SMART MANUFACTURING SUMMIT

AGENDA

All times Eastern

Monday, June 19

6:00 - 7:00 pm

Welcome reception at Angel’s Envy Distillery

Learn about the craftmanship behind the unique aging and finishing process of Angel’s Envy bourbon, their pursuit of excellence through tradition and experimentation—and taste the final product. Spots are limited and you must sign up in advance!

Tuesday, June 20

8:00 - 9:00 am

Event networking

Networking Breakfast

9:00 - 9:10 am

Welcome

9:10 – 10:00 am

Nick Pinchuk

Keynote: What You’ll Need To Win With Customers, Employees and Partners

Nicholas Pinchuk, CEO, Snap-on

One of the most experienced manufacturing CEOs in the world, Pinchuk knows what it takes to thrive and drive a business of confounding complexity. He’ll kick off the conference with pragmatic advice based on his decades of manufacturing leadership experience. How will deglobalization disrupt nearly every operation—but also create opportunities for you to radically turbocharge your business? How can you build the kind of organization you’ll need to outpace competitors in the decade to come, no matter the size of your company? How you do you create employee- and customer-driven continuous improvement? No matter the size of your operations, Pinchuk will help you see the future more clearly—and prepare with more intelligence.   

10:00 – 10:45 am

Case Study: De-stressing The Supply Chain

Kenneth Engel, Senior Vice President of Global Supply Chain – North America, Schneider Electric

Now that demand has stabilized and suppliers have caught their breath, it’s time to take a hard look at changing business as usual to make sure we’re not caught out again. We’ll talk with a true master of supply chain management to see what they’ve learned—and what they’re doing—to insure strength, resiliency and vibrancy in the years to come.

10:45 – 11:05 am

Networking Break

11:05 – 11:50 am

Chad Moutray

Economic Outlook and the Implications for Manufacturers’ Growth Strategies

Chad Moutray, Ph.D., CBE, Chief Economist, National Association of Manufacturers and Director, Center for Manufacturing Research, The Manufacturing Institute

We’ll take a look at key economic indicators, both domestic and international, as well as trends and counter-trends, that are having the greatest impact on manufacturing this year to help you determine your best path to growth.

11:50 am – 12:10 pm

Move to Breakouts for Working Lunch

12:10 – 1:10 pm

Concurrent Workshops and Roundtables

Attendees will have the opportunity to break into smaller discussions with their peers and subject matter experts. Topics to include:

  • Attracting New Talent
  • Positioning Your Business for a Strategic Sale
  • Adaptive Manufacturing in the Modern Factory
  • Cybersecurity Trends and Best Practices

1:10 – 1:20 pm

Attendees will move to a second set of breakout choices.

1:20 – 2:20 pm

Concurrent Workshops and Roundtables

Attendees will have the opportunity to choose a second topic to break into smaller discussions with peers and subject matter experts. Topics to include:

  • Winning at Automation
  • Pragmatic Operational and Supply Chain Performance Improvement Strategies that Move the Needle
  • Overcoming Sales Challenges

2:20 – 2:45 pm

Attendees gather for bus ride to off-site tour. Buses depart hotel at 2:45 pm sharp.

3:15 – 5:35 pm

Snap On Factory

Factory Tour: Snap-on

Walk the floors of the innovative Snap-on Advanced Vehicle Lifts plant to gather insights on implementing new technologies, streamlining processes, reducing costs and improving speed.  Get an inside look at their processes for: automated laser cutting, powder coating, robotic welding and structural assembly. 

6:00 – 8:00 pm

Networking Reception at Louisville Slugger Museum

Celebrate the history of the Louisville Slugger baseball bat that originated in 1884 and the cutting-edge current technology that keeps Louisville Slugger at the top of their game. Join fellow attendees for a festive evening of networking and interactive games.

Wednesday, June 21

8:00 - 9:00 am

Networking Breakfast

9:00 - 9:10 am

Day 2 Welcome

9:10 - 9:55 am

Bill Good

Case Study: Manufacturing Your Next Workforce

Bill Good, VP of Supply Chain, GE

There are more than 800,000 unfilled factory jobs in the United States right now. To fill that gap, we’re going to have to bring people into the industry who may not have ever thought of factory work before—and that means selling Gen Z. How do we do it? We’ll turn to a proven expert in the field for tips on how to build a culture that sells itself—and how to sell that culture to win.

9:55 - 10:40 am

Bryan Albrecht

Training and Education: Building And Keeping The Workforce

Bryan Albrecht, President Emeritus, Gateway Technical College

Once you’ve got the right people in the building, there’s nothing more important than keeping them over the long haul. That takes constant investment in training and education to ensure they have the skills you need for the work of today. How do we do it? It takes planning, dedication and the right partnerships. We’ll help you get smarter, making sure you’re building the programs you need to build your business.

10:40 - 11:00 am

Networking Break

11:00 - 11:45 am

Annette Finsterbusch

Ideas That Pay: How Manufacturers Need to Rethink Open Innovation

Annette Finsterbusch, President & CEO, EnPower

When it comes to developing new, breakthrough ideas and products, are your people thinking too much about the product and not enough about the business? If so, you’re like a lot of CEOs in manufacturing, where a generation of engineers have been raised to think about creating the next cool feature set or improvement without focusing on the most essential questions: How will this make money? Who will buy it? And when? So how do you create more entrepreneurial engineers? How do you get the team thinking about the business, not just the product? And how do you create a culture where everyone—from administrative assistants to the CFO—is thinking about innovation that not only satisfies customers, but does so profitably? We’ll explore all that and more in this session.

11:45 am

Main event ends. Attendees gather for optional factory tour, departing at 12:15 pm

12:15 - 12:45 pm

Transportation to optional factory tour

12:45 - 3:00 pm

GE Appliances USA

Explore the newly modernized headquarters of GE Appliances, home to five large manufacturing plants. See how GE Appliances transitioned to digital engineering and design, full adoption of 3D scanning, hundreds of new robotics and automation applications and a data analytics platform that enables problem solving and improved communication.