler, Vice President, Booz & Co., author of Make or Break,
  
  
• Randy Perry, Master Consultant, Sigma Breakthrough Technologies, Inc., author of Commercializing Great Products with Design for Six Sigma, and
  
  
• Ricky Smith, Senior Technical Advisor, Allied Reliability, co-author of Maintenance and Reliability Best Practices