Online conference session information

One Size Doesn’t Fit All Customers -- Using Value Stream Management to Deliver Market-Based Strategy
Session sponsored by TBM Consulting Group
11am EDT

A customer-centric, value stream management approach is the best way to connect execution with strategy. When we think in value streams we get closer to our customers and better understand their needs. By aligning the supply chain strategy to specific value streams, we create satisfied customers and eliminate waste at the same time. Join Ken Koenemann, TBM Managing Director and value chain expert, to learn how organizations are embracing value stream management to outperform competitors and optimize internal performance. He will highlight best practices, appropriate metrics, and success stories to help you think about what operating structure is needed to make it a success.

Presenters:

Ken Koenemann, Managing Director, Lean Value Chain Practice, TBM Consulting Group
Koenemann helps clients leverage lean into the extended enterprise -- applying lean principles to their sourcing, manufacturing, warehousing, distribution, planning and scheduling processes. He was trained by two original members of Taiichi Ohno's Autonomous Study Group and spent six months in Japan learning and implementing the Toyota Production System.

Market-Driven S&OP Planning at Dow Chemical: Delivering On The Elusive Promise to “Get the Number Right”
Session sponsored by SAS
12pm EDT

Over the past 20 years, many companies have been striving to acquire supply chain excellence. As they execute the age old tradition of looking back on the prior year and planning for the next, invariably most companies target forecast improvement as a future opportunity that needs attention. “Getting the number right” offers the promise of better service at lower costs and increased revenue. Companies that achieve supply chain excellence have become market-driven, enabling them to sense demand signals, shape demand and respond to market changes with lightning speed.

This online conference session will take you through Dow's supply chain excellence journey with a focus on how the company is transforming from a demand-driven supply chain to a market-driven supply chain. You'll hear how Dow is integrating operational and customer excellence through the implementation of an optimized sales & operations planning (S&OP) process.

Presenters:

Timothy D. Rey, Director of Advanced Analytics, The Dow Chemical Company
Rey graduated in 1979 with an MS in Forestry Biometrics from Michigan State University. He joined Dow in the summer of 1979 as a Research Statistician, and has held numerous positions in the company since then. In 2005 Rey became the manager of Dow’s Data Mining and Modeling group situated in Dow’s Six Sigma Expertise Center and is now the Director for Advanced Analytics in Dow’s Business Services organization. He has written over 100 internal papers as well as published 15 papers externally. Rey has delivered numerous keynote presentations and technical talks at various quantitative methods forums. Recently he has co-chaired both forecasting and data mining conferences.
Charles Chase, Manufacturing & Supply Chain Global Practice, SAS
Charles Chase is the principal solutions architect and thought leader for delivering demand planning & forecasting solutions to improve SAS customers supply chain efficiencies. Chase has more than 26 years of experience in the consumer packaged goods industry, and is an expert in sales forecasting, market response modeling, econometrics and supply chain management. Prior to working as Business Enablement Manager, Chase led the strategic marketing activities in support of the launch of SAS Forecast Server. He has also been involved in the re-engineering, design, and implementation of three forecasting/marketing intelligence process/systems. His employment history includes the MENNEN Company, Johnson & Johnson, Consumer Products Inc., Reckitt & Colman, Inc., the Polaroid Corporation, Coca Cola, Wyeth-Ayerst Pharmaceuticals, and Heineken USA.

How to Build a High Performance Workplace
Session sponsored by Exact Software
1pm EDT

"Organizations that successfully define and implement a "high-performance workplace" strategy will lay the foundation for maximizing their long-term competitiveness and productivity..."
-- Tom Austin, VP, Gartner Fellow, Gartner Inc.

Many midsized domestic and global companies are looking to streamline operations, reduce business and IT costs and grow customer lifetime value. To achieve these goals they must transform themselves to create a new type of workplace that has transparency and visibility, improved customer intimacy, and greater employee productivity. Higher business performance is the result.

In this session we will examine the challenges and define the critical steps needed to implement a high performance workplace, using business process management with either an Exact ERP back office, or any ERP solution you use today.

Presenter:

Marc Krueger, Senior Consultant, Exact Americas
Marc Krueger has over 12 years of experience with Exact. Prior to joining Exact, Marc was the VP of information systems for Neutral Posture where he had responsibility for the IT infrastructure, inventory control, and production planning. Prior to working with Neutral Posture, Marc was a consultant with Accenture where he managed the internal technical support center focusing on process development and consolidation of multiple support departments into a centralized support model. He received his A.A.S. in Computer Technology from Central Texas College.

Inventory and Transportation Optimization: Keys to an Adaptive Supply Chain Network
Session sponsored by Sterling Commerce
2pm EDT

Inventory positioning and transportation management are two of the most important levers for determining how well you can respond to customer demand and the inevitable volatility in today's supply chains. They are often more important than forecast accuracy and certainly more in your control.

In this session we will discuss leading practices and corresponding case examples of how companies are using "smart" technologies to determine and continuously re-evaluate proper safety stock levels at different tiers in the supply chain. We will discuss how companies are using as -a-service-based transportation management solutions that not only optimize modes, costs and service levels, but also take advantage of pre-existing networks of LSPs and carriers in the "cloud." Taken together, these technologies and practices offer a reliable, yet flexible framework for maximizing customer responsiveness while containing costs and optimizing cash flow.

Presenter:

Richard Douglass, WW Industry Executive, Manufacturing & Logistics, B2B & Commerce, Sterling Commerce

From C-Suite to Shop Floor: Developing Lean Leaders at Every Level
3pm EDT

At manufacturing companies employing lean principles, success hinges on a commitment to lean by every member of the organization, from senior executives to shop-floor associates. The challenge for manufacturers is to gain and nurture this commitment and create methods to educate and motivate the workforce around lean. Shop-floor associates at Swagelok Co., for example, receive an ongoing education across the spectrum of lean tools -- such as CEDAC (Cause-Effect Diagram with the Addition of Cards), quick changeover, value-stream mapping, total productive maintenance, fool proofing, and product quality planning -- and are a key to the company's culture of lean participation. Each year, these workers contribute to hundreds of foundational lean events built around specific goals such as improved scrap rate or throughput. Workers also submit thousands of ideas for improvement each year.

This conference session will examine methods for developing lean skills and motivation across a company's workforce, drawing on practices that Swagelok uses to build its lean culture. You will also learn strategies for harnessing the results of lean training, which can be transformational to a company's bottom line.

By attending this session, you will learn strategies for:

Developing lean skills across their company's workforce
Building a workforce motivated to participate in and advance the lean culture
Aligning the lean efforts of company associates with corporate goals
Harnessing the results of lean skills development for the greatest effect on their company's bottom line

Presenter:

Michael F. Neff, Vice President of Operations, Swagelok Co.
Michael F. Neff joined Swagelok as vice president, operations, in January 2005 and is responsible for global manufacturing operations. This includes the general industrial manufacturing activities for the organization's valve and fitting service groups, as well as for the high purity group servicing the semiconductor and biopharmaceutical markets. Responsibilities also include global sourcing and the manufacturing support activities supporting the global operations. Prior to joining Swagelok, Neff gained experience in a number of operating positions where he established continuous improvement programs, new product introduction processes and engineering standards programs. Most recently, he was a group vice president, global operations, for Newell Rubbermaid. He also spent 16 years at Timken Co. Neff earned a bachelor of science in industrial management and a master of business administration, both from the University of Akron.