With These People in Charge I Feel Better

I spent the last three days with the most interesting people. At the IW Best Plants conference, held in Atlanta this week, I met people who had succeeded during the tough times. They were innovative, hard-working and smart.

They give me great hope.

Leaving their factories and offices they were willing to trade in valuable time to improve their skills at this conference. How can we provide better programs for our employees they asked each other? What best practices do you have for improving your processes, environmental compliance, educating your workforce?

And during the plant tours, which included WIKA Corp. Siemens, HON, Millken, Caterpillar Griffin Engine, Philips Respironics, Interface and Carrier, plant managers and continuous improvement leaders were very forthcoming about how they improved their processes, became more efficient and opened new markets.

It was however their enthusiasm that most impressed me. They are proud of their accomplishment and confident that whatever will be thrown at them, them will succeed.

Manufacturing's future is safe in their capable hands.

Here are some of the keynote speeches from IW Best Plant Conference:
Manufacturers Need to Speak Up

Staying True to the Toyota Way During the Recession

Taking the Gemba Walk