Thursday, March 25, 2010

Details Align for Upcoming MESA Conference

Pre-conference events should entice you to Dearborn, MI on June 21 to get warmed up for what is shaping up to be a great learning and sharing experience at the 2010 MESA International North American Conference, "Unlocking Your Operations Potential."

On Monday, prior to the conference, MESA will be hosting workshops addressing best practices in:
  • Metrics-driven approaches with findings from the new MESA Research Project
  • Eco-efficiency and sustainability in manufacturing
  • Improving operations through our Strategic Initiatives covering lean, product lifecycle management, real-time enterprise, asset management, plus quality and compliance.

Then on Monday evening, you'll want to attend the Welcome Reception and Keynote Address featuring Lou Holtz. The famed college football coach and TV sports analyst will present his Game Plan For Success. His message transcends athletics. It resonates - even to those who aren't sports-minded. The focus is on people and the values that make relationships and organizations excel. Once heard, you will have no doubt why Lou Holtz is considered a legendary team leader and speaker on achievement.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Improving Plant and Business Performance Webcast

Here's a learning opportunity through a MESA Webcast on Tuesday April 13 at 11 am EDT. Speakers will address the question, how can a production company continue to improve its financial results in the face of a global economic crisis? This webcast will provide views from both a processor and a discrete manufacturer that have done that, as well as the MESA research perspective from a recent study Correlating Plant Performance with Business Performance.

Some of the questions that will be addressed:

  • What differentiates companies that have improved their business performance from others (hint: it has nothing to do with size, location, or type of product)
  • Why OEE is useful, but not adequate to ensure business gains
  • What metrics the leaders focus on improving
  • How one industrial company has continued to grow its margin despite a desperate decline in revenues
  • How a processor improved its earnings (EBITDA) by over 10% on average during the years of the downturn
  • How consistent metrics and visibility can improve performance

The moderator is Khris Kammer, Sr. Information Solutions Consultant, Rockwell Automation, and MESA Technical Committee Chair.

Speakers are:

  • Julie Fraser, Principal Industry Analyst, Cambashi, Inc., and MESA Metrics Working Group Chair
  • George Strodtbeck, Executive Director, Cummins, Inc.
  • Lars Wallstén, Head of Performance Systems, Linde

You must first register to attend this event. There is no cost to attend. MESA members and non-members are welcome to participate in the live webcast; however, only Premium members of MESA will have access to the recording and PowerPoint slides.

After registering, you will receive an e-mail confirmation message that will include the dial-in teleconference information as well as the link you will need to participate in the webcast. You will also receive a reminder e-mail.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Exciting Plans for MESA North American conference

I'm excited to become a blogger for MESA--the Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association International. I'm also looking forward to the upcoming conference. It is shaping up as a premier place to discuss IT solutions for manufacturing problems. Look for some uncommon opportunities to discuss problems and solutions with your peers beyond the usual PowerPoint presentations. Looking forward to meeting you there. The Conference is June 21-23 in Dearborn, MI.

The MESA 2010 North American Conference will take attendees deep into some of the most pressing challenges industry faces today and, more importantly, into the Best Practices and actionable steps companies can take RIGHT NOW to meet those challenges. Meet with peers, MESA Working Groups, solution providers, and industry thought leaders to share your experiences and to learn from those of others on the road to Operations Excellence.

Particularly noteworthy is that the conference will be hosted by Ford Motor Company in the backyard of their corporate headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, USA. The main conference location is the Ford Conference and Event Center. Ford has long been committed to being operationally excellent and is one of the world's most advanced users of Information Technology (IT) solutions in their plants and across their global enterprise. They know the importance of manufacturing to the global economy, and MESA is honored to bring our membership and conference to the U.S. Midwest to engage the best-and-brightest minds in industry in Ford's hometown.

However, this is NOT an automotive-only conference or even a conference just for discrete manufacturers. MESA represents the interests of manufacturers and producers across the industrial landscape from discrete to batch and mixed mode to continuous process environments, and the conference will, too. Embracing the intersection of technology and human capital to pursue Operations Excellence, taking costs out of your operations, managing asset performance, or building a Real-Time Enterprise spans all manufacturers and producers in all industries; so, we invite practitioners from all industries and experience levels to join us in Dearborn, MI for the MESA 2010 North American Conference.

The conference will open Monday, June 21, 2010 with an evening reception and Keynote Speaker. (Pre-conference training sessions are planned for Monday afternoon, and more information on the topics and times will be posted shortly.) Tuesday, June 22, will be a full-day of general sessions, networking opportunities and Strategic Initiative Workouts/Wednesday, June 23, will feature a similar structure to Tuesday but a shorter schedule of events.

The Workouts will be lead by MESA Working Group leaders and will follow end-user presentations on the subject. Specific speakers and subjects will be updated as slots are filled but will center around the following topics:

* Tying Operational Performance Metrics to Financial Metrics
* Real-Time Enterprise
* Quality & Compliance
* Asset Performance Management (APM)
* Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
* Lean
* Sustainability
* Reducing Operational Costs

Click here to register.