Leading Manufacturers Gather To Share Lean Practices

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA (September 15, 2006) – The 60th meeting of the Advanced Manufacturing Forum will convene in early November at Penn State with representatives from Boston Scientific, Flinchbaugh Engineering, The HON Company, and Thomas and Betts Corporation offering insight into their companies' experiences streamlining production and plant operations.

The forum, which is sponsored by Center for the Management of Technological and Organizational Change at Penn State's Smeal College of Business, fosters discussion and idea exchange among managers who are introducing changes in their operations.

It begins on the evening of Nov. 2 at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel with a reception, orientation, and dinner. The event continues the next day with seminars by the four presenters, each of whom has extensive experience in implementing lean practices.

The seminars will be followed by morning and afternoon break-out sessions to discuss each topic in greater depth.

The presenters and topics:

Theodore Weir, Senior Manager of Process Development, Boston Scientific
Weir will share how his Wayne, N.J., plant is integrating lean, Six Sigma, and process characterization into its new product development.

Michael Lehman, President, Flinchbaugh Engineering, Inc.
Lehman will discuss his company's "line transfer" business strategy and share how lean practices and employee ownership have changed the organization.

Danny Jones, Rapid Continuous Improvement Manager, The HON Company
Jones will provide a look at the history and evolution of Rapid Continuous Improvement at HON in response to the company's operations excellence and lean manufacturing strategies.

Herb Bradshaw, Plant Manager, Thomas and Betts Corporation
Five years after implementing an operational improvement plan based on lean manufacturing, Bradshaw will discuss how lean principles have led to production performance improvements of more than 65 percent per capita.

The Center for the Management of Technological and Organizational Change strives to help organizations efficiently implement innovations that improve their business practices without greatly disrupting them. As part of that mission, the Advanced Manufacturing Forum exists to provide managers with a setting in which to share experiences and ideas about implementing advanced manufacturing technology and practices.

For more details and forum registration information, visit www.smeal.psu.edu/cmtoc/forum/forum60.html.