Shaping the Future of manufacturing - presenters

November 7-8, 2007

Nashville Airport Marriott, Nashville, TN

Ken Currie, P.E., Ph.D., is Director of the Center for Manufacturing Research (CMR) at Tennessee Technological University, an Accomplished Center of Excellence within the State of Tennessee. He also holds the rank of Professor of Industrial & Systems Engineering and has been either Principal or Co-Principal Investigator of over $6 million in externally funded research including the USAF, Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, Oak Ridge National Laboratories, National Center for Advanced Manufacturing, Lennox Heating & Air Conditioning, Saturn Corporation, Northrup Grummann, (ESSD), The Aerostructures Corporation, and other smaller industries. His work includes research on lean product development, assembly root cause analysis, artificial neural networks, life cycle costs of composites, and real time monitoring and control of mold making and casting processes. Dr. Currie is the Assistant Director of a DOE funded Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) for conducting energy assessments for small and medium-sized manufacturers in TN, KY, AR, and portions of NC, WV, and VA. The Tennessee 3-Star IAC is a collaborative program with satellite centers at the University of Memphis and East Tennessee State University and involves training of students to perform energy, productivity, and waste minimization assessments.

Eleanor Holland, has served as the Director of the Office of Small Business Programs at Defense Supply Center Columbus (DSCC) since 2003. DSCC is DoD’s Supply Chain Manager for the consumable parts used on Land and Maritime Weapon Systems. This includes over 2 million items for vehicles, guns, ships, missiles and electronic spare parts. DSCC award contracts annually in excess of $3 billion with more than 60% going to small businesses.

Ms. Holland has held a number of other positions at DSCC and elsewhere in the Defense Logistics Agency during her 24 year career. She managed several DSCC Long Term Contracting Teams from 1999 to 2003. Prior to that, she was DSCC’s Chief for Procurement Policy from 1997 to 1999. Ms Holland was a Procurement Analyst in Procurement Systems Office at headquarters DLA in Ft. Belvoir, VA from 1994 to 1997. Before transferring to DLA headquarters, she held a number of contracting positions at Defense Electronics Supply Center, formerly in Dayton, OH.

Ms. Holland holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Wright State University in Dayton, OH and a Master Degree in Logistics Management from the Air Force Institute of Technology in Dayton.

John Kravontka, is President of Fuss & O’Neill Manufacturing Solutions LLC., is a training specialist, maintenance professional and a Continuous Improvement advisor. He has more than 34 years of troubleshooting and retrofit experience with many types of equipment. John believes in "hands – on" involvement and innovative team approaches to improve equipment effectiveness.

United Technologies (UTC) created their Quality (LEAN) University in 1998. John was selected as the first University TPM professor to teach UTC’s senior management. He has also developed new and innovative TPM training, with the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP/NIST), which is currently used in 50+ MEP centers around the country.

The team assembled here at F&O Manufacturing Solutions LLC (Trainers, Engineers, Maintenance Managers, Operator Mechanics, many starting out through apprenticeships) is second to none. Our focus is to transfer that knowledge and experience (add value) to provide immediate and sustainable results for our clients.

Bryan Lane, University of Tennessee Center for Industrial Services, is a graduate of Purdue University, Bryan Lane has nearly 25 years of industrial and consulting experience. His varied background includes Safety, Quality Assurance, Inventory Control and Sales. As a consultant for the University of Tennessee, Mr. Lane helped establish the very successful Occupational Safety and Health program and has developed and/or delivered training on a number of subjects including safety, supervisory skills, and Lean Office. He has written video scripts for the highly successful Tennessee OSHA safety video series and provides on-site consulting with companies around the state, conducting safety audits and helping companies develop OSHA-compliant safety programs. Mr. Lane brings real-world experience to his work and his passion to help others is obvious.

Jason Martin is the Continuous Improvement Manager for Kaiser Aluminum’s facility in Jackson, Tennessee. He is a six sigma master black belt, and a graduate of Ohio State University’s Lean Manager Training Program. Jason earned a finance degree from Union University and has worked the past 12 years in manufacturing.

Mike Micklewright is a sought after speaker, consultant, trainer, and facilitator, based in Chicago, specializing in the integration of sound Business Management and Leadership, ISO 9001, ISO/TS 16949, Six Sigma, and Lean. Mike is an ASQ Certified Six Sigma Black Belt, Quality Auditor, Quality Engineer, Quality Manager, and a degreed engineer from the University of Illinois. Prior to starting his own business, Mike worked for the Saturn Corporation and Seaquist Dispensing.

Mike has produced, acted in, and sells his own line of training videos geared towards both Auditees and Auditors. Mike does Shitsu Kigeki, or Stand-up Quality Comedy. He is working on or has completed by now, his latest training video entitled, Lean Living. Mike tends to be controversial in the articles he writes, the presentations he gives, and he has a tendency to tell it like it is. He now writes a Column in Quality Digest’s QualityInsider.

Matthew N. Murray is the Douglas and Brenda Horne Professor of Business at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He also serves as Director of Graduate Studies in the Economics Department and Associate Director of the Center for Business and Economic Research, housed in the College of Business Administration. Dr. Murray served as Department Head in the Economics Department from 1997 to 2002 and is currently Chair of the University Graduate Council. He received his B. A. from the University of Northern Iowa and his M. A. and Ph.D. from the Maxwell School of Citizenship at Syracuse University. Dr. Murray maintains the Tennessee Econometric Model and develops the monthly Economic Indicator Series for the state and its major metropolitan areas. His research generally explores the intersection between public policy and the private sector, in particular state tax policy and economic development. Dr. Murray has published widely and his comments on state and national economic and fiscal matters appear frequently in the media.
Bill Nusbaum is the manager for the Manufacturing Extension Program for Tennessee (part of UT/CIS). He has a strong background in lean and transformation and is a also qualified Shingo examiner. Prior to working for UT he worked for the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Department of Defense as a project engineer and before that was a controls engineer in manufacturing for Corning Glass Works. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with an MS in Technology Commercialization and is also a graduate of Tennessee Tech University with a BS in Electrical Engineering.

Ellen O’Bryant’s areas of expertise and practice are in cultural and communication challenges in the workplace. O’Bryant partners with companies in manufacturing, construction, and hospitality to address language and cultural barriers, particularly those impacting safety, quality and productivity. She consults with clients on all issues related to the integration of Hispanic and immigrant workers. O’Bryant founded ProLingua in 2001 after serving as a foreign expert in China, where she conducted training's at QuFu and RiJiao Universities. She returned to the U.S. with a new approach to bridging language and cultural barriers.

Dale J. Pinnekamp, CPIM, has spent the last 20+ years in five countries on three different continents acquiring diverse experience in international logistics, operations and supply chain management. This broad experience ranges from program management, information technology and production planning and control to master scheduling, distribution and manufacturing. Since joining Business Synergetics in 2005, Dale has focused on supply chain strategy, design, assessments, and operations consulting. He implements improvements to supply chains by pursuing performance excellence using Six Sigma, Lean Manufacturing, and SCOR methods.

Past positions include Logistics Systems Manager for GM Europe and Logistics Manager for Delphi, where his responsibility supported 50 factories and 22 distribution centers. As a General Manager for APL Logistics he ran a logistics, warehousing and distribution operation in Northeastern China. Dale’s consulting engagements in Korea involved Kaizen events utilizing lean manufacturing principles, value stream mapping and other Six Sigma problem solving techniques. Most recently, he has served as Director of Global Logistics and Fulfillment for a venture capital group with six portfolio companies in the automotive aftermarket, chemical, pharmaceutical and electronic industries. He received his Bachelors in Transportation and Logistics from Iowa State and his MBA from the University of British Columbia.

David Ralston is a government contracts and litigation partner in the Washington office of Foley & Lardner LLP, where his practice focuses on federal bid protests, Berry Amendment, Buy American and Trade Agreements Act issues, government contracts and intellectual property issues, claims, disputes and small business size protests. He is a graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service (B.S.F.S., 1976) and Law Center (J. D. cum laude, 1979). He writes and lectures on government contracts issues frequently. He currently serves as a member of the Litigation Steering Committee of the District of Columbia Bar, President of Alpha Sigma Nu, the national honor society of Jesuit colleges and universities, and previously served as Chairman of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.

Dr. Rupy Sawhney received his PhD in Engineering Science and Mechanics from the University of Tennessee in 1991. He is currently the Associate Department Head and Professor of Industrial and Information Engineering in the Department of Industrial and Information Engineering at the University of Tennessee. He is also the Director for the Center for Productivity Innovations.

Albert Tieche, University of Tennessee Center for Industrial Services. He is presently a safety consultant and trainer for industrial customers. Prior to that he performed similar functions in the environmental arena. Albert also produces custom safety videos for industrial and governmental customers. He has produced over 50 different videos for companies in Tennessee and several other states.

Dr. Deborah Tobey has been in the Human Resource Development field for more than 20 years. She is Vice President of Organization Development at Comdata Corporation, and is owner of a solo consulting practice, Deb Tobey LLC. She has worked successfully in both internal and external roles, and is fortunate to be integrating the two roles in her current work.

Deb has served clients in both the public and private sector, including such organizations as Saturn Corporation, General Mills, O’Charley’s Corporation, the State of Tennessee Departments of Personnel and Transportation, Whirlpool Corporation, the University of Tennessee Institute for Public Service, the YWCA, Deutsche Bank, BMI Inc., the Center for Nonprofit Management, and the American Management Association.

Dr. Tobey is based in Nashville, Tennessee. Her doctorate is in Human Resource Development (HRD) from Vanderbilt University, where she also served as adjunct professor for 5 years. She currently serves (since 2001) as an adjunct professor in the HRD graduate program at George Washington University in Washington DC since.

Mr.Tab Wilkins joined the NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership as Senior Technology Advisor and Account Manager bringing over 20 years of experience in helping manufacturers increase the productivity of their assets. In addition to helping form and direct two manufacturing assistance centers, he also worked with several states on their SBIR promotion programs helping companies raise millions of dollars in R&D funding. He’s also created angel networks and managed university-industry cooperative programs supporting the formation of hundreds of new successful technology-based companies and spin-out products.