Need a good read on MES, Lean, Quality, or Six-Sigma?

Browse a selection recommended by the MESA community in MESA’s bookstore on Amazon: http://bit.ly/YWdoRp.

Featured Items:

• The Hitchhiker's Guide to Manufacturing Operations Management: ISA-95 Best Practices Book 1.0
  
  By Paresh Dalwalla, Em Delahostria, David Noller, Lorenzo Childress, Alan Boyd, Bianca Scholten, Matthew Schneider, Jean Vieille, Costantino Pipero
• MES Guide for Executives: Why and How to Select, Implement, and Maintain a Manufacturing Execution System
  
  By Bianca Scholten
• The Real-Time Enterprise : Competing on Time with the Revolutionary Business S-Ex Machine
  
  By Peter Fingar, Joe Bellini

Link here to browse through more selections and to purchase directly from MESA's bookstore.


Feel we are missing a good book for this space? Email your recommendations to books@mesa.org.

MESA International 2013 North American Conference April 22-24 in Greenville, SC

 
 

MESA International’s 2013 North American Conference is scheduled for April 22-24 in Greenville, SC.  With the theme Show the world what MESA knows, this event, which will be held in conjunction with the IndustryWeek Best Plants Conference, is a meeting of manufacturers, producers, industry leaders and solution providers and is intended to help companies understand and leverage modern information technologies to change the game for their operations and their business.

“Far too few companies can align today’s Information Technologies with their business strategies when it comes to their manufacturing and production operations,” said Michael Yost, president, MESA International.  “The MESA community knows how to do that and how to capitalize on the significant financial and operational gains that can follow.  We are excited for the opportunity to show the world what MESA knows.”

The conference kicks off on Monday, April 22 with the MESA International Business Forum, an open-to-the-public meeting that will include discussion about MESA accomplishments and future objectives, the IACET-accredited Global Education Program, and an International Board meeting.  This open forum is followed by the MESA unConference, 4 sessions moderated by experienced MESA professionals designed to help attendees address their most pressing challenges through peer discussion and idea sharing.

 

• Session 1: The Value of Manufacturing Technologies in Continuous Improvement
• Session 2: ROI & Justification for Manufacturing IT Solutions
• Session 3: Improving Manufacturing Performance So Executives Notice
• Session 4: Your Voice: What tools, technologies, education and capabilities you and your business need to thrive

 

The unConference sessions will also be open to the public; limited seating is available. In light of the conference theme, MESA encourages members and friends of MESA to show the world what MESA knows by sharing the conference website on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

MESA named titled sponsor of IWBP Conference
As the title sponsor of the IndustryWeek Best Plants Conference, MESA will moderate four Manufacturing Technologies Strategies sessions on Tuesday, April 23 and Wednesday, April 24, with speakers from Toyota, RJ Reynolds, Uponon, and Mondelēz (formerly Kraft Foods). 

MESA is also able to offer a discounted rate of $995 for all three days of the IWBP conference for MESA members and friends. Visit the MESA conference website at http://conference.MESA.org for more information.

Sponsorship opportunities now available
Sponsorship opportunities for the MESA North American Conference are now available, for those interested in reaching corporate decision makers, industry experts and manufacturing professionals. Visit the MESA NA Conference website at http://conference.MESA.org to learn more about the sponsorship opportunities available and to download a sponsorship package.

View the rest of the press release here.

Unconference Featured As Part of MESA Gathering

Things are coming together rapidly for the MESA International North American Conference to be held in Dearborn, MI June 21-23. A great keynote on Monday evening, June 21 will get everyone ready for two days of intense learning and sharing about using information technology for improving plant and factory operations.

On Tuesday, high level practitioners and thought leaders will share their ideas and experiences. But if you yearn for more than the usual sit and listen conference, we are providing for an unusual experience for Wednesday, June 23. With the new MESA Unconference, you can directly engage and learn about topics that you pick - and get answers to your most pressing challenges. I have gone from the guy throwing out ideas to accepting the challenge of Unconference Director for the event. I am enthused about bringing something new to manufacturing conferences--something that will raise the energy level and intensity of discussion.

At the Unconference, you can share and learn in an open, participatory environment. It is an intense multi-discussion, multi-room event with no script. Bring your ideas and desires to interact with peers - and test the brains and bounds of the MESA community. Anyone with something to contribute or with the desire to learn is invited and welcome!

In this "confer and conquer" environment, you can present ideas or questions and discuss operations topics with other practitioners and subject matter experts in the spirit of MESA's mission - to provide an environment for the sharing of best practices. Leading industry experts, including members of the MESA Technical Committee, will be on hand to help facilitate discussions.

What kinds of topics? Here's an example from a major battery manufacturer - how to deal with the challenges of operational excellence in an ultra high-volume production environment. Other ideas include ISA-95 implementations, cloud computing, virtual machines, Lean in process production environments, and much more.

Do you have an idea for a topic for discussion on Wednesday? Send me an email at gmintchell@automationworld.com.