Andreas has started his career as legacy system developer in banking IT, quickly developing into process and information flow topics. At Kotányi he concepted the central business intelligence solution and created approx. 1000 reports and analysis. With the implementation of SCM in 2008 he changed department to create effective supply chain control tools and lead internal projects. In 2013 he became Director Supply Chain Management. He is now in lead of customer service, logistics, supply chain operations, S&OP and business intelligence. Main responsibilities are reduction of lost sales, increasing goods availability, capacity management and enabling high operational stock.

Inspire action, improve results together and make work more fun. That is the vision Ariane used in her different senior management positions, with proven results. In 2014, she co-wrote the book ‘Improving Results Together’ with leaders sharing the same vision of Inspirational Leadership. Ariane frequently writes articles about this topic and speaks fervidly about it at conferences. After 15 years of senior management positions, Ariane recently became a partner at Synergie, a consultancy firm working on creating inspiring organizations with impact. Inspired employees are over twice as productive than satisfied employees. Let alone dissatisfied employees. How do you lead with purpose? To enable your teams to work with passion again and are inspired to action? That they want to grow personally, but also as a team, and by doing so also growing the organization. Synergie works on inspiring organizations with impact. Organizations which deserve the attention of the (labor) market instead of asking for it, and know how to convert this ambition into concrete impact. We combine 25 years of experience with the insights of 10 years of research to the most inspiring companies. In her last management position within Philips, Ariane empowered the local Customer Services team, comprising of 250 people (Field service engineers, Technical Support, Call Centre etc.) to improve the margin by making the complete team responsible for the end results (more satisfied customers, improved sales and margin and more satisfied colleagues). By getting this responsibility, it inspired the team to take that extra mile, and also dramatically increased employee satisfaction. At Vodafone, where she was responsible for the Small Medium Enterprise segment (customers of 10-500 FTE) and Internet of Things, she transformed the teams from SIM-card selling to solution selling, using the Vodafone way of mobile working as a role model for customers to adopt. As an inspirational leader, Ariane improves results with a stronger team, connecting with all layers in the organization. With her technical background she analyses processes in order to be able to make data-driven decisions for improvement, whilst having the empathic leadership to convince and lead the team towards improving these processes. Ariane Roos is a frequently asked speaker at conferences where she passionately speaks about inspirational leadership: empower the customer facing people to optimally do their job and truly inspire them to action.

Billy Ingram is a learner, innovator and inventor. He has 35 years of experience in the manufacturing industry. His strengths include socially responsible cultural transformation, sustainable business model creation and operational re-engineering. He strives to build more sustainable business models through the practical application of socially responsible engagement practices, innovation frameworks and improvement methodologies.

Christian studied Materials Handling at the University of Applied Science at Erfurt, graduating with a degree in engineering (2002) and later completed a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree program at the University of Wales, UK (2012). Currently he is enrolled in a Master of Science degree program in Information Technology at the Indiana University Bloomington, USA. From 2003 till 2018 Christian held several leadership roles in Operations, Lean and Supply Chain Management for Grammer, ITW, TRW, Faurecia and Federal Mogul in Europe, Asia and the US. During this time, he was responsible for the setup of two manufacturing plants in Asia as well as more than 15 restructuring projects across the globe. Beside his operational responsibilities Christian was also jointly responsible with the conceptual design and roll out of the Production System for Federal Mogul as well as for TRW. His most challenging project was the setup of a new Just in Time plant in South Korea (2009). “At this time, I was fairly young (29) and put in charge in a culture where it is all about seniority and hierarchical levels. I have done many mistakes, have learned a lot and was successful in the end because of a great team and an inspirational leader”. Christian has a deep technical understanding and a high level of expertise in Production and Supply Chain with modern methods and standards. This expertise he is passing over in form of his lecturing assignments in International Production, Digital Strategies and Lean Management at two technical universities in Germany. Currently, Christian is working for STAEDTLER, a traditional German FMCG manufacturer, where he is responsible for the lean transformation along with the digital agenda for the manufacturing network.

Electronic Engineer graduated from University of Palermo, 39 years old. 13 years of experience in Manufacturing in 3 different multinational companies. Several positions covered (Quality SPC, Lean coordinator, Production manager, Plant Manager, Industrial Director, Lean and Quality Director) and since 2016 partnership with Pavia University in Lean Production training course. Leading change and people common denominator in each role, combined with a profound belief in lean principles and continuous improvement mindset. In 2016 participation to Master Class in Japan opened my eyes and helped me to better understand the deep meaning of lean manufacturing. Challenging targets always achievable if we inspire the team with a common vision and we communicate a clear strategy to them: well defined indicators translated to all levels of the organization and people empowering is a key point for success. “Take care of your people and they’ll take care of your customers and business”: it is a note sentence in which I strongly believe.

David Streit is an experienced sales professional with special expertise in project- and sales management. Located in Siegen, north of Frankfurt, he spent the last 8 years in leading sales positions serving OEM´s and Endusers in several industries. As an Industry Account Manager at Rockwell Automation, the world’s largest company focused on Industrial Automation, Control and Information Solutions for the manufacturing industry, he is responsible for key customers in the Life Sciences Industry in Germany. David is focused on supporting manufacturers on their journey of digital transformation, developing the right strategy and a reliable implementation planning. Together with his wide network of experts in automation, he sees himself as a travel guide on the ongoing, exciting journey of digitalization in the manufacturing industry.

Prof. Dr. Dimitris Kiritsis is Faculty Member at the Institute of Mechanical Engineering of the School of Engineering of EPFL, Switzerland, where he is leading a research group on ICT for Sustainable Manufacturing. He serves also as Director of the doctoral Program of EPFL on Robotics, Control and Intelligent Systems (EDRS). His research interests are Closed Loop Lifecycle Management, IoT, Semantic Technologies and Data Analytics for Engineering Applications. He served also as Guest Professor at the IMS Center of the University of Cincinnati, and Invited Professor at the University of Technology of Compiègne, the University of Technology of Belfort-Montbéliard and at ParisTech ENSAM Paris. Prof. Kiritsis is actively involved in EU research programs in the area of Factories of the Future and Enabling ICT for Sustainable Manufacturing. He has more than 220 publications. From September 2013 to September 2019 Dimitris was Chair of IFIP WG5.7 – Advanced Production Management Systems. From 2013 to 2017 he was member of the Advisory Group of the European Council on Leadership on Enabling Industrial Technologies – AG LEIT-NMBP. He is also founding fellow member of the International Society for Engineering Asset Management (ISEAM), of various international scientific communities in his area of interests including EFFRA and among the initiators of the IOF (Industrial Ontologies Foundry).

I like considering myself a Millennial with almost 20 years of experience. Italian, “friulano”, engineer. I spend a huge portion of my career in operations, starting from operator in assembly to factory director in Electrolux Porcia. In Electrolux Porcia factory we introduced in 2015 an innovative platform of resource management. This experience was fundamental to make the good knowledge owned by few excellent managers available to the whole organisation. In the last 2 years I’ve been leading digital transformation in Operations Europe for Electrolux. Together with my digital team we are connecting the 15 factories in Europe towards new digital experiences. We are either piloting and adopting new technologies and enabling people in becoming more familiar with them.

Dr. Jens Schulz holds a PhD in industrial mathematics from TU Berlin. After his PhD in 2012 he served in various roles to successfully establish advanced analytics in practice, e.g., for chemical manufacturing at BASF SE as well as aircraft planning at Lufthansa Systems. He is now Technical Product Manager at FICO, delivering advanced analytics and decision technologies across all industries. He is president of the GOR (German Society of Operations Research) working group "Real World Optimization" since 2017 bridging the gap between industry and research.

Jesper has delivered organizational footprint and technology strategies within Element design and Mould Manufacturing - establishing Engineering centers in LEGO manufacturing sites in Mexico and Denmark. Responsibilities include delivering innovation to support product development and leading engineering on manufacturing sites. During his work Jesper has profound focus on how IoT can support his visions and enable the future – a true IOT-technology evangelist. Jesper has worked for LEGO in several roles. 1) Responsibility for R&D in Packaging and Processing (Decorations and Assembly) product line. 2) Responsibilities for product development execution for LEGO DUPLO, LEGO Games, LEGO Technic, LEGO Hero Factory - leading development teams through design, sourcing and marketing process from concept to finished product. 3) establishing logistics strategy, delivered turn around results in increasing differentiated services and reducing costs by e.g. outsourcing, consolidating sites and redefining logistic service offering.

Food Engineer graduated in 2003. Started my carrier in Unilever working in different areas of supply chain. 2 year in manufacturing where I became TPM instructor certified by JIPM in Japan. This knowledge I apply until today in order to understand the root causes of any issue and define measures to solve it. Another 6 year in supply planning and demand planning in Ice Cream business were I also got my CPIM APICS certification. The opportunity to work in different areas that were part of a typical S&OP in a company that is well-known as best in class in this process made me a true believer of the benefits of this process. In 2012, I changed to Robert Bosch to lead the supply chain for Power Tools in LA and do the S&OP implementation in the region. 2016, I moved to Germany to take the global responsibility for the Measuring Tool business units and also to implement the S&OP but in with a global scope this time. In parallel with my carrier, I made a specialization in Supply Chain Management by IBMEC University in Brazil. I also made a MBA by FDC and FGV in Brazil, each one with different approach, first more focus in preparing to lead people and second focusing more in how to implement process to manage efficiently a multinational business.

Dr. Justin Goldston is a Professor of Project and Supply Chain Management at Penn State University. He is also an industry veteran where he has worked with organizations around the world such as Intel, Siemens, and Blue Buffalo on business performance improvement, organizational change, and enterprise-wide digital transformation initiatives. Dr. Goldston is the author of multiple peer-reviewed journal articles on supply chain management and innovative technologies, of Critical Success Factors in ERP Implementations, and is a five-time TEDx speaker where he discussed emerging technologies such as blockchain and Artificial Intelligence. Dr. Goldston has also led and assisted in the development of Supply Chain Management and Business Analytics programs at Georgetown University, Texas A&M University, North Carolina Wesleyan College, and has evaluated programs for the Department of Higher Education while serving on the Management Advisory Board at various higher education institutions.

Lee is a manufacturing professional by trade, with over 25 years experience in manufacturing operations, predominately in FMCG. Currently he is enjoying life in the position of Operational Excellence Lead at Taylors of Harrogate. In recent years, his focus has been on developing data capture systems that identify and help take the frustrations away from operations personnel. Building a structured stable system is key to collecting the correct data which can then be used to drive production and operational improvements. Having the philosophy of “there are no such things as problems, just lots of opportunities for improvement", enables Lee to coach and lead people to understand how they can change the future for themselves, given the right data coupled with structured tools and techniques.

As a Director, Administration and Supply Chain Management, Marco is responsible for all the daily operations pertaining supply chain management for the operations of “Grupo Cuinba”, a leader in leather manufacturing and trading in Mexico. His responsibilities include: production and materials requirements planning, supply chain management, financial planning and budgeting, P&L responsibility, human resource management, legal management and corporate and board relationship management. During his career, Marco has occupied several senior and directive positions, in areas such as Supply Chain Management, Administration, Finance, Project Management, Continuous Improvement and Strategic Planning. Marco received his B.S Degree in Industrial Engineering with a minor in Systems from Monterrey Tech., in Mexico, and has also three master degrees: an MBA from Thunderbird, School of Global Management, a dual degree on MSc in Information Management from Lancaster and Manchester Business School, and a Master on Tanning Processes from CIATEC, in Mexico.

Dr. Nourredine Boubekri is currently a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at The University of North Texas. He received his Ph.D. in Industrial and Management Systems Engineering. He received both his Master and Bachelor of Science degrees in Manufacturing Engineering. His career started at the University of Miami. There he founded the University of Miami Industrial Assessment Center in the year 2000, which is currently still funded by DOE. His experience includes his roles as Department chair /Director of Research and Innovation /Director of UNT SACSCOC reaffirmation. He directed more than thirty-five Master and Ph.D. Students and published more than 100 technical articles and journal papers in the areas of Green Manufacturing, New Product/Process Development Management, Project Management and Quality Management. His research funding exceeds five million dollars in grants and contracts. He has been an invited/Keynote speaker at a number of international conferences and symposiums.

Dr.-Ing. Sebastian Gottschalk studied Mechanical Engineering at the RWTH Aachen in Germany and INSA de Lyon in France. He did his PhD studies on Production Engineering and obtained an Executive MBA title of the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland). After working as leader of the business unit Production Management in industry consultancy and research at the RWTH Aachen he joined Beiersdorf AG in 2009. He took here the global responsibility for the production network development and Beiersdorf´s global production efficiency program and built and started-up the company’s biggest overseas facility in Mexico. Today Sebastian is leading Beiersdorf’s Supply Chain Transformation and global Engineering overseeing the master planning and Capex program for the production network.

After graduating as a Polymer Processing Engineer, Stéphane COUDURIER CURVEUR has equally split his 25 years career between Manufacturing & Engineering, in Operational or Central Functions. First in a UK based plant, Managing Process Development & Production, as a Toyota supplier, where he developed his hands on & lean approach of Technology Efficiency. Then as the Manager of Faurecia Worldwide team of Injection Process/Tool Engineers & Experts, based in China, to establish from this important country supplier of tools, the Excellence level expected by Faurecia. After a brief return back to the floor to recover efficiency of Faurecia Mexican Injection Operation, he is now in charge of leading the full Injection Operation of Faurecia to Excellence & beyond. 850 machines in 53 plants Worldwide, developing a collaborative network between entities to boost knowledge & efficiency, engaged in digital transformation & using successfully Big Data to improve performance & go beyond Excellence.

Sydney Badger is a twelve-year fashion supply chain and retail veteran, having spent the bulk of her career between Amazon.com and Ralph Lauren. She lives between Shenzhen, China and Seattle, WA where she co-founded Public Habit in 2019. Public Habit is a fashion eCommerce business committed to making only what we sell in order to eliminate textile waste in the fashion industry. They are disrupting the fashion supply chain by flipping the traditional model, starting with customer demand and producing only what is needed. They ship straight from the source and deliver within 2-4 weeks.

Uwe has more than 25 years experience in the manufacturing environment and with industrial software and automation products. He spent 5 years as an application engineer with Schiess a major manufacturer of heavy machine tool builder before he started to be involved of developing the first Industrial pc´s and the use of pc equipment to control and optimize palletize systems. Prior to Incuity and Wonderware, Uwe has built up the sales area for an engineering company and sold automation solution to all kinds of manufacturing segments. After running his own business Uwe joined Wonderware in 1994 as regional sale manager in the west part of Germany. 1995 he moved to the head quarter in the US to develop the OEM program. In this timeframe Uwe gained also international expirience in Asia. Since 1997 he was leading the sales organization of the German operation including the ERP and Maintenance sales which came through Wonderware in 1999. January 2001 he took over the position as managing director in Scandinavia where he was building up the new entity which was created in April 2001 with a clear focus on adding value to their customers business. In 2003 Uwe became the additional responsibility of the German operation as Managing Director. April 2005 he exepted the position as Director Business Development and Marketing EMEA where he was responsible for extending the established markets and grow new emergency market segments or area. Together with his Marketing manager he developed the marketing strategies for Wonderware in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. His primary goal was to grow significant the business in EMEA as well as identifying new potential business segments. Since Jan 2014 Uwe was also appointed to the Chairman of the EMEA board of Mesa International a non profitable association focusing since more than 20 years on Manufacturing. Uwe Kueppers is married and has a son and a daughter.

Supply Chain leader with > 20 years of experience in all end-to-end competence fields of Supply Chain Management. Originator of Supply Chain’s Digital Transformation program. Recent recognitions: World Economic Forum’s nomination as “4th Industrial Revolution Lighthouse”. Leading cross-functional interdisciplinary teams on all management levels and geographies. Proven successes in greenfield (new factory construction), brownfield, site master-planning development and implementation, footprint development and restructuring, site divest and production transfers. Management of double-digit MEUR invest projects in key innovation technologies, capacity expansion projects and site development. Successful steering of major acquisitions and post-merger integrations. Profound background process safety, sustainability footprint improvement, HSE and quality management as well as corresponding ISO standards.