Programme 2017

Dr Patrick McLaughlin is a Chartered Engineer and Eur Ing. He is a Fellow of both the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the Institution of Engineering and Technology, as well as a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He has an MSc in Industrial Engineering and Production Management and a Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA), both from Cranfield. In a career that spans manufacturing engineer, manager and director, he has worked in both multinational and SME businesses. His experiences with a range of manufacturing processes and working for a number of different companies allied to experience in several industries has provided him with a strong background in managing manufacturing operations, including managing growth, downturn, restructuring and relocation of manufacturing facilities. He has worked at director level in manufacturing operations for over twenty years, and has been responsible for several plant-wide operations excellence implementations. He has experience of implementing and managing change programmes to improve manufacturing performance in automotive, capital goods, industrial equipment and consumer durables. This experience includes responsibility for integrating the design and development of new products into a lean operations environment and developing a continuous improvement culture to facilitate performance gains in lean implementations. He is currently working as Course Director of the Operations Excellence MSc at Cranfield University in the UK. His areas of interest are in Developing Manufacturing Strategy for Competitive Advantage, Creating an Innovation Capability in Operations Businesses, and Strategic Development of Smart Manufacturing/Industry 4 to provide Competitive Advantage.

Sabri Çimen, born in 1973, in Diyarbakır, Turkey. He is graduated from Lycee Saint Joseph and Istanbul Technical University Mechanical Engineering. He has got master degree in Istanbul Technical University Manufacturing, Marmara University Contemporary Management Techniques, Koç University Executive MBA. He is currently Marketing PhD student in Kocaeli University, working on Consumer Behaviour and Neuromarketing. He started his professional carrier in Ford Otosan in 1996. After several years in manufacturing, production and project management, he led the construction and manufacturing project of Yenikoy Plant as Project Director between 2012 and 2014. He acted as Plant Manager in the same Plant until 2016, and İnönü Truck and Engine Plants until 2017. Currently, he is the Project Coordination Director. His areas of specialization are automotive operations and investments, vehicle design and manufacturing, new plant design and manufacturing, safety, quality and environment operating systems, 6 Sigma, infrastructure and system building for disabled people, lean production, automation, advanced manufacturing, smart mobility, Industry 4.0. He is board member of KALDER Eskişehir (Quality Association). He speaks Turkish, English and French.

Nicholas is reputed as a high-performing Program Director with broad-based global experience leading high-profile projects and operations that drive bottom-line profitability for industry leading organisations. He has a strong global background implementing lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, and 5s methodologies which have driven positive change within organisations. As a decisive leader who thrives in large Program initiatives, fast moving manufacturing environments, he has gained global experience by living and working in U.S., Australia, Italy, China and Poland markets. Nicholas holds numerous lean and project management certifications ( PMP, PMI-RMP, PMI-ACP, CSPO, CSM, CSP, LSSGB, LSSBB ) and has executed programs in various cultures leading skilled professionals with multi-cultural backgrounds.

Jordan Workman serves as Director of Client Development for Performance Solutions by Milliken. He works with multi-national manufacturing clients to help them assess their operational performance and create strategies to deliver on corporate performance expectations. Clients served span a variety of industries, including agriculture, automotive, pharma, chemical, food and beverage, mining and specialty plastics. Prior to joining Performance Solutions by Milliken, Jordan was employed by Owens Corning for almost a decade, where he last served as Marketing Director for a global business unit and was responsible for creating and executing the go-to-market strategy that aligned commercial, supply chain, and operational capabilities. He also served as Business Development Leader for greater China based in Shanghai. He brings a wealth of knowledge on how to bridge cross-cultural differences and drive performance in the journey to business excellence. Jordan holds a degree in Economics & Political Science from West Virginia University.

Martyn is a Quality & Metrologist Specialist by trade. Having spent his formative years running his own business in metrology and quality, he worked closely with global companies across the manufacturing verticals, specialising in the promotion of Manufacturing Intelligence Systems within the automotive and aerospace industries. Having been involved in measuring system development and project management and the promotion thereof, Martyn fully appreciates ‘what it takes’ to make a success without having to unnecessarily expend huge sums of money. Martyn calls himself ‘a disciple of manufacturing’ and is a great believer in the value behind developing new ideas for improving processes and inspection to achieve world-class manufacturing, without having to sacrifice people and company’s principles. Advising and assisting modern-day ambitions by those seeking to achieve Smart Manufacturing and the Digital Factory, now form a major part of Martyn’s activity today.

He is an expert manager with more than 20 years’ experience in life science industries and consulting. His passion is learning and coaching. Curious and passionate, he likes work with people to get results. Lean Program successful key factors are Delegation and coaching joint with rigor and innovation as well as companywide E2E view. Augusto has multiple experience having worked in big, medium and small companies, in different environment, coordinating single and multiple sites. He has worked as manager and as consultant in variegated cultural context. His experience cover operational excellence, project management, business continuity and industrial engineering (chemical and pharma plant).

Prof. Dr. Carl B. Welker is Director of the Institute of Industrial Service Management at IUBH International University, Bad Honnef Bonn. The institute is concerned with all facets of manufacturing management issues and service strategies within manufacturing industries. Digitisation and Industry 4.0 have been major research topics for the past 10 years. In addition to his academic profession, Prof. Welker has been working as an international supply chain management consultant for more than 25 years. He studied Business Administration at the universities of Siegen and Cologne and received his Ph.D from WHU Koblenz School of Corporate Management.

Mike de Poortere is the Global Analytical Technology Center Director located in Stade, Germany De Poortere joined Dow in 1986 as a chemical engineer in Stade, Germany, where he held various positions before he was named global improvement leader for the Engineering Plastic Compounding plants at different locations worldwide in 1996. In 1998, he was named to the role of Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) delivery leader at the Stade site. Between 2000 and 2007, he was production leader for various facilities in Stade. In 2007, de Poortere was named to the Dow integration team for the Wolff Walsrode acquisition as the Responsible Care® leader for the Bomlitz and Bitterfeld sites in Germany, where he achieved significant improvement in EH&S performance. In 2009 he assumed the site leader role for the Bomlitz site and Business Manufacturing Leader for several products in the Dow Wolff Cellulosics facilities. In 2012 he was named the site director for Dow’s Pittsburg, California site and the Business Manufacturing Leader for Dow AgroSciences (DAS) Cereal & Broad Leaf Crop Herbicide. During this time he was appointed to the Contra Costa County Workforce Development Board. He also served on the Board of Directors of the California Manufacturers and Technology Association. Mike assumed his current role in July, 2015. In 2006, de Poortere was named a regional winner of Dow’s Genesis Award, which is the company’s highest honor for achievement in people development. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the FHT Hamburg, Germany. Mike and his wife Christiane have two adult sons Sebastian and Tobias. Mike enjoys traveling, running, bicycle riding, golf, hiking and gardening.

Klaus has more than 20 years of successful management experience in world-class lean manufacturing. He is an expert within the field of Industrial Operations, which is part of Valcon’s supply chain and Toyota Production System group. Klaus has extensive knowledge of lean manufacturing and supply chain management, including activities from strategy development and deployment all the way to implementation on the front line. Klaussupports change activities by management coaching to ensure sustainability through understanding. What do you think is the most interesting dilemma on the business agenda right now? Within our areas, it is the entire end-to-end issue, including more specifically supplier development and new product introduction. The market has become less predictable with more variations. This makes requirements of correspondingly flexible supply chain set-up and flexible capacity set-up in production units. The executive agenda is also an interesting dilemma. A lot of companies have improved for many years, but the next step is to get management to support the transformation either experienced or awaiting. The best advice someone ever gave to you? Most barriers or the opposite lie in your mindset.

Tom is an Associate Professor at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) after gaining his PhD in Engineering Design from the University of Bath, UK. His main field of expertise is in robust design and more broadly engineering design research. He is the founder of the robust design group at DTU and founding chair of the Design Society’s Special Interest Group on Robust Design. Tom has numerous past and present PhD students and has attracted large amounts of research funding from both public and private sources including investment. He sits as an elected member of the Design Society’s advisory board and has received several accolades such as the DTU Innovation Prize 2014 and the BMW European Scientific Award. He has been a keynote speaker at the European Innovation academy several times and has been responsible and instrumental in numerous spin-out companies.

Klaus Petersen joined Mitsubishi Electric Europe with a high level of experience in automation hardware and software. Having previously held technical and business development roles, he has excellent balance of knowledge for both technical and commercial aspects of marketing industrial automation solutions. In his role is responsible for establishing innovative marketing and partnering concepts for growing the power of Mitsubishi Electric’s Factory Automation business in the EMEA region.

Chief Executive Officer Boehringer Ingelheim microPart GmbH Pharmacist, PhD in Pharmacology More than 25 years of experience in pharmaceutical production with specific focus on launch management, production scale up and production optimization

Dr Patrick McLaughlin is a Chartered Engineer and Eur Ing. He is a Fellow of both the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the Institution of Engineering and Technology, as well as a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He has an MSc in Industrial Engineering and Production Management and a Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA), both from Cranfield. In a career that spans manufacturing engineer, manager and director, he has worked in both multinational and SME businesses. His experiences with a range of manufacturing processes and working for a number of different companies allied to experience in several industries has provided him with a strong background in managing manufacturing operations, including managing growth, downturn, restructuring and relocation of manufacturing facilities. He has worked at director level in manufacturing operations for over twenty years, and has been responsible for several plant-wide operations excellence implementations. He has experience of implementing and managing change programmes to improve manufacturing performance in automotive, capital goods, industrial equipment and consumer durables. This experience includes responsibility for integrating the design and development of new products into a lean operations environment and developing a continuous improvement culture to facilitate performance gains in lean implementations. He is currently working as Course Director of the Operations Excellence MSc at Cranfield University in the UK. His areas of interest are in Developing Manufacturing Strategy for Competitive Advantage, Creating an Innovation Capability in Operations Businesses, and Strategic Development of Smart Manufacturing/Industry 4 to provide Competitive Advantage.

Dr Patrick McLaughlin is a Chartered Engineer and Eur Ing. He is a Fellow of both the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the Institution of Engineering and Technology, as well as a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He has an MSc in Industrial Engineering and Production Management and a Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA), both from Cranfield. In a career that spans manufacturing engineer, manager and director, he has worked in both multinational and SME businesses. His experiences with a range of manufacturing processes and working for a number of different companies allied to experience in several industries has provided him with a strong background in managing manufacturing operations, including managing growth, downturn, restructuring and relocation of manufacturing facilities. He has worked at director level in manufacturing operations for over twenty years, and has been responsible for several plant-wide operations excellence implementations. He has experience of implementing and managing change programmes to improve manufacturing performance in automotive, capital goods, industrial equipment and consumer durables. This experience includes responsibility for integrating the design and development of new products into a lean operations environment and developing a continuous improvement culture to facilitate performance gains in lean implementations. He is currently working as Course Director of the Operations Excellence MSc at Cranfield University in the UK. His areas of interest are in Developing Manufacturing Strategy for Competitive Advantage, Creating an Innovation Capability in Operations Businesses, and Strategic Development of Smart Manufacturing/Industry 4 to provide Competitive Advantage.

Head of Airbus manufacturing strategy & Exploration Responsible for the definition and the implementation of the industrial transformation strategy for 11 Airbus manufacturing plants. Through Exploration f..e. on breakthrough technology and disruptive projects based on industrial requirements and needs,.we enable and validate this transformation.

Christian GEORGES, born in 1961 in France, he graduated in 1984 from the “Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Paris” and from University Pierre et Marie Curie with a DEA in Organic Chemistry. After a first experience with Glaxo Group Research in Medicinal Chemistry , he joined L’Oréal in 1987. Starting as Engineer in Chimex, an entity that develops and produces patented molecules for L’Oréal, he ended up as CEO after several positions including Plant Management. Joining the cosmetic branch of L’Oréal in 2003, he managed the plant of Sicos, Luxury Division and created in 2009 as Technical Director, the “ Pole d’ Excellence” with the plants of Fapagau , BRI and Sicos. More recently Manufacturing Excellence Corporate Director, he manages the Operational Excellence System and 4.0 transformation for Manufacturing at a corporate level.

Christian is a highly experienced Lean Manufacturing Professional who has spent the greater part of his career in the Automotive Industry. Currently he is working in the consumer goods industry, being accountable for implementing Lean as well as Industry 4.0 roadmap across the company. Prior to joining STAEDTLER, Christian held several leadership roles in Production Control & Logistics as well as Lean Manufacturing for ITW, TRW, Faurecia and Federal Mogul in Europe, Asia and the US. During his last assignments he was responsible for Lean Transformation on global scale. Christian earned a diploma in Supply Chain Engineering from the University of Applied Science, Erfurt, in 2002 and an MBA in General Management from the University of Wales in 2012.

I joined Aston University in August 2011, as a Lecturer in Logistics and Supply Chain Management. Prior to that, I was an Adjunct Lecturer for 4 years in the University of Macedonia, in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and also in City College, the International Faculty of the University of Sheffield teaching Logistics and Supply Chain related modules to BSc, MSc and ExMBA students. In 2010, I was awarded a one year post-doc grant on “Innovation in the Food Chain” from the Greek State Scholarships Foundation. Also, for 3 years (2006-2009) I worked as a researcher in the FP6 European Project “e-Trust”, which dealt with the exploration and analysis of the trust factors affecting companies in the food chain in their transition from traditional to electronic B2B relationships. I have also been involved in several consulting projects as a freelance consultant. I am currently the Research Convenor of the Project and Supply Chain Management Group.

Reinhold Gietl since more than 13 years manages one of the most modern and capable sites of the Pilkington / NSG Group for manufacturing Float Glass. After university with the degree of an electrical engineer he spent 12 years as an Officer in the German Army. Managing and leading people at an early stage he soon was well known in his positive way of leading people. After changing from state to the private industry in 1989 he kept over many years several leadership positions with temporary employments abroad in France and UK. He is well known for his competency and professional skills in winning and motivating people, particularly in difficult times. He is 58, married with three grown-up children.

Alejandro Tassara is currently the Global Director, Luvata Production System with over 10 years of experience in Operational Excellence and a strong focus on Industrial and Manufacturing Continuous Improvement. He has delivered substantial change in a variety of production sites around the world utilizing Lean techniques in a structured way that emphasizes Performance Management, Standard Work, Team development and Organizational Cultural Change. He is a strong supporter of engaging and empowering people through Personal Coaching and Effective training from shop-floor level personnel to Senior Management. Alejandro holds a BS in Philosophy from Catholic University of Valparaiso, Chile and MA in Organizational Counselling.

Richard Hainrihar is an operations professional with 22 years of experience in leading manufacturing organizations. Over the last 10 years, he has worked for Luvata Special Products and is currently the Global Director, Luvata Production System. Throughout his career Richard has implemented lean transformations globally, across multiple industries, business processes, and cross-functional teams. He is a Certified Six Sigma Black Belt with a leadership style that strongly emphasizes teamwork and a ‘learn by doing’ philosophy. Richard holds a BS in Business Administration - Operations and Supply Chain Management, as well as an MBA from Bowling Green State University.

21 years of experience in the industrial sector, both in factory management and R&D, after graduating Industrial Engineer in 1995 by University of Oviedo (Spain). In 2005 I read my Doctoral thesis on Technology Centre Management. I have mainly worked for thyssenkrupp in the Elevator Business, but also in other fields as Shelving systems, Additive Manufacturing, Advanced Manufacturing Technologies or Product Design. Currently I hold the position of Production Director in a factory of escalators and moving walks, leading a great team of 220 professionals aiming Operational Excellence.

Since 2014 Dr. Michael Thierschmann is working as Vice President Manufacturing & Quality for the VOITH Hydro Holding. He has global responsibility for manufacturing, quality and lean management. His educational background is a university study in aeronautics and space technology as well as in economics. His doctoral thesis he performed in the field of aerospace propulsion. Before joining Voith Michael Thierschmann worked as Director Quality Management in the aerospace industry for ZODIAC Premium Galleys. Additionally he was responsible for continuous improvement, manufacturing planning and EHS. Prior to that Michael Thierschmann worked for CON MOTO Consulting Group in a partner role. He consulted in several industries, like automotive, aerospace and automation. Prizes which have been awarded to Dr. Thierschmann are beside others the „Entrepreneurial Prize“ from the DG Bank as well as the „Kienbaum Prize for Services“.

Nicholas is reputed as a high-performing Program Director with broad-based global experience leading high-profile projects and operations that drive bottom-line profitability for industry leading organisations. He has a strong global background implementing lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, and 5s methodologies which have driven positive change within organisations. As a decisive leader who thrives in large Program initiatives, fast moving manufacturing environments, he has gained global experience by living and working in U.S., Australia, Italy, China and Poland markets. Nicholas holds numerous lean and project management certifications ( PMP, PMI-RMP, PMI-ACP, CSPO, CSM, CSP, LSSGB, LSSBB ) and has executed programs in various cultures leading skilled professionals with multi-cultural backgrounds.

Based in Stuttgart, Lars works with manufacturers across Europe and Africa to help them understand and embrace Industry 4.0. Lars is responsible for technology, products, services and quality for the Process and Automation sector of AECOM. He specialises in bespoke process-led design and business improvement solutions, helping manufacturers integrate buildings, process and infrastructure to create flexible and optimised facilities. He started his career as an electronic engineer and before joining AECOM, spent 18 years at Audi and four years in the consulting industry. Lars is currently developing AECOM’s Industry 4.0 lean framework, and working alongside a number of industry partners. He is helping manufacturers understand how data is reshaping the industrial landscape and how the industry can harness Industry 4.0 to remain competitive.

Based in Stuttgart, Frank is responsible for driving innovation and helping manufacturers across Europe understand and implement Industry 4.0. Frank works on the development of new technology, products and services for the Process and Automation sector of AECOM. He is specialised in intelligent methods and algorithms to help manufacturers solve and create flexible and optimised processes. He started his career as a biological engineer and completed his doctorate on large scale analysis of structure and dynamics of biomolecules. Frank is currently working alongside a number of industry partners, combining lean principles and data analysis to help manufacturers understand the changing industrial landscape and harness Industry 4.0 to remain competitive.

Josef Kriegmair works as Representative Production Turbine Blade / Structure Castings at MTU Aero Engines AG Center Production. His focus is on developing and implementing digital process chains, CAD/CAM methods, NC simulation solutions, manufacturing intelligence for turbine blades and structure castings. Prior to this, he was in technical procurement, logistics & plant maintenance, production engineering focus technology development for production and maintenance, repair & overhaul at MTU Aero Engines. He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering focus Production Technology and a degree in Industrial Engineering focus Project Management and Technology Management.

Dan Griffin is Production Manager with Wright Medical Ireland. In this role, Dan leads a team of over 100 colleagues and has responsibility for all aspects of Manufacturing, including Machining, Assembly and Packaging. A passionate believer in Operational Excellence, Dan is Program Manager for implementation of the site strategy 3-year plan under the 0-50-100 initiative. Dan holds qualifications in Production (BEng) and Chemical Engineering (GDip) and prior to joining Wright Medical in 2016 he worked for a range of organizations within the Electronics, Pharmaceutical and Medical Device industries.

I am married to a beautiful wife and are blessed with two beautiful daughters. I keep my self-fit by swimming, running and mountain biking and for stimulating my creativity, I enjoy reading, pottery, coffee making (Barista) and camping. After completing my degree in Chemical Engineering in 1999 I started my career in the steel industry in South Africa’s and in the Netherlands. Having occupied various management positions, I also complete my MBA during this period. I joined Omnia fertilizer soon thereafter and continued to grow until in my new role as General Manager: Continuous Improvement. The position allows me to use certain tools, methodologies or concepts with my experience and strengths to improve the culture of the business.

Adrian is an Aeronautical Engineer by education and after a period of commissioned service in the Royal Air Force, he started his consulting career in 1994. In 2001, he established his own business and wrote the problem solving methodology, that Chartwell uses today, to help clients such as ExxonMobil solve complex technical problems and deliver step profit improvement. His work expanded into the wind turbine industry, where he supported a 3-year global change programme. A UK juice and juice drinks client asked him to lead a growth plan as Production Director, after which he went on to found Chartwell with two former colleagues in 2013. His experience is across range of industry sectors including chemicals, pharma, packaging and FMCG. He lives with his family in Windsor and in his spare time, coaches competitive aerobatic flying.

Chair of Board of Directors at ATS Global B.V., a world-wide independent solution provider for smart digital transformation. Executive Board member at MESA International, a global, expert non-profit organization for manufacturers. The Internet of Things, The Fourth Industrial Revolution, Smart Manufacturing and the creation of new manufacturing strategies is his current passion. Strong background in senior consultancy for implementation of automation and MES/MOM systems at global and local manufacturers underpins Mike’s role in defining pragmatic strategies. Mike completed his financial and business education at Southampton and Bournemouth Universities in the UK. His career in manufacturing started at Plessey Electronics followed by Poole Pottery, Allen-Bradley CNC in the UK and Allen-Bradley Europa B.V. in The Netherlands. At Indivers N.V. Mike was responsible for the establishment of aerospace manufacturing units in The Netherlands and the expansion of semi-conductor manufacturing facilities. Mike is co-founder of ATS in 1986 which is now a global company.

Account Manager in charge of Manufacturing, Automotive & Aerospace Industry at SYSTRAN, Loïc have a deep understanding of customer business needs and use cases related to these industries. With a strong background in project & sales cycle management, Loïc is committed to build a long-term relationship with it clients and to help them to succeed in their project.

Dr Patrick McLaughlin is a Chartered Engineer and Eur Ing. He is a Fellow of both the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the Institution of Engineering and Technology, as well as a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He has an MSc in Industrial Engineering and Production Management and a Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA), both from Cranfield. In a career that spans manufacturing engineer, manager and director, he has worked in both multinational and SME businesses. His experiences with a range of manufacturing processes and working for a number of different companies allied to experience in several industries has provided him with a strong background in managing manufacturing operations, including managing growth, downturn, restructuring and relocation of manufacturing facilities. He has worked at director level in manufacturing operations for over twenty years, and has been responsible for several plant-wide operations excellence implementations. He has experience of implementing and managing change programmes to improve manufacturing performance in automotive, capital goods, industrial equipment and consumer durables. This experience includes responsibility for integrating the design and development of new products into a lean operations environment and developing a continuous improvement culture to facilitate performance gains in lean implementations. He is currently working as Course Director of the Operations Excellence MSc at Cranfield University in the UK. His areas of interest are in Developing Manufacturing Strategy for Competitive Advantage, Creating an Innovation Capability in Operations Businesses, and Strategic Development of Smart Manufacturing/Industry 4 to provide Competitive Advantage.

Sibylle Büttner is Plant Manager at Continental Automotive in Dortmund since April 2014. In this function she reports to the Head of Operations, Business Unit Fuel & Exhaust Management, and is responsible for the production of fuel supply systems and exhaust-modules with a revenue of above 100 Mio€ p.a., leading 650 employees. She drives continuous improvement with physical reorganization throughout the plant as well as process re-design. Focal point are topics of Lean Manufacturing / Lean Thinking as well as leading change through industry 4.0 Additionally Ms Büttner is Location Manager in Dortmund, the headquarter of Business Unit Fuel & Exhaust Management and therefor responsible for all services provided to the sales/admin.- as well as R&D function of the Business Unit with around 200 employees in the location. Prior to this assignment Ms Büttner headed other fuctions in Operations- and Program Management in the automotive industry and has a 20+years’ experience in Controlling, Finance&Accounting and Internal Audit.

Alberto graduated as Chemical Engineer, basis for his Master in Supply Chain Operations, IMD - Lausanne in Switzerland. Alberto is a Manufacturing expert, having held numerous leadership positions in the last three decades including 15 years on the Auto Industry, Tetra Pak, and Coca-Cola before joining IMI plc to lead and drive Lean Manufacturing transformation. He lived and worked in numerous cities across three continents including Brazil, Italy, Greece and 6 years in Singapore running Tetra Pak Operations for the whole Asia. Alberto has received innumerous International Awards, from Excellence to Special Achievements from JIPM; Manufacturing Excellence in Singapore; Asia Pacific Supply Chain Management Executive of the year, just to mention a few.

Dr. Raffaello Lepratti is VP MOM Business Development and Marketing for Siemens PLM Software, a business unit of the Siemens Industry Automation Division and a leading global provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) software and services with 10 million licensed seats and 70,000 customers worldwide. Headquartered in Plano, Texas, Siemens PLM Software works collaboratively with companies to deliver open solutions that help them turn more ideas into successful products. Today Raffaello is worldwide responsible for the Manufacturing Operations Management Business Development and Segment Marketing within the software business of Siemens PLM Software. Manufacturing Operations Management is one of the main business of Siemens Industry Software offering. After some years of experience in the German car manufacturing industry, in 2005 Raffaello joined Siemens and owned different positions in Product Management and Marketing. In 2010 he took on the HQ responsibility of account management automotive industry for Factory Automation. Since 2015 he is part of Siemens PLM Software organization. He has a degree in electrical engineering and owns a PhD in Human-Machine Collaboration. Over the years, he worked on several international research projects related to automotive manufacturing and is the author of books, scientific papers and magazine articles. He is co-owner of a several patents in the area of automotive applied research. Raffaello is currently living in Genoa, he is married to Veronika and they have three children.

Steve’s notable career started at Toyota, where he worked extensively in the UK and Japan. Having worked for Toyota in their Derby (UK) production facility as well as one-on-one with the management in a number of Japanese facilities, Steve has gained not only a thorough understanding of TPS, but also the working Toyota thinking principles (Toyota Way) which many talk about through second or third hand information, but very few have experienced. Steve has excellent engagement skills, an in-depth knowledge and the practical experience of implementing Lean and 6-Sigma principles, tools and techniques to improve business performance. Steve has more than 17 years’ experience delivering transformation, improvement and change management and is focused on improving processes across a broad range of sectors including, manufacturing, infrastructure, transportation and healthcare.

John Harhen is director and principal at Orbsen Consulting, since 2003. He specialises in Supply Chain and Operations, particularly exploiting rapid analytics to find value platforms for value stream improvement. His clients are global leaders in many sectors including Premium Drink, Food, Pharmaceuticals (Generic, OTC and Originator), Medical Device, Industrial Biotech, Healthcare Distribution, and Private Equity. Johns work is primarily in continental Europe, but also in the US, UK, Middle East, Asia and Africa. Prior to starting his role as an independent consultant, John worked for 10 years at director level in the pharmaceutical sector, with SmithKline Beecham (now GSK), and later Wyeth (now Pfizer). He started his career in the High Technology sector with Digital Equipment Corporation. John holds a Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, and a master’s degree from U.C. Galway in Ireland. He has published a book and many papers on supply chain management.

Stephan Keil is currently leading the Production, Project Delivery and Innovation teams in Etihad’s Design, Engineering & Innovation Department. With his team of Production staff and Project Managers, Administrators and Innovation Managers, he is responsible to deliver in-house manufactured parts, and Aircraft Modification Programs and develop new technologies and innovations that enhance the efficiency of maintenance as well as aircraft operation. He is part of the Profit Center’s Leadership team, and has helped to build up the organization from inception in 2014. He works closely with the Technical Sales team for business development and commercial offerings for Part 21 Engineering and Production services. He advises the Center’s Vice President on the organizational development and business strategy and leads the center’s financial operations with P&L responsibility. The Center has 65 employees and generated 9 M USD revenue in its second year 2016, with a 16% profit margin after only 2 years of operation. Stephan has 15 years of experience in the aviation industry. His profile has evolved from Quality Management to Project Management to General Management over the recent years. He is currently a member of the Industrial Steering Committee at Strata Manufacturing Co. in Al Ain, UAE. Prior to Etihad Engineering and Etihad Airways, Stephan worked at Airbus Group as Senior Auditor Corporate Audit. His responsibilities included process reviews, compliance assessments and financial audits in Airbus Group’s business units and subsidiaries. Through this work he was exposed to the space and defense side of the business as part of process and compliance audits, some requiring national security clearance. Prior, he worked as Program Quality Manager in Airbus’ A380 Division and Manufacturing Quality Manager at Airbus’ CFRP Manufacturing Competence Center in Stade, Germany. Stephan Keil received his M.Sc. of Manufacturing Engineering and Business Administration from University of Paderborn, Germany and has worked for leading aviation and automotive companies in GER, USA, AUS, FRA and UAE. He has experience in cross-functional roles and multi-cultural environments, and has delivered multi-million dollar aircraft interior modification programs.

Dr Patrick McLaughlin is a Chartered Engineer and Eur Ing. He is a Fellow of both the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the Institution of Engineering and Technology, as well as a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He has an MSc in Industrial Engineering and Production Management and a Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA), both from Cranfield. In a career that spans manufacturing engineer, manager and director, he has worked in both multinational and SME businesses. His experiences with a range of manufacturing processes and working for a number of different companies allied to experience in several industries has provided him with a strong background in managing manufacturing operations, including managing growth, downturn, restructuring and relocation of manufacturing facilities. He has worked at director level in manufacturing operations for over twenty years, and has been responsible for several plant-wide operations excellence implementations. He has experience of implementing and managing change programmes to improve manufacturing performance in automotive, capital goods, industrial equipment and consumer durables. This experience includes responsibility for integrating the design and development of new products into a lean operations environment and developing a continuous improvement culture to facilitate performance gains in lean implementations. He is currently working as Course Director of the Operations Excellence MSc at Cranfield University in the UK. His areas of interest are in Developing Manufacturing Strategy for Competitive Advantage, Creating an Innovation Capability in Operations Businesses, and Strategic Development of Smart Manufacturing/Industry 4 to provide Competitive Advantage.

Dr Patrick McLaughlin is a Chartered Engineer and Eur Ing. He is a Fellow of both the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the Institution of Engineering and Technology, as well as a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He has an MSc in Industrial Engineering and Production Management and a Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA), both from Cranfield. In a career that spans manufacturing engineer, manager and director, he has worked in both multinational and SME businesses. His experiences with a range of manufacturing processes and working for a number of different companies allied to experience in several industries has provided him with a strong background in managing manufacturing operations, including managing growth, downturn, restructuring and relocation of manufacturing facilities. He has worked at director level in manufacturing operations for over twenty years, and has been responsible for several plant-wide operations excellence implementations. He has experience of implementing and managing change programmes to improve manufacturing performance in automotive, capital goods, industrial equipment and consumer durables. This experience includes responsibility for integrating the design and development of new products into a lean operations environment and developing a continuous improvement culture to facilitate performance gains in lean implementations. He is currently working as Course Director of the Operations Excellence MSc at Cranfield University in the UK. His areas of interest are in Developing Manufacturing Strategy for Competitive Advantage, Creating an Innovation Capability in Operations Businesses, and Strategic Development of Smart Manufacturing/Industry 4 to provide Competitive Advantage.

Stefan Kohler have work in the manufacturing area for more than 25 years. After he graduate from KTH (The Royal Institute of technology) In Stockholm Sweden he started to work for the Swedish Steal Industry SSAB. After that Stefan started to work in the pharmaceutical manufacturing for the company AstraZeneca where Stefan hade different management positions both in UK and in Sweden, On the same time Stefan was working as a board of director for the US based association PDA, Parenteral Drug association and as a teacher within KTH in Lean manufacturing. 2011 Stefan start working for the Swedish company Volvo AB within Group Trucks Operation where Stefan hade the overall responsibility for the gearbox machining and foundry. Today Stefan hade the position as General Manager Vice Precedent for Volvo/Zahids manufacturing plant in Jeddah Saudi Arabia.

Prof. Dr. Torbjørn H. Netland is the Head of Chair of Production and Operations Management (POM) at ETH Zurich, Switzerland. His research on corporate lean programs is performed in close cooperation with global companies. It appears in top academic journals such as MIT Sloan Management Review, Journal of Operations Management, and Production and Operations Management, among others. He is an editor of The Routledge Companion to Lean Management, published in 2017. Being a dedicated research communicator, he blogs at www.better-operations.com.

Christian is a highly experienced Lean Manufacturing Professional who has spent the greater part of his career in the Automotive Industry. Currently he is working in the consumer goods industry, being accountable for implementing Lean as well as Industry 4.0 roadmap across the company. Prior to joining STAEDTLER, Christian held several leadership roles in Production Control & Logistics as well as Lean Manufacturing for ITW, TRW, Faurecia and Federal Mogul in Europe, Asia and the US. During his last assignments he was responsible for Lean Transformation on global scale. Christian earned a diploma in Supply Chain Engineering from the University of Applied Science, Erfurt, in 2002 and an MBA in General Management from the University of Wales in 2012.

Born in Pesaro (Italy) in 1969, after the graduation as Mechanical engineer, starts his career in ENI group (Italian Oil & Gas Company) as a technical engineer for offshore pipeline. In 2002 joins Ducati Motor as a Production Manager, where he learns the first concept of Toyota Production System. In 2005 after graduation on MBA, joins Toyota Material Handling Group and starts the operation turnaround. Supported by Japanese headquarter, he leads the introduction of TPS and the related cultural change. Thanks to TPS, the two Italian plants of TMHE have reached great results on quality, efficiency and profit, becoming a reference point for the TPS applications.

Born in Valencia (Spain). Msc in Industrial Engineering. Msc in International Business. 12 years working for Schlumberger (world largest oilfield services provider). Working as COO for Kitron ASA (electronics contract manufacturer) since 2013.

Nigel Walker is a chartered engineer who started work with the power industry in 1995 during his Ph.D. studies. He started as a technical consultant and moving to work directly for Scottish Power and Powergen. He has had a range of roles from integrity management, failure investigator, weld inspector, asset risk management, asset management, power plant operations, and more recently in operational excellence. A key part of these roles has been working in a diverse and multicultural environment and living and working in many different countries including the UK, Sweden, Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Russia. During this time, the energy industry has undergone many changes both technical, commercial as well as political which has forced the power generation providers to make significant changes to how they work. At times the changes in the market outstripped the ability to change. The realisation of Uniper was part of E.ONs approach to the situation splitting the generation, sales and trading part into a new company, Uniper. From the very start of Uniper, operational excellence has been at the heart of what we do and is central to the transformations which has occurred during the early development of Uniper.

John M Walker is a Global Procurement Director and Head of Mondelēz International’s Asset and Investment Strategy, with emphasis on manufacturing systems, automation and supply chain infrastructure. Prior to Mondelēz, Walker founded Procurement Tutor, an on-line purchasing and supply chain skills assessment tool which helps companies identify individual and team development needs. He began his career in the automotive industry, and has experience in the supply base (such as AMP and Faurecia) but also with OEMs Ford, Mazda and Peugeot. For the past decade he has led industrial Procurement organizations with companies such as ABB, SBB and Buhler, with primary focus on Process and Packaging Engineering. He holds an undergraduate degree from The Wharton School in Philadelphia and graduate degrees from Carnegie Mellon University and the Tepper School of Business.

Dean Lenane is currently the Geschäftsführer of Fisher Dynamics in Europe. He is also responsible for Sales & Marketing, Purchasing, and Costing worldwide. Before beginning his career with Fisher Dynamics, he was the group Chief Commercial Officer for the Hammerstein group. This followed an eight year assignment as CEO of CRH of North America. During which time, CRH was the fastest growing automotive supplier in North America, growing from $20 million in annual revenue to $350 million in annual revenue over a seven year period. Prior to his work for CRH, Lenane held several positions at Johnson Controls and at United Technologies as a program manager and as a statistical analyst. Lenane holds bachelor’s degrees from the University of Detroit, a master’s degree from Boston University, and a law degree from Michigan State University.

César Lombarte is an Industrial Engineer with over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical (B. Braun Medical) and FMCG (P&G Spain) industry. In the different assignments he has achieved an extensive knowledge about manufacturing, procurement, supply chain management and contract manufacturing, always developing and improving processes, applying the foundations of Operational Excellence. Professionally, he is a passionate of leading people and achieving challenging targets such as optimizing & streamlining processes to ensure growth, engaging people and profitable business goals. The cultural transformation of an OpEx implementation is a challenge assumed enthusiastically.

John Pedersen has his background from production at Glencore Nikkelverk, as Shift Supervisor and was certified as Six Sigma BlackBelt in 2003. He has worked with Business improvement within the Nickel Business unit since 2002, using methodology such as Six Sigma, Theory of Constrains(TOC) and Lean Today, he is a manager for the NBS-Center who provides coaching for Glencore Nikkelverk in implementing Nikkelverk Business System(NBS). His professional interests are Lean leadership, business development and Lean/continuous improvement. He is particularly interested in improving efficiency through high degree of employee involvement and engaging employees at all levels.

Prof. Dr. Torbjørn H. Netland is the Head of Chair of Production and Operations Management (POM) at ETH Zurich, Switzerland. His research on corporate lean programs is performed in close cooperation with global companies. It appears in top academic journals such as MIT Sloan Management Review, Journal of Operations Management, and Production and Operations Management, among others. He is an editor of The Routledge Companion to Lean Management, published in 2017. Being a dedicated research communicator, he blogs at www.better-operations.com.

Marc Moal is a 15 years successful leader in various industries (Semiconductor, Medical Devices, Medical Components, Home appliances) with large expertise in all areas of Product Development & Operations as well as Project Management and Operational Excellence. He has significant proven track records such as: Implementation of best in class development process at Nespresso Successful setup of manufacturing facility for pacemakers in Singapore Successful production transfers from Asia to Eastern Europe Successful Launch of famous Nespresso milk frother Successful industrialization and transfers of class III medical devices Step change in reduction of coffee machines return rates from 10% downto1%

Engineer graduated at Electrical Engineering with MBA at Project Management with extensive international experience in automotive and home appliance industries. Eleven years of experience at manufacturing industry, including product development, industrial design, process management and quality. Green field factory design and construction; Factory transfer between countries: Industrial efficiency projects; Successful home appliance production transfers; Successful product design and process implementation; Implementation of Supplier Management process and increasing of their performance by 7% per year