The #1 barrier to Smart Manufacturing is the lack of connectivity between your systems and processes. The smartest manufacturers are jumping ahead of competitors by using APIs to break through these barriers and get critical data flowing instantly to the right people at the right time. Are you using APIs for this?

Join this webinar and learn:

• How APIs are critical for digital communication throughout the entire value chain
• Why APIs are powerful tools that aren’t just for IT
• How APIs accelerate value realization

Register

By clicking above, I acknowledge and agree to Informa’s Terms of Service and to Informa’s use of my contact information to communicate with me about offerings by Informa, its brands, affiliates and/or third-party partners, consistent with Informa’s Privacy Policy. In addition, I understand that my personal information will be shared with any sponsor(s) of the resource, so they can contact me directly about their products or services. Please refer to the privacy policies of such sponsor(s) for more details on how your information will be used by them.

As a manufacturing organization grows and changes it becomes increasingly difficult to implement business process standards, support quality and consistency, and provide visibility to business leaders who have become removed from the day-to-day operations. Further, a collection of legacy, siloed, customized, out of date solutions leads to redundant, inaccurate data, extra work, and an inability to stay up-to-date on current versions. This scenario will keep your business from achieving its goals, as well as lock your business out from utilizing emerging technologies such as analytics, artificial intelligence, and the internet of things, which are essential for success in the modern manufacturing environment.

You are invited to a webinar on May 30th at 2:00 PM EST, featuring Infor’s Director of Industry and Solution Strategy, Nick Castellina, and Mike Kalinowski, Infor OS Product Manager, to learn about how your business can reduce complexity and differentiate itself in Industry 4.0. During this event, you will learn:

• The biggest issues that manufacturers face as they grow
• Tips for connecting business leaders with relevant information
• Strategies for improving workforce productivity
• How to build a digital foundation for reducing complexity

Speakers

Nick Castellina, Director of Industry and Solution Strategy, Infor
Nick Castellina is Director of Industry and Solution strategy where he is responsible for marketing messaging and strategic direction in the discrete manufacturing industries. At Infor, Nick interacts with end users to understand their challenges and connects with product management and marketing to support Infor’s commitment to delivering focused solutions featuring industry best practices. Prior to Infor, Nick was Vice President and Research Group Director of the Aberdeen Group’s Business Planning and Execution research practice. There he worked with software vendors and end users to analyse trends and produce industry-leading content in topics related to Enterprise Resource Planning, Enterprise Performance Management, Project Portfolio Management, and Business Process Management.

Mike Kalinowski, OS Product Manager, Infor
As a member of Infor OS platform team and based out of Philadelphia, PA, Mike Kalinowski leads product management and strategy for the Infor Data Lake, Data Catalog, and Infor ION’s suite of data transformation tools & utilities. Mike’s role is in identifying and solving enterprise challenges across analytics, search, operational reporting, and predictive silos by driving Cloud-based technologies to address an ever-increasing need for data scalability, governance, and delivery. Previously, Mike spent several years with Preferred Sands leading the application integrations team in automating their rail and truck-based distribution networks.

Register

By clicking above, I acknowledge and agree to Informa’s Terms of Service and to Informa’s use of my contact information to communicate with me about offerings by Informa, its brands, affiliates and/or third-party partners, consistent with Informa’s Privacy Policy. In addition, I understand that my personal information will be shared with any sponsor(s) of the resource, so they can contact me directly about their products or services. Please refer to the privacy policies of such sponsor(s) for more details on how your information will be used by them.

CLASS IS FULL – REGISTRATION IS CLOSED

This half-day workshop will explain POLCA (Paired-cell Overlapping Loops of Cards with Authorization), an alternative to Kanban for material control on the shop floor. POLCA is a card-based visual control system that manages the flow of jobs through the shop floor: at each operation, it controls which job should be worked on next to meet delivery targets. POLCA ensures that upstream operations use their capacity effectively by working on jobs that are needed downstream, while at the same time preventing excessive work-in-process (WIP) build-ups when bottlenecks appear unexpectedly.

POLCA is particularly suited to companies manufacturing high-mix, low-volume and customized products, for which Kanban systems do not work well. Such companies struggle with long lead times, late deliveries and daily expediting to meet delivery dates. POLCA has delivered impressive results in such environments.

The crowning aspect of POLCA is that it is simple. It does not require any complex software implementation: it can be used without an ERP system or it can seamlessly complement an existing ERP system.

The workshop will begin with a tutorial on POLCA, followed by a computer simulation demonstration of POLCA. The class will include several case studies of industry applications, as well as an overview of Suri’s new book on POLCA (see below).

The workshop includes:

• The Need for a New Material Control Strategy: Why MRP systems can result in an increasing spiral of long lead times and late deliveries and why concepts such as takt time and Kanban do not work well in low-volume or custom environments.
• Detailed Explanation of POLCA: POLCA stands for Paired-cell Overlapping Loops of Cards with Authorization. This hybrid push/pull system combines the best features of card-based pull (Kanban) systems and push (MRP) systems while overcoming their drawbacks for low-volume and custom production.
• Computer Simulation of POLCA: A computer simulation will be used to demonstrate how POLCA works for a company making low-volume and custom-engineered products.
• Overview of new book on POLCA: Attendees will get a “walk-through” of Suri’s new book to provide them with an overview of the contents and tips on how to best use the book.
• Industry Case Studies of POLCA Application: Several industry case studies will be presented to show the effectiveness of POLCA for companies in many different industries, including applications in USA, Canada and Europe.

In summary, through the theory and examples in this workshop, attendees will see the impact of POLCA on product lead times and on-time delivery and learn how POLCA can provide companies with a powerful competitive advantage.

** Bonus **

 Attendees will receive a copy of Suri’s newly published book: 

The Practitioner’s Guide to POLCA: The Production Control System for High-Mix, Low-Volume and Custom Products By Rajan Suri, Productivity Press, 2018.

Instructor:

Rajan Suri is Emeritus Professor of Industrial Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He received his Bachelors degree from Cambridge University (England) and his M.S. and Ph.D. from Harvard University. Professor Suri is the Founding Director of the Center for Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, through which around 300 companies have worked with the University on developing and implementing QRM strategies. Click here to learn more about Professor Suri.

**Currently only accepting registrations for a minimum of three, maximum of five attendees per company.**  This training qualifies for WEDnetPA funding as Essential Skills Training.

EVENT IS FULL – NO LONGER TAKING REGISTRATIONS

A Competitive Strategy for Low-Volume and Custom-Engineered Products

Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM) is a companywide strategy for lead time reduction throughout the enterprise. Using QRM, companies have reduced their lead times by 80-90%. As a result, these companies have not only seen large increases in market share, but also experienced 15-20% cost reduction and huge quality improvement. Although Lean Manufacturing techniques can be powerful in certain situations, for companies making low-volume or custom-engineered products, Lean techniques do not always apply well.

QRM can be a more effective, competitive strategy for companies targeting such markets. In addition, companies find that the lead time and cost reductions r4esulting from QRM enable them to compete effectively against low-cost countries.

This workshop will consist of two parts:

• An Overview of QRM Principles & Strategy
• Practical, Hands-on Manufacturing Critical-path Time (MCT)-Mapping Exercises

Overview of QRM Strategy

1. The Power of Time: The non-obvious reasons why lead time is important (much more important than most managers realize), how it influences total operating cost and quality and how to take advantage of this realization.
2. Organizational Structure: How to restructure your organization to minimize lead time throughout the enterprise.
3. System Dynamics: How interactions between machines, people and products impact your lead times. As a result, capacity planning policies (e.g. machine and labor utilization) and lot sizing policies need to be rethought for QRM.
4. Enterprise-wide Application: QRM is not just a shop floor approach; it is applied throughout the organization. This includes material planning and control, purchasing and supply chain management, office operations such as estimating and order processing and new product development. You will also see data on the “bottom line” impact of QRM on product cost, quality and lead times.

Using MCT-Mapping to Identify Lead Time Reduction Opportunities

In partnership with colleagues from major corporations, Suri has developed the concept of Manufacturing Critical-path Time (MCT), a precise metric, which highlights improvement opportunities by clearly quantifying system-wide waste. The metric can be used for both your internal operations as well as for your supply chain.

In this portion of the workshop, you will first learn the detailed definition of MCT and understand the business case for using MCT. You will learn how to calculate MCT correctly for various situations by working on numerical examples. You will learn how to use MCT-Mapping to communicate opportunities and convince management. You will also learn the differences between MCT-Mapping and Value Stream Mapping (VSM) and see why MCT-Mapping more clearly identifies opportunities for lead time reduction.

Both parts of this workshop will combine theory with practical examples using case studies of many companies that have implemented QRM in both USA and Europe.

** Bonus **

 Attendees will receive a copy of Suri’s books: 

It’s About Time: The Competitive Advantage of Quick Response Manufacturing and MCT Quick Reference Guide.

Instructor:

Rajan Suri is Emeritus Professor of Industrial Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He received his Bachelors degree from Cambridge University (England) and his M.S. and Ph.D. from Harvard University. Professor Suri is the Founding Director of the Center for Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, through which around 300 companies have worked with the University on developing and implementing QRM strategies. Click here to learn more about Professor Suri.

**Currently only accepting registrations for a minimum of three, maximum of five attendees per company.** This training qualifies for WEDnetPA funding as Essential Skills Training.

Over time, wear and tear, improper operation, lack of maintenance, and changing use can lead to energy efficiencies and increased operating costs in institutional, commercial, or industrial buildings. Building Re-Tuning (BRT) is a low-cost approach to re-commission a building to restore or exceed its original performance.

This PennTAP webinar will help those involved with building operations learn how to operate buildings more efficiently, reduce operating costs, and provide energy savings.

Register

Are you a facility, operations or plant maintenance manager or staff person? Let PennTAP show you how implementing an Energy Management System (EnMS) can reduce your organization’s energy costs.

This webinar will:

• help you understand the structure, goals, and many benefits of an EnMS
• outline the steps involved in implementing and maintaining an EnMS at your facility
• provide a step-by-step walk-through of the Department of Energy’s online tool — 50001 Ready Navigator

Register