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2027 Agenda

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April 19th

1:00 pm - 1:50 pm

Badge Pick Up

1:50 pm - 2:00 pm

Welcome Day Chair Opening Remarks

Executive to be Announced

SAP

2:00 pm - 2:45 pm WELCOME DAY SPECIAL CONTENT

PANEL: Getting Plant Builds and Expansions Right: Best Practices for Speed, Technology and Execution

Ravi Mydur

VP Manufacturing Businesses

SLB

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • Balancing speed-to-production with long-term operational performance, ensuring aggressive timelines don’t create costly compromises in safety, quality, or scalability
  • Making the right technology, automation, and digital infrastructure decisions early, while designing facilities that can evolve as technologies and production requirements change
  • Bringing operations, engineering, supply chain, IT, and frontline expertise into the planning process to avoid common design and execution gaps
  • Sharing lessons from successful plant builds and expansions around capital discipline, commissioning, workforce readiness, ramp-up, and achieving stable production faster
2:45 pm - 3:20 pm WELCOME DAY SPECIAL CONTENT

Building the Digital Core for Next Generation Manufacturing

Executive to be Announced

Avanade

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • How manufacturers are establishing a unified digital foundation that connects plant systems, enterprise platforms, and supply chain data into a single operational view
  • How modern cloud and data architectures are enabling scalable, flexible, and faster deployment of manufacturing applications across global sites
  • How integrating IT and OT systems is improving real-time visibility into production performance, quality, and equipment health
  • How a strong digital core enables advanced capabilities such as AI-driven decision-making, predictive maintenance, and automated planning
  • How organizations are reducing complexity by standardizing platforms and data models across legacy and modern manufacturing environments
3:25 pm - 4:10 pm Panels
Stream One

PANEL: Where AI is Delivering Real Impact in Manufacturing and Operations

Laura Bustamante

Director, Polymers Manufacturing

Eastman Chemical Company

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • Sharing real production-floor examples where AI has improved throughput, reduced downtime, and stabilized operations under variability
  • Highlighting predictive maintenance use cases that have meaningfully reduced unplanned equipment failures and improved asset utilization
  • Exploring AI-enabled optimization of scheduling, capacity planning, and workforce allocation in real-time operations
  • Identifying how AI is improving end-to-end operational visibility and enabling faster, more coordinated decision-making across sites
  • Discussing what it actually takes to move AI from pilots to scaled deployment across multi-site manufacturing and operational networks
Stream Two

PANEL: Fixing the Root Causes of Shop Floor Costs

Stefaan Boterberg

President Product Supply

Duracell

Varsha Jayade

Director Operational Excellence

Elanco Animal Health

Sneha Arora

Global Quality Assurance Director

Nouryon

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • How shop floor costs are driven by system instability, including downtime, bottlenecks, and unpredictable flow rather than isolated inefficiencies
  • Why reducing costs requires addressing flow design issues first, ensuring balanced capacity, smooth material movement, and elimination of operational constraints
  • How quality-related costs can be reduced by shifting from inspection and rework to process control and defect prevention at the source
  • The importance of improving execution discipline through standard work, consistent processes, and reduced variation across shifts and sites
  • How closing the gap between planning and real-time execution visibility prevents firefighting, inefficiency, and repeated operational losses
Stream Three

PANEL: Linking Manufacturing Performance with Workforce Development and Retention

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • How manufacturing excellence programs are being used as structured systems to build shopfloor capability and strengthen day-to-day operational performance
  • How on-the-job skill development, such as problem-solving, equipment understanding, and process ownership, improves employee effectiveness and confidence
  • How continuous learning is embedded directly into manufacturing operations, enabling workers to develop while actively contributing on the line
  • How shopfloor teams are empowered to identify issues, solve problems, and drive improvements rather than simply execute tasks
  • How linking capability building with clear career progression pathways enhances engagement, retention, and long-term workforce stability
4:15 pm - 4:50 pm WELCOME DAY SPECIAL CONTENT

Cost Pressure vs. Innovation: Operating in a Margin-Constrained Environment

Hailey Fernandez

Chief Administrative Officer

Effex Management Solutions

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • The shift from cyclical inflation to sustained structural margin pressure reshaping manufacturing strategy
  • Moving from cost reduction to cost transformation across product design, engineering, and operations
  • Establishing clear executive frameworks to decide when to redesign, absorb, or pass through cost pressure
  • Strengthening collaboration between operations, supply chain, and finance leadership to ensure aligned margin ownership and decision-making
  • Assessing today’s capability and performance gaps across cost, efficiency, and agility to identify where value leakage and structural weaknesses exist
  • Building resilient, flexible manufacturing networks that balance efficiency with risk, volatility, and disruption
  • Protecting innovation while driving efficiency through aligned governance, incentives, and cross-functional accountability
4:50 pm - 5:25 pm WELCOME DAY SPECIAL CONTENT

Beyond the Assembly Line: Reinventing Manufacturing for the Next Industrial Era

Bryce Currie

Chief Manufacturing Officer

Ford Motor Company

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • Challenging century-old production models to create simpler, faster and more flexible manufacturing systems
  • Integrating automation, digital infrastructure and real-time intelligence to improve quality, cost and operational performance
  • Designing manufacturing around the workforce to strengthen safety, ergonomics, productivity and employee engagement
  • Translating innovation from individual plants into repeatable capabilities that can transform a global manufacturing network
5:30 pm

Drinks Reception

6:00 pm

Executive dinner

6:15 pm

Executive dinner

April 20th

Stream 1 Co-Chair

Stephanie O’Brien

Chief Supply Chain Officer

Nestle

Stream 2 Chair

Executive to be Announced

Tau9 Labs

Stream 3 Chair

Executive to be Announced

MaintainX

Stream 4 Chair
7:30 am - 8:15 am

registration & breakfast

8:15 am - 8:30 am

Opening Remarks, Important Announcements & Chair’s Welcome Address

Stephanie O’Brien

Chief Supply Chain Officer

Nestle

8:35 am - 9:10 am KEYNOTE

Scaling Toyota Production Systems with AI

Kevin Austin

Group VP, Supply Chain Management & Deputy Chief Quality Officer

Toyota

Session Details Arrow Icon
9:10 am - 9:45 am Case Studies
Stream One – Strategy & Transformation

Transforming the Factory: How Bosch Is Combining AI, Automation and People to Build the Manufacturing Organization of the Future

Markus Hildenbrand

Senior Vice President & Technical Plant Manager

Bosch US

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • Building the digital foundation for the factory of the future: How Bosch is connecting data, digitalization and AI capabilities to create the foundation needed to scale automation and intelligent manufacturing
  • Leading a factory through constant change and complexity: How leaders are creating greater clarity and faster decision-making on the shop floor while navigating labor shortages, supply-chain volatility, product complexity and changing customer demands
  • Putting AI and automation into practice: A look inside Bosch’s manufacturing environment and how the organization is applying agentic AI, robotics, automated processes and digital technologies across the value chain
  • Evolving the role of the operator: How Bosch is moving from manual operations toward Human-AI collaboration, with employees increasingly taking on roles such as validating AI decisions, maintaining systems and orchestrating automated processes
  • Transforming the organization alongside the technology: How Bosch is developing skills, leadership capabilities, decision-making and accountability across the plant so that people are equipped to work differently as technology evolves
  • From transformation to measurable performance: Lessons from Bosch’s plant transformation, including how greater responsibility at different levels of the organization has contributed to improvements in utilization, delivery, output and quality
Stream Two – Operational Excellence & CI

Transformation for the Long run: Leading People Through Change and Sustaining Results

Robin Higgs

Senior Vice President, Engineering, Enterprise Supply Chain

3M

Session Details Arrow Icon
Stream Three – Digital Transformation & AI

Manufacturing Agility: Turning Real-Time Insight into Faster Decisions and Flexible Operations

Justin Camire

GM, Cloud Supply Chain Global Operations

Microsoft

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • Using real-time operational and supply chain data to anticipate demand shifts, identify constraints, and respond before they disrupt production
  • Applying AI and advanced analytics to improve forecasting, scenario planning, and decision-making across complex manufacturing networks
  • Building flexible production systems and processes that allow manufacturers to adjust capacity, schedules, sourcing, and product mix as conditions change
  • Connecting data, technology, and frontline decision-making to move from reactive problem-solving to faster, more resilient operations
Stream Four – Plant Operation & Performance

Driving Consistent Production Performance Across Peaks, Shifts, and Disruptions

Shane Yount

CEO & President

Competitive Solutions, Inc.

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • Building a realistic capacity view by validating actual run rates, downtime patterns, and constraint points on the floor, not relying on theoretical planning numbers
  • Using structured daily reviews and operator input to surface and attack micro-disruptions, rather than waiting for weekly reports or lagging metrics
  • Standardizing shift handovers with clear ownership of what must be carried forward critical issues, equipment status, and production risks, so nothing resets between shifts
  • Actively managing labor allocation on the floor during execution, shifting people in real time based on bottlenecks, skill gaps, and production priorities
  • Running tight daily performance routines that focus leaders on deviations early in the shift, enabling immediate correction before instability spreads
9:50 am - 10:25 am Workshops
STREAM 1 WORKSHOP

From Data to Insight How Analytics Can Drive Better Manufacturing Decisions

Executive to be Announced

Performance Solutions by Milliken

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • Why most manufacturing analytics efforts fail to deliver impact because they stop at reporting rather than driving daily operational decisions
  • How to focus analytics on the critical few KPIs that directly influence safety, quality, delivery, and cost performance
  • The importance of integrating data from multiple systems into a single, reliable view that supports cross-functional decision-making
  • Why adoption matters as much as capability ensuring supervisors and plant leaders actually use analytics in daily routines
  • How leading manufacturers embed analytics into daily management systems so insights translate into immediate action on the shop floor
STREAM 2 WORKSHOP

Turning Integrated Plant Data into Operational Intelligence for Real Time Decisions

Executive to be Announced

Oden Technologies

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • Integrating data across operations, maintenance, quality, and supply chain so decisions are based on a single, trusted view of plant performance
  • Moving from reporting data to using data in real time on the shop floor to trigger immediate action and remove delays in decision-making
  • Filtering out noise by focusing only on the few critical signals that directly impact safety, quality, uptime, and delivery performance
  • Embedding data into daily management routines so leaders and supervisors use it to run the plant, not just review it after the fact
  • Ensuring data accuracy and system discipline so digital tools become a source of operational control rather than confusion or duplication
STREAM 3 WORKSHOP

Making Digital Tools Work on the Shop Floor and Turning Them into Part of How We Run the Plant

Executive to be Announced

MaintainX

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • Helping the team understand the purpose of these tools is to improve safety, stability, and day-to-day execution, not to add reporting burden
  • Building tools around how work actually happens on the floor so operators and supervisors can use them in real time without slowing production down
  • Focusing on data accuracy and trust so people rely on the system for decisions instead of bypassing it with spreadsheets, notes, or verbal updates
  • Creating simple feedback loops where frontline teams can flag issues with the tools and directly influence how they are improved and simplified
  • Using daily management and leader presence to reinforce adoption so digital tools become the standard way we run the plant, not an extra system we have to “comply with”
STREAM 4 WORKSHOP

Building Low Carbon Manufacturing Systems Without Compromising Productivity or Cost

Executive to be Announced

Redzone

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • How manufacturers are redesigning production systems to reduce carbon emissions while maintaining throughput, efficiency, and cost competitiveness
  • How energy optimization, process redesign, and equipment upgrades are being integrated into daily operations without disrupting productivity
  • How data and real-time monitoring are enabling plants to identify and eliminate energy waste across machines, lines, and utilities
  • How suppliers and manufacturing networks are being engaged to reduce embedded carbon across the full value chain, not just the factory floor
  • How leading organizations are balancing sustainability targets with operational KPIs such as yield, OEE, and cost per unit
10:25 am - 12:10 pm Pre-Arranged One-To-One Meetings Arrow Icon

These mutually agreed-upon conversations are arranged and facilitated by Executive Platforms staff to ensure attendees have valuable discussions about their top-of-mind questions, challenges, and opportunities.

  • 10:30 am – 10:50 am: Meeting Slot 1/Networking
  • 10:55 am – 11:15 am: Meeting Slot 2/Networking
  • 11:20 am – 11:40 am: Meeting Slot 3/Networking
  • 11:45 am – 12:05 pm: Meeting Slot 4/Networking
12:15 pm - 12:30 pm Case Studies
Stream One – Strategy & Transformation

The Workforce Challenge at the Core of Rebuilding Manufacturing Capability

Stuart Countess

President & CEO

Kia Georgia

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • How leading manufacturers are responding to talent shortages by redesigning frontline roles, improving job experience, and making manufacturing careers more attractive and sustainable
  • The practical steps plants are taking to close the capability gap, especially in supervisory and technical roles, through structured development and internal talent pipelines
  • Why stronger retention is being achieved by improving leadership quality, daily work environment, and shift-level consistency rather than relying on compensation alone
  • How organizations are stabilizing frontline teams by investing in onboarding, training systems, and clearer career progression pathways within operations
  • What effective talent strategies look like in practice, including reducing turnover through better workforce planning, engagement, and stronger plant-level leadership accountability
Stream Two – Operational Excellence & CI

When “Good Enough” Becomes Expensive Quality Drift

Kevin McCoy

VP Made in US/UK

New Balance

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • Recognizing that small defects and minor deviations are often accepted in real time, but compound into major scrap, rework, downtime, and customer issues over time
  • Linking micro-defects directly to operational losses by tracking how they impact yield, throughput, and hidden factory costs across shifts and lines
  • Identifying where “good enough” becomes the norm on the shop floor and actively resetting expectations before variation becomes embedded in the system
  • Strengthening in-process quality control so defects are detected and corrected at the point of origin, not downstream after value has already been added
  • Driving accountability for quality at the source by ensuring operators, supervisors, and leaders own defect prevention, not just inspection after the fact
Stream Three – Digital Transformation & AI

The Smart Factory Gap: Why Digital Capability Isn’t Becoming Operational Performance

Mike Bassani

 Sr VP Supply Chain and Technology

Starbucks

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • Why smart factory initiatives often deliver strong proof-of-concept results but struggle to achieve consistent impact at scale in real operations
  • The gap between technology capability and day-to-day usability for operators, supervisors, and maintenance teams on the shop floor
  • How complexity, system fragmentation, and integration challenges reduce the practical value of advanced manufacturing technologies
  • Why adoption and trust from frontline teams often lag behind deployment, limiting the full potential of smart factory investments
  • What it takes to move from isolated digital success stories to a fully embedded operational system that supports real-time decision-making
Stream Four – Plant Operation & Performance

Managing a Turnaround Plant and Driving Back to Sustainable Performance

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • Stabilizing daily operations by attacking the top drivers of missed output, quality issues, and downtime first
  • Identifying and eliminating true systemic causes, not symptoms by getting on the floor early to understand deep-rooted performance problems
  • Restoring basic discipline in scheduling, maintenance, and production handoffs to stop constant firefighting
  • Fixing the handful of recurring “system failures” that are driving most of the chronic underperformance
  • Establishing visible, consistent leadership presence to reset expectations, reinforce accountability, and rebuild trust across the organization
  • Rebuilding credibility by delivering a few visible wins quickly while setting clearer expectations and accountability
12:50 pm - 1:50 pm THEMED LUNCH DISCUSSIONS

Explore this year’s themed lunch discussions led by industry leaders, where executives engage in focused conversations over a meal, discussing topics they’re passionate about alongside their peers.

Problem Statement: Sustainable Cooling Design is Often Cost-Prohibitive or an Afterthought

Bill Williams

Global Director Battery Manufacturing

Baltimore AirCoil

Turning Plant Metrics Into Meaningful Leadership Decisions

Jesse Pikturna

Director  of Manufacturing Innovation

Cargill, Inc

Back to Basics: What Six Sigma Still Teaches Us About Quality

Saba Shibberu

Chief Quality Officer / VP Global Quality

G&W Electric

Automation, Data, People: What It Takes to Make the Intelligent Factory Work

Andy Mears

Sr. Manager - Intelligent Factory Integration

Lockheed Martin

Using AI to Predict Quality Drift Before It Appears in Output

Executive to be Announced

OpenText

Transforming Shopfloor Roles to Attract and Retain Skilled Manufacturing Talent

Executive to be Announced

Smartsheet Inc

Capital Allocation in Manufacturing Transformation: Where to Invest for Maximum Impact

Executive to be Announced

UKG

From Data Rich to Insight Poor — Why Manufacturers Collect Mountains of Data but Struggle to Act on it

Detecting Quality Deviations Early Within the Production Process

Why Operational Excellence Starts With Mastering the Fundamentals Every Day

1:55 pm - 2:30 pm Case Studies
Stream One – Strategy & Transformation

Unified Operating Model: Integrating Technology, Operations, and Purchasing Across a Multi-Energy Future

Mounir Boucenine

Senior Vice President Powertrain Production

Volvo Group

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • Aligning technology, operations, and purchasing to support multiple energy pathways
  • Building integrated value streams across a complex global manufacturing organization
  • Maintaining performance and manufacturing excellence during large-scale transformation
  • Managing the coexistence of ICE, electrification, and hydrogen within one operating model
  • Lessons learned from leading enterprise-wide change across a 12,000-person organization
Stream Two – Operational Excellence & CI

Making Predictive Maintenance Work Beyond the Technology Promise

Paul Simard

Vice-President of Operations

Bombardier

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • Shifting from fixing breakdowns to building failure prevention by focusing on the most critical assets that drive production loss and downtime
  • Ensuring data reliability first by validating sensor accuracy, maintenance records, and operator inputs before relying on predictive insights
  • Integrating maintenance, operations, and reliability teams so asset condition is understood and acted on in real time, not in silos
  • Moving from alerts to action by defining clear response routines so predictive signals lead to timely maintenance execution on the floor
  • Building discipline in preventive execution so basic maintenance standards are consistently followed before layering advanced predictive tools on top
Stream Three – Digital Transformation & AI

Smarter, Faster, Connected: IBM’s AI-Powered Supply Chain in Action

Eric Jones

Vice President, Supply Chain Global Manufacturing & Execution

IBM

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • From Transformation to Continuous Evolution: Understanding how IBM’s supply chain transformation has evolved, what the organization has learned along the way, and how it continues to adapt its strategy, processes and technology at pace
  • Adoption at Scale: Hear how IBM is driving enterprise-wide change, from top-down strategy to bottom-up innovation through employee-led AI challenges.
  • From +AI to AI+: Discover the shift from adding AI to becoming AI-first, How IBM is embedding intelligence into workflows for faster, smarter decisions.
  • Measurable Impacts: Understand the benefits of AI through IBM’s real-world use cases delivering cost reduction and cycle time improvements.
  • Trust & Governance Built In: Understand how IBM is scaling AI responsibly with platform-agnostic governance, risk management, and compliance frameworks
  • The Journey & People Behind the Transformation: Sharing where IBM started and how leaders are bringing teams along through continuous change by building new skills, driving adoption and managing change
Stream Four – Plant Operation & Performance

Leading the Plant Through a Safety Incident and Into Recovery

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • Working closely with cross-functional teams such as EHS, quality, engineering, and operations to ensure a coordinated response and aligned decision-making
  • Taking immediate control during the incident to ensure people are safe, the situation is contained, and decisions are made calmly under pressure
  • Leading with visible presence and steady communication on the floor to reduce confusion, maintain trust, and keep the organization aligned in real time
  • Demonstrating leadership under pressure by staying composed, prioritizing facts over reaction, and setting the tone for how the organization responds
  • Transitioning from response to structured recovery by stabilizing operations, conducting disciplined fact finding, and avoiding premature conclusions
  • Turning the event into long-term improvement by strengthening standards, correcting system gaps, and reinforcing leadership behaviors that prevent recurrence
2:35 pm - 3:10 pm Workshops
STREAM 1 WORKSHOP

The Hidden Drivers of Manufacturing Underperformance

Executive to be Announced

SAP

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • Reframing underperformance from a “site execution problem” to a system design outcome shaped by how processes, flows, and governance are structured
  • Identifying how fragmented decision-making across functions and tiers creates hidden friction that accumulates into chronic performance loss
  • Moving beyond lagging KPIs to recognize early operational signals that reveal stress points in flow, capacity, and variability
  • Understanding how local optimization unintentionally drives global underperformance by improving siloed metrics at the expense of end-to-end efficiency
  • Building the capability to convert operational data into structural insight, enabling continuous redesign of how work is planned, governed, and executed
STREAM 2 WORKSHOP

Closing the Loop Between Sensing, Decision, and Action in Manufacturing

Executive to be Announced

Tau9 Labs

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • Gaining real-time visibility from shopfloor sensing into production conditions, equipment status, and process performance
  • Translating live operational signals into meaningful, prioritized actions that are usable at the point of decision
  • Directly linking insights from analytics systems to execution systems on the shopfloor for immediate response to issues
  • Closing the gap between detection and action so decisions are reflected in production flow without delay
  • Creating a continuous flow from data capture to operational response, enabling more synchronized and responsive manufacturing systems
STREAM 3 WORKSHOP

Industrial Cyber Risk: Protecting OT, Securing the Smart Factory, and Production Continuity

Executive to be Announced

Oracle

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • How manufacturing and operations teams are managing OT cyber risk while maintaining daily production targets and uptime commitments
  • How plants are embedding cybersecurity into operational routines without disrupting maintenance, changeovers, or production flow
  • How frontline teams are dealing with increased connectivity across PLCs, SCADA, and IIoT systems in real production environments
  • How organizations are balancing central cybersecurity policies with site-level operational realities and constraints
  • How leading manufacturers are integrating OT security into reliability, maintenance, and continuous improvement systems to keep production stable and secure
STREAM 4 WORKSHOP

Implementing Modular Manufacturing: From Concept to Deployment

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • Designing flexible, scalable modules that can be quickly deployed, reconfigured, or expanded to meet changing demand
  • Standardizing processes, equipment, and interfaces to simplify integration across multiple plant areas
  • Leveraging data and digital tools to monitor module performance, optimize throughput, and ensure quality
  • Planning phased deployment with cross-functional alignment to minimize disruption and ensure smooth adoption
  • Incorporating sustainability and efficiency considerations in module design to reduce energy, water, and waste footprint
3:10 pm - 4:30 pm Pre-Arranged One-To-One Meetings Arrow Icon

These mutually agreed-upon conversations are arranged and facilitated by Executive Platforms staff to ensure attendees have valuable discussions about their top-of-mind questions, challenges, and opportunities.

  • 3:15 pm – 3:35 pm: Meeting Slot 5/Networking
  • 3:40 pm – 4:00 pm: Meeting Slot 6/Networking
  • 4:05 pm – 4:25 pm: Meeting Slot 7/Networking
4:35 pm - 5:10 pm KEYNOTE

Right-Shoring: Optimizing Global Manufacturing Networks for Cost, Resilience, and Speed

John Sampson

Senior Vice President, Operations, Manufacturing & Engineering

Dow

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • How right-shoring decisions are driven by a multi-factor evaluation model, balancing cost, resilience, speed, and operational complexity rather than unit cost alone
  • Why leading manufacturers use scenario-based planning and network modelling to test how different footprint choices perform under disruption and demand shifts
  • How decisions account for end-to-end system impacts, including lead times, inventory positioning, supply risk, and production flow across sites
  • Why successful execution depends on cross-functional alignment between operations, supply chain, finance, engineering, and risk functions
  • How organizations establish governance structures (e.g., network strategy councils) to ensure consistent, enterprise-level manufacturing footprint decisions
5:15 pm - 5:50 pm PANEL

Panel: Beyond the Four Walls: Driving Operational Excellence Across the Extended Manufacturing Network

Sylvia Wilks

Chief Supply Chain Officer

Lamb Weston

Sarah McMullin

SVP, Product Operations, Target Owned Brands

Target

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • Addressing the growing complexity of global manufacturing networks and the challenge of maintaining consistent performance across plants, suppliers, and partners.
  • Breaking down silos between manufacturing, quality, and supply chain teams to improve visibility, alignment, and faster decision-making.
  • Managing increasing pressure to improve productivity while balancing cost constraints, quality expectations, supply disruptions, and changing customer demands.
  • Strengthening supplier and partner collaboration to improve quality, reliability, and responsiveness across the manufacturing ecosystem.
  • Identifying where gaps in processes, data, and communication are creating operational inefficiencies and business risk.
  • Leveraging digital tools and data-driven insights to improve operational visibility, predict issues earlier, and drive continuous improvement.
  • Building more resilient manufacturing networks that can adapt quickly while maintaining high standards for quality, efficiency, and performance.
5:50 pm - 6:00 pm

Chair’s Closing Remarks

Stephanie O’Brien

Chief Supply Chain Officer

Nestle

6:15 pm

Drinks Reception

6:45 pm

Executive dinner

April 21st

Stream 1 Co-Chair

Sean Trainor

SVP, Personal Systems Operations

HP Inc.

Stream 2 Chair

Executive to be Announced

Tau9 Labs

Stream 3 Chair

Executive to be Announced

MaintainX

Stream 4 Chair
8:00 am - 8:45 am

registration & breakfast

8:10 am - 8:45 am breakfast workshops
Stream Two

Predictive Maintenance Limits: Why Downtime Still Catches Industry Off Guard

Executive to be Announced

Fuuz

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • Prediction doesn’t prevent failure: close the gap by embedding alerts directly into maintenance scheduling and production workflows
  • Fragmented data weakens insights: solve by integrating CMMS, MES, SCADA, and ERP into a single operational data layer
  • Model accuracy decays in real conditions: fix through continuous retraining using live plant and failure feedback data
  • Insights don’t turn into action: resolve by defining clear ownership and automating work orders and response pathways
  • Low frontline trust reduces adoption: improve by adding technician feedback loops and transparent model explainability
Stream Three

Process Mining in Manufacturing: Discovering Hidden Inefficiencies

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • Using event log data from MES, ERP, SCADA, and machine sensors to reconstruct the real production flow as digital process maps (not just assumed workflows)
  • Applying process mining algorithms to automatically detect bottlenecks, rework loops, downtime patterns, and deviations across lines, shifts, and plants
  • Leveraging AI-driven conformance checking to compare actual shop-floor execution against standard operating procedures and highlight drift in real time
  • Combining time-series machine data with transactional production data to identify root causes of losses in OEE, quality yield, and cycle time
  • Enabling continuous improvement teams with interactive process models that simulate changes (like routing, staffing, or sequencing) before deploying them on the floor
8:50 am - 9:00 am

Chair's Opening Remarks

Sean Trainor

SVP, Personal Systems Operations

HP Inc.

9:00 am - 9:35 am KEYNOTE

Zero Defect at Scale: Industrializing Quality for Safety, Precision, and Reliability in Complex Manufacturing Systems

Jeff Green

Chief Operating Officer

Airbus U.S. Space & Defense

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • How complex, multi-site manufacturing systems achieve zero-defect performance at scale without slowing production flow or industrial ramp-up
  • Why modern quality is no longer inspection-driven, but engineered into every stage of the production system—from design to final assembly
  • How leading operations manage variation, tolerance control, and process stability across highly distributed global manufacturing networks
  • The role of standardization, traceability, and real-time quality data in preventing defects before they propagate through the system
  • How safety, precision, and reliability are maintained under industrial pressure through tight integration between engineering, production, and supply chain execution
9:40 am - 10:15 am Case Studies
Stream One – Strategy & Transformation

Navigating the Plethora of Technologies and Tools and Making Strategic Investment Decisions at Scale

Philip Hampden-Smith

SVP Supply - North America E2E

Reckitt

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • Why manufacturing leaders are facing an overwhelming number of tools and technologies, turning selection into a high-stakes strategic investment decision
  • How to avoid fragmented investments by starting with clear operational strategy and defining what problems truly need to be solved
  • Why tool selection must be driven by product mix, plant constraints, and business priorities rather than technology availability or trends
  • The importance of evaluating scalability and enterprise fit early, given the high cost and complexity of deploying across multiple sites
  • How leading organizations align operations, engineering, and leadership to ensure consistent decision-making and avoid underutilized investments
Stream Two – Operational Excellence & CI

Making Manufacturing Technology Work Beyond Pilot Purgatory and Scaling Real Plant Impact

Bill Good

VP of Manufacturing & Supply Chain

GE Appliances, a Haier company

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • Why plants are now dealing with an overload of systems and tools, which often creates more complexity than clarity in daily operations
  • How underutilization of technology is less about capability and more about weak integration into people, process, and daily routines
  • The gap between what technology can deliver and what is actually realized on the shop floor due to limited adoption and trust
  • Why frontline buy-in breaks down when tools feel like extra work rather than something that makes their job easier and more reliable
  • What it takes to unlock full value through simplification, clearer purpose, and embedding technology into how work is actually done every day
Stream Three – Digital Transformation & AI

Using Simulation to De-Risk Production Changes

Victor Taylor

Division Vice President, U.S. Manufacturing, Supply Chain Management and Production Engineering

Nissan USA

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • Enhancing alignment between planning and execution by improving how ERP schedules reflect real shop floor constraints such as downtime, shortages, and changeovers rather than ideal assumptions.
  • Improving responsiveness of production planning through learning-based and real-time adjustments that keep schedules relevant in dynamic manufacturing environments.
  • Strengthening decision quality through better feedback loops by enhancing data flow from MES, IoT, and frontline inputs into ERP systems for more accurate planning inputs.
  • Enabling more connected and coordinated operations by improving integration across ERP, maintenance, quality, and production systems to reduce conflicting priorities.
  • Learning toward adaptive execution models that enhance flexibility in scheduling and improve the ability to adjust plans based on live capacity and operational constraints.
Stream Four – Plant Operation & Performance

From Plant Manager to Multi Site Leader Driving Consistent Results Across Mature and Developing Plants in Different Countries

Session Details Arrow Icon
  • Establishing a common operating system across all sites so expectations, routines, and performance standards are consistent regardless of maturity level or geography
  • Balancing autonomy and control by defining non-negotiable standards while allowing local flexibility in execution based on plant capability and constraints
  • Diagnosing each site differently by maturity stage, focusing stabilization in developing plants and optimization in mature plants
  • Recognizing that culture drives process execution more than documentation, and addressing inconsistent behaviors that lead to workarounds replacing standard work
  • Building leadership capability at each site so plant managers can independently run daily operations with strong discipline and accountability
  • Creating visibility across sites through shared metrics, structured reviews, and regular field engagement to ensure consistent performance management and learning transfer
10:15 am - 11:10 am Pre-Arranged One-To-One Meetings Arrow Icon

These mutually agreed-upon conversations are arranged and facilitated by Executive Platforms staff to ensure attendees have valuable discussions about their top-of-mind questions, challenges, and opportunities.

  • 10:20 am – 10:40am: Meeting Slot 8/Networking
  • 10:45am – 11:05am: Meeting Slot 9/Networking
10:35 am - 11:10 am FOCUS GROUP

Executive focus groups are informal moderated discussions among peers, held during networking breaks outside the summit agenda. No sign-up is required; delegates and speakers can join any group of interest.

TOPIC one

Building a Companywide Improvement System: The HEXPOL Production System (HPS) Journey from Tools to Culture

Ramakrishnan Sukumar

Director of Continuous Improvement

HEXPOL

TOPIC two

Driving Sustainable Cost Reduction Through Continuous Improvement

Parthiban Ravikumar

Manufacturing Engineer

Bray International Inc

TOPIC three

Building a Multi-Site Plant Safety Strategy to Reduce Shop-Floor Injuries

Adam Collison

Director NA Manufacturing Security Operations

Ford Motor Company

11:15 am - 11:50 am Workshops
STREAM 1 WORKSHOP

Empowering the Connected Worker to Drive Quality, Uptime, and Continuous Improvement

Executive to be Announced

Poka

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  • Learning how frontline empowerment improves ownership of quality, uptime, and continuous improvement outcomes
  • Improving consistency and reducing variation through better access to digital work instructions and standardized knowledge
  • Enhancing downtime response and equipment reliability through faster, operator-led problem solving
  • Embedding continuous improvement into daily routines through structured feedback, reporting, and action loops
  • Strengthening shopfloor execution by connecting people, knowledge, and workflows into a unified operational system
STREAM 2 WORKSHOP

Breaking Fragmentation Across Sites and Building One Consistent Operational Excellence System

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  • Different plants running different versions of OPEX creates inconsistent performance and confusion across the network
  • Lack of a common operating system makes it difficult to align priorities, metrics, and expectations enterprise-wide
  • Best practices exist but do not scale due to weak standardization and poor transfer mechanisms
  • Local optimization often improves individual site results but weakens overall network performance
  • Building alignment requires a clear governance model that balances local ownership with enterprise consistency
STREAM 3 WORKSHOP

Smart Maintenance, Smarter Quality: Smart application of AI

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  • Strengthening asset reliability and uptime through predictive maintenance and condition-based monitoring that identifies failures early
  • Transforming quality control with AI-powered inspection systems that improve defect detection speed, accuracy, and consistency
  • Connecting shop-floor, maintenance, and enterprise data to create a unified view of performance across equipment, process, and quality
  • Improving problem-solving through advanced analytics that uncover root causes behind recurring failures and quality variation
  • Driving continuous operational improvement using digital twins, edge analytics, and real-time decision support tools on the shop floor
STREAM 4 WORKSHOP

What Continuous Improvement Really Means today: Rethinking CI From Tools to System

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  • Recognizing CI as an operating system embedded in daily plant execution rather than standalone tools like Kaizen or Six Sigma events
  • Understanding that too much focus on improvement events and activities often fails to deliver sustained impact on key plant KPIs
  • Embedding real CI into daily management routines where problem solving is part of how work is run, not a separate activity
  • Shifting CI from project-based improvement to continuous ownership of losses by frontline teams and leaders
  • Measuring CI maturity by how consistently problems are identified, solved, and prevented from recurring rather than volume of activity
11:55 am - 12:30 pm KEYNOTE

Driving Transformation and Modernization Across a Manufacturing Network

Laura Maxwell

Senior Vice President, North America Manufacturing

PepsiCo

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  • Driving large-scale transformation across complex, high-volume manufacturing operations
  • Modernizing legacy processes through automation, AI, data, and digital technologies
  • Building connected, agile facilities that enable real-time visibility and faster decision-making
  • Developing the workforce and managing change to support digital transformation at scale
  • Turning modernization investments into measurable gains in productivity, quality, cost, and sustainability
12:35 pm - 1:10 pm KEYNOTE

Relevant Tomorrow: The Leadership Mandate Nobody Talks About- Nobody’s Waiting for You

L. Neil Thurgood

Senior Vice President

Anduril Industries

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Challenge the risk-averse instinct that tends to creep in at senior levels, and naturally sets up a talk about how speed, decisiveness, and course-correction beat waiting for perfect outcomes.  It works equally well for commercial and government audiences since both struggle with the tension between thoroughness and momentum.

1:10 pm - 1:15 pm

Chair's Closing Remarks Followed by Lunch

Sean Trainor

SVP, Personal Systems Operations

HP Inc.

1:15 pm

General Lunch