North American Manufacturing Excellence Summit

Peter Gibbons joined 3M in November 2021 as group president of Enterprise Supply Chain, which includes planning, procurement, internal and external manufacturing, logistics, quality, engineering, and business supply chain.

Prior to 3M, Peter served as chief executive officer of TireHub, a joint venture last mile distributor between Bridgestone and Goodyear. Possessing a wealth of experience in manufacturing and supply chain operations, Peter previously held senior-level executive positions at Mattel, Starbucks and ICI Paints. His growth mindset, inclusive leadership, and orientation toward developing talent and culture has helped him lead highly successful complex changes and significant transformation.

“I believe that building confidence and removing the fear of failure are key components of leadership,” says Peter. “People achieve great things when they are embraced and valued; when they are connected, not isolated; and when their intelligence and imagination are unleashed.”

Outside of work, Peter enjoys hiking, reading, and supporting the Glasgow Celtic soccer club and serves on the board of the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Physics from University of Edinburgh and a master’s degree in Business Administration from Strathclyde Business School in Glasgow, Scotland.

Sean Trainor is senior vice president of HP Inc.’s Personal Systems (PS) Operations, an organization spread across 12 countries and 29 sites. PS Operations is responsible for delivering a resilient, agile, innovative supply chain that supports the PS business portfolio, which exceeds $40B+ spanning PCs, displays, peripherals, services, software, and immersive computing.

Sean joined HP in 2023 and brings more than 30 years’ experience in manufacturing, engineering, supply chain management, and product development. Prior to joining HP, Sean served as chief supply chain officer for Cynosure. His responsibilities included the operation and transformation of the global supply chain network focusing on quality, scale, and efficiency.

Sean led world-class, high-tech, manufacturing, operational, supply chain, and procurement functions.

Previously, Sean was senior vice president of Manufacturing and Distribution for Visionworks, where his teams transformed the end-to-end supply chain driving break-through improvements in service, quality, cost, and customer value.

He was also senior vice president of Global Operations Engineering and Quality at Dell. He was responsible for new product introduction, supplier and factory quality, and operations engineering for all of Dell’s products across the global supply chain. Sean’s teams formed the linchpin between product research and development and supply chain operations to enable flawless product and solution delivery.

During his 18 years at Dell, Sean also served as an executive overseeing many transformative teams. On assignment in Singapore, he led Dell’s Global Supply Chain and Fulfillment organization that focused on the end-to-end supply chain and fulfillment transformation to provide the lowest cost and best value of products for customers.

Sean earned a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from GMI Engineering and Management Institute and a master’s degree in Business Administration from Louisiana State University. He serves as an advisor to the University of Houston C.T. Bauer College of Business.

Sean is married with two daughters and is based in Houston, Texas.

Vinod D’Souza leads the Manufacturing and Industry vertical for Google Cloud’s Office of the CISO. In this role, he partners with organizations to help them adopt Google Cloud and Workspace, supporting their overall security transformation. With over 20 years of experience in cybersecurity and technology, Vinod has a proven track record of working with organizations in a variety of industries, leading customer-focused security and transformation engagements. Vinod holds an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and a Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical and Electronics from Manipal Institute of Technology, Mangalore University, India.

Christina Upah is the vice president of Attack Helicopter Programs for Boeing Defense, Space & Security and the senior site executive in Mesa, Ariz. In this role, Upah leads more than 4,600 employees supporting the design, production and delivery of the AH-64 Apache and AH-6 Little Bird helicopters for the U.S. Army and allied defense forces around the globe.

First joining Boeing in 1997, Upah has held positions within production operations, fabrication, human resources, supplier transitions and program management. She is an Arizona native and serves on the board of directors for the Mesa Chamber of Commerce.

Manny Bansi is Vice President of Toyota Logistics Services (TLS).  He is responsible for finished vehicle logistics for North American operations that includes managing Marshalling Yards and Ports Operations.

Manny started his career at NUMMI (Joint Venture Between Toyota & General Motors) back in 1992.  He then went on to hold positions in various areas including Corporate Strategy, Production Planning, Human Resources, including two-year assignment at Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan.

Manny is also involved in many Business Partnering Groups (BPG) at Toyota Headquarters, such as Young Professionals, AAC, Spectrum, TODOS, TAASiA, and WIIT.  He currently serves as Executive Advisor for TAAiSA BPG and believes in the growth of all of his team members through Toyota principles.

Sylvia Wilks is an accomplished senior global supply chain operations executive and a passionate, engaged business leader with 30+ years of experience in diverse sectors: Food & Beverage, Retail, CPG, Automotive. She is known for developing and nurturing best-in-class culture for Fortune 200 companies, building operations processes, growing talent in start-ups, and has enabled significant growth in mature businesses while developing a diverse company culture.
Sylvia brings superior influencing and collaboration skills and thrives in fast growth businesses. She has expertise in large CapEx initiatives, operational transformation, OpEx management, and growing organization capability. She is a trusted advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion serving in executive sponsorship roles.
Sylvia joined REI as their first Chief Supply Chain Officer and set her vision and strategy for an integrated value chain overdelivering on cost reduction targets while simultaneously improving service. In 2023 she opened a 400k sq ft sustainable omni-channel fulfillment center.
Prior to REI Sylvia was a founding executive of the JV start-up TireHub. She built a customer-centric, wholesale distribution supply chain that weathered the Pandemic attaining EBITDA positive results on ~$2B revenue in 3 years.
As Kimberly-Clark’s Chief Procurement Officer Sylvia was responsible for $12B annual spend. She restructured to a global matrixed organization, installed strategic Category Management and Supplier Relationship Management delivering value ahead of budget and benchmarks.
A 16-year veteran of Starbucks, she served in global functional roles and had accountability for end-to-end supply chain. Her relentless drive for improvement enabled $60 million incremental revenue by increasing OEE and her customer service passion drove a 200% improvement in USA business OTIF. Sylvia built a state-of-the-art $172M process plant to insource coffee ingredients and built and led Starbucks’ first European plant enabling accelerated EMEA expansion. Experiences of working across cultures has shaped her view on how businesses and people can contribute to their communities and environment.
Prior to Starbucks, Sylvia held roles leading multiple plant sites for large UK and European food processing companies serving UK Grocery multiples. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering Design & Manufacture from Hull University, UK and has completed Kellogg School of Management executive programs in Finance, Supply Chain Management and Strategic Operations Planning, and UCLA’s Corporate Governance Program.

Thomas J. Carrubba (Tom) is the Vice President, Production Operations for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control (MFC). He is responsible for leading and executing the portfolio of production programs across fifteen manufacturing sites in the US, UK and Japan.

Prior to this role at MFC, Mr. Carrubba served as the Vice President of F-35 Production Operations at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. He was responsible for production of the F-35 Lightning II Program, which included all domestic and international production sites across the Aeronautics business area. During his decade-long support of the program, Mr. Carrubba provided leadership over the first 500 F-35’s ever manufactured.

Mr. Carrubba holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and a master’s degree in Manufacturing Systems Engineering from North Carolina State University. Additionally, he earned his MBA and a master’s in Engineering Management from the Florida Institute of Technology.

During his 25 years with Lockheed Martin, Mr. Carrubba has held various leadership positions in  production operations, program management and quality at the Aeronautics and Missiles and Fire Control business areas.

Heather Bishop is the Global Director for Manufacturing at John Deere Power Systems, where she oversees strategic manufacturing and quality for the division responsible for engines, drivetrain, remanufacturing and batteries across more than nine operations in five countries. With over 30 years of experience in manufacturing and supply chain, including 25 years at John Deere, Heather is a passionate leader with expertise in global multi-unit operations and supply chain organizations, focused on developing talent and teams.

Heather has a proven track record of driving transformation through the integration of lean manufacturing principles, innovative technology in a manufacturing environment, and a strong organizational culture that focuses on engaging people and unleashing their talent.

Heather’s dedication to excellence extends to her personal life, where she cherishes time with her husband, 17-year-old son, and 16-year-old daughter.   Heather also enjoys traveling and participating in adventures during her trips, listening to hundreds of books a year, planting and gardening, volunteering, and cooking.

Garrett has spent more than 11 years in P&G’s largest and most profitable region/sector combination, Fabric Care North America. He’s had the pleasure to work on all laundry forms at 4 different locations, across 4 different functions, at 4 different levels of the company. Garrett is energized by people and opportunities to step change business results.

John Sutton joined Thermo Fisher Scientific in 2021, bringing more than 25 years of operations, supply chain, logistics and warehousing experience to his role as Vice President, Operations, CCG. John leads global operations and focuses on enhancing the customer experience by developing and implementing strategies, systems and processes that strengthen supply chain, distribution, customer service and digital transformation.

Prior to joining Thermo Fisher, John worked for The Boeing Company, where he led global-enterprise transportation, warehousing and logistics. He previously worked for Lenovo and several other multi-national companies, where his deep experience in supply chain, business strategy and business development drove transformational change.

John is a United States Army veteran who earned the rank of Colonel, and is a graduate of The United States Military Academy at West Point. He earned a Master of Science degree in petroleum engineering from the Colorado School of Mines and an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Kenan-Flagler Business School. Currently, he is pursuing his Doctor of Philosophy, Business Administration, at the University of Denver.

John holds a black belt in Taekwondo, enjoys cooking, hiking, skiing and fly fishing with his wife and two sons.

David Murray is responsible for all activities related to aerostructures, assembly and finishing activities, in addition to leading the transformation of Bombardier through its operational excellence system and its roadmap in of IT.

David’s mandate is to accelerate ongoing initiatives and continue to strengthen Bombardier’s organizational and operational capabilities, as well as focus on next-generation digital technologies to further improve Bombardier’s core processes. He focuses on the production of Challenger and Global aircraft, as well as increasing the productivity and efficiency of Bombardier’s business processes and IT tools to maximize business performance. These key elements will enable Bombardier to achieve its priorities in accordance with the company’s strategic plan.

David has 30 years of experience in supply chain, operations, information technology and innovation. He worked at Bombardier for 10 years before joining Hydro-Québec in 2015, where he was named head of innovation and executive vice-president of production. During his years at Bombardier, David held various positions of increasing responsibility, including General Manager, Challenger Programs; Vice President, Global 5000 and Global 6000 Aircraft Finishing; and Vice President and General Manager, Learjet Aircraft. Before joining Bombardier, he honed his skills at companies like Flextronics, Nortel and Rolls-Royce.

David holds a Bachelor’s degree in business administration from HEC Montréal. He is based at Bombardier headquarters located in Montreal, Canada.