Webinars

How can a company become a superior performer?

On April 18, join John Jackiw to discuss the optimal strategies to identify and organize the right metrics and use the right analytics to produce the actionable information needed for best-in-class performance.

As recent MESA studies show, the best performing companies most aggressively use manufacturing process metrics to guide decision making. Informed operations and management decisions will push both routine operations and strategic activities to the highest performance levels.

High performance management depends upon actionable intelligence based on the right information. Producing that information depends upon selecting the right metrics and identifying the right data sources.

The first step is to review the available metrics as process parameters in general and determine which are Key Performance Indicators (KPI) in particular. The second is to determine which data is needed. While the easy choice is to use accessible existing data, a more thorough analysis can direct the company to seek out the data that is really critical to understanding process performance.

Our Presenter:

John Jackiw is Business Development Manager at Alta Via Consulting. He is an active member of MESA International where he is a founding member of the Global education team, a MESA Authorized Instructor (MAI), and serves on the metrics committee as team leader and project manager of the MESA publication “Metrics Framework and Guidebook 2^ndEdition”.

No capable manufacturer would dream of running a company without an integrated accounting system that enables everyone in the company to work from the same sheet. And yet, many manufacturers still do not use standardized real-time process based analytics to distribute important decision support information to everyone and support effective stakeholder collaboration. How can manufacturers develop this critical capability?

Smart management recognizes that companies with isolated islands of information are not going to win in today’s competitive markets. Eliminating these data silos to make critical decision support information readily available to every stakeholder in the company dramatically increases the company’s competitiveness.

This is fundamental to collaborative manufacturing and has become one of the major trends among successful companies during the last decade. On January 31 we will have a public conversation with Michael McClellan, the man who literally wrote the book on collaborative manufacturing, Collaborative Manufacturing: Using Real-time Information to Support the Supply Chain

We will discuss the evolution of manufacturing management systems, the development of collaborative methods and infrastructure and the role of Manufacturing Intelligence, Analytics and Communication as key collaboration enablers.

To join us in this live web conversation register now. In the meantime, attendees can read an introduction to Mr. McClellan’s thoughts in his article, “Collaborative manufacturing: A strategy built on trust and cooperation”.

Our Presenter:

Michael McClellan is President of Vancouver, WA based Collaboration Synergies Incorporated, an advisory company providing consulting services in the area of real-time manufacturing information systems, collaborative manufacturing system development and implementation, and manufacturing execution systems (MES). He has been an active leader in developing the concept of modern collaborative manufacturing and has authored two books, “Applying Manufacturing Execution Systems” and “Collaborative Manufacturing: Using Real-time Information to Support the Supply Chain”

Global competitiveness requires increasing manufacturing agility while maintaining quality, production performance and on-time shipments.  To meet these needs market leading companies incorporate ISA-95 Maturity Models as a core strategy to improve agility.

The strategy depends on manufacturing intelligence solutions to deliver role specific reporting to support decision making and enable people to take process ownership and drive manufacturing transformation through maturity levels from ad-hoc operations to continuous improvement:

• Level 1: Ad-hoc Operations
• Level 2: Planning and Control
• Level 3: Standardized Processes
• Level 4: Predictable Performance
• Level 5: Continuous Improvement

For over fifteen years ISA-95 has been the standard to model these processes.  Maturity Models map the manufacturing transformation strategy that integrates real-time process systems with the supply chain as a business and operational strategy to drive operational excellence.  

On October 25, Rod Parry will explain how to use Maturity Models to develop a Manufacturing Transformation Strategy to achieve the flexibility, agility and process optimization required for global competitiveness. These strategies enable companies to deploy these cohesive strategies for operations excellence. 

Presenter:

Rod Parry is the Managing Director at Factory IQ a consulting practice in manufacturing operation management, MES systems and energy that integrates ISA standards, IT, vendor systems and a common information model to connect the manufacturing plant with the supply chain and ERP systems. Rod is currently chair of the MESA Metrics Reference Model working group.

Mr. Parry is a thirty year veteran developing and integrating MOM/MES and process automation with enterprise applications. Prior to founding FactoryIQ, he held positions at Intel, Microsoft and MCS Technology.  

The recent MESA study Performance Improvement and Metrics Practices highlighted the superior business performance by companies who actively leverage Manufacturing Intelligence (MI). On May 31, the study’s author, Ted Bobkowski, will reveal how forward-thinking manufacturers can prepare themselves to incorporate these gains into their own companies.

Mr. Bobkowski will discuss:

• The use of Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) and MI to yield larger increases in profit and quality;
• Aligning metrics across the organization to develop more productive management at all levels;
• Clear definition of the metrics and understanding the source data to ensure accuracy and buy in from all departments.

By developing “One Version of the Truth”, improving communications, and delivering real-time decision support, an organization will better understand the relationships and impact of one variable or metric on another and how to optimize production accordingly. The manufacturing intelligence ultimately results in increased process performance including higher throughput and quality.

Presenter:

Ted Bobkowski is Project Manager and Consultant in Operational Process Improvements at Innovative Manufacturing Solutions. Previously he held the position of Director of Manufacturing Execution Systems at Leprino Foods. He is a long time contributor to the Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association (MESA) and a frequent speaker and writer on the applications of MOM and MI.

The analysts and the marketplace agree if your company is going to prosper you must incorporate Enterprise Manufacturing Intelligence (EMI) into your management practices.

How does a manufacturer build the foundation for successful EMI? Not only do you need to identify the elements of data collection and management which support EMI, but also to recruit and involve all the stakeholders.

Everyone who has to deliver results – operations, IT, engineering and management - needs to buy in, become involved and take a leadership role. Projects of this scale need to be part of the corporate strategic plan where the continuing life cycle costs are recognized and the values of the gains quantified.

By dealing with both the technical and organizational requirements not only will the project get done, but it will also be incorporated into the corporate fabric. Your front-end work of integrating the technology and human factors will enable the company to realize the full value of EMI.

In this webinar, Ray Zimmermannwill show you how to define the infrastructure you need for EMI and then use ROI to justify the project and recruit allies in your company. The webinar will present:

• Scoping EMI – from needs assessment to ROI
• The power of integrated planning and justification
• Justification options and expected results
• Using the Systems Life Cycle Model to deliver a high value project that meets all expectations

By following this roadmap you will move from attempting isolated, technology-driven projects to promoting value-driven programs that are supported by all the stakeholders in your company. Join us to learn how to best organize and justify your EMI initiative. 

The speakers:

Ray Zimmermann, Systems Innovation Management, has over 35 years of experience in engineering, manufacturing operations, strategic planning and finance in the CPG industries. For 23 years he held a variety of positions at Anheuser-Busch ultimately as the Senior Director of Corporate Engineering. In this role he was responsible for Automation & Manufacturing intelligence systems applications, systems infrastructure and support for both domestic and international operations. Since then he has consulted with manufacturing firms to bring about successful manufacturing execution and EMI systems.

Dan Engelhard is Director of Business Development and Marketing at Stone Technologies. For twenty years, Dan has focused on Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), PLC/HMI systems in addition to other real-time integration applications. His experience includes business development, project and business management, and supply chain enterprise to manufacturing integration.

Stone Technologies is an information (Manufacturing Execution System –MES / Manufacturing Operation Management-MOM) & control systems integrator.  Stone Technologies provides industrial automation services including process control and MES/MOM consulting, design, software development, and commissioning. Control Engineering and Packaging Digest named Stone Technologies the 2010 System Integrator of the Year. 

Robust Manufacturing Intelligence (MI) capabilities are fundamental to successful manufacturing enterprise management. And robust MI capabilities start with sound data collection practices. The analytics feeding management dashboards will work with any properly formed data that can be drawn from manufacturing databases. However, if that data is compromised, the decisions made by management based on the compromised data may be faulty and put the organization at risk.

The key to world-class, sound decision making is a solid data collection foundation. This webinar examines data collection best practices:

• The requirements standards such as ISA 95, FDA Q10, and ISO 9001 and good manufacturing practices place upon the data collection process.
• The business implications of poor data collection.
• What data collection best practices should be implemented:
  • Operator workflow support
  • SOP enforcement
  • Input error reduction
  • Data integrity
• How data collection integrates with manufacturing management systems

The end result is compliant process and testing data collection that dependably provides high-quality data to feed the analytics that informs MI. Data collection with integrity is a core requirement to make MI work while keeping auditors and customers satisfied.

About the Presenter:

Jeffery Cawley is VP of Industry Leadership at Northwest Analytics where among other roles, he investigates how process based analytics solve the problems imposed by modern manufacturing and testing activities, and how to employ process management methods to meet regulatory and commercial standards and good practices. In addition to his work at Northwest Analytics he has served two terms on the AOAC Statistics Committee and twelve years on the executive board of the Institute of Food Technologists Quality Assurance Division. He is a frequent speaker and writer on applying process analytics and management methods to testing and manufacturing.

Part 2 of the “Factors for Manufacturing Analytics Success” webinar series examines the underlying system and user interface design for successful data collection. The webinar will explain how to define the process and identify the information flows for each operation. This includes how to conduct a value stream analysis to understand how waste streams and process variances impact quality.

Additionally, Charlie Gifford will discuss how to select and measure the appropriate parameters to deliver the data needed to understand and control the process. He will show how create a successful system by taking steps to:

• Define and maintain consistent data formats
• Maintain consistent variable naming across databases
• Design and implement data collection that delivers high quality data
• Design for compliance with industry standards and best practices

The webinar will provide a road map on how to deliver, role-specific reporting and analytics to everyone in operations and management. The final system will provide actionable feedback on both the measurement and manufacturing processes, thereby establishing a solid foundation for process management and continuous improvement.

Register now .

Your presenter:

Charlie Gifford, President and Chief Manufacturing Consultant
21^stCentury Manufacturing Solutions LLC
Hailey, ID

Mr. Gifford is an international independent consultant for optimizing manufacturing and supply chain systems. He chairs the ISA-95 Best Practices Working Group which produces public methods for aligning Continuous Improvement and Manufacturing Operations Manufacturing systems to optimize manufacturing work processes. He is the author of four books, most recently, When Worlds Collide in Manufacturing Operations: ISA-95 Best Practices Book 2.0.

Whether you are producing cooking oil, baby oil or motor oil, one matter is constant, if you are trying to implement a quality system, you are competing with other projects for finite corporate resources. One of the most effective ways to compete for those resources and demonstrate project success is to be able to quantitatively demonstrate Return On Investment (ROI).

On August 11, Louis Halvorsen, CTO, Northwest Analytics, will explain how to develop the ROI of quality systems and provide example case studies. He will present:

• How to choose the project justifications that best meet your commercial requirements and to improve your bottom line.
• What are common ROI targets and how may they be adapted to your plant requirements.
• How to quantify ROI.

Quality systems and operations typically deliver substantial cost benefits and rapid returns. Properly done, ROI modeling will not only enable you to obtain the necessary resources to develop your projects, but will also provide an ongoing basis to justify the quality management operations.  

Mr. Halvorsen will present two case studies which illustrate how to set up data collection and analysis to successfully demonstrate ROI and provide for continuing reporting.

• An assembly process where management must determine which defects are most amenable to process improvement and will provide the greatest return for the effort.
•  A food processor facing product giveaway by overfilling. How can the processor improve the filling performance and calculate the ROI of the effort?

Applying SPC to your production process is one of the quickest ways to realize a return from your quality system. SPC-based process improvements reduce variation and make further improvements possible.

Consumer, commercial and regulatory concerns require an effective track and trace system for all food products. On April 28, David Miller, President, Operations Technologies, presented an overall view of the requirements and solutions for food packaging traceability.

Supply-chain traceability links the physical flow of products with the flow of information about them. All items must be uniquely identified and the information made available to all supply-chain partners. Successful traceability depends on the design and production of packaging coupled with effective data collection and reporting systems. Mr. Miller discussed:

• Industry standards such as GS1 Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) and mpXML
• Impact of new regulations including the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)
• Technology overview
  • Labeling
  • Data collection
  • Data management and exchange including internet based systems
• Operational implications and capital and operating costs including consumables

Deborah Kacera, Industry Solutions Director for Pilgrim Software, addressed how following the process requirements of the GFSI schemes yields analytics that foster growth and compliance while supporting:

• Management Reviews
• Supplier Performance Inputs and Ratings
• Decision-making based on predictive, actionable intelligence
• Feedback into your Food Product Design and HACCP Plans

Building a culture for food safety starts with top management developing a strong commitment for food safety. In this webinar, John G. Surak focused on using the elements of ISO 22000 to accomplish the following:

• Linking the food safety management system to the corporate business system
• Linking the quality policy to the corporate culture
• Developing effective food safety objectives
• Increasing the effectiveness of management review