Following Lean Manufacturing leadership roles in automotive industry, Alessio joined Philip Morris International and led the establishment & production of the PMI’s biggest future production site at Bologna, Italy. With the learnings, he is currently leading the Digital Transformation of all PMI production centers globally.

Alexander Moentjens graduated as a master in mechanical engineering from Ghent University in Belgium. He started his career in aviation and joined Bekaert in 2014 after a tenure as consultant at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). At Bekaert, Alexander focuses on change management and operations. Today, he is in the global manufacturing excellence team the Global Program Lead for Digitalization in Operations.

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 moderates team sessions, frequently writes articles about this topic and speaks fervidly about it at conferences. After 15 years of senior management positions at Stork, Vodafone and Philips, Ariane became a partner at Synergie, a strategy consultant working on Business for Good. 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 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 Business for Good: inspiring organizations with impact. Supporting organizations to become high impact organizations: doing good and doing this extremely well. These organizations get the attention of the (labor) market instead of asking for it and know how to convert this ambition into concrete impact.

Bernard Cubizolles is the global product marketing manager for the GE Digital industrial software products. He has been with General Electric for over 15 years and holds a PhD in applied physics. In his 30-plus-year career, Bernard has become a recognized expert in the process industry. His expertise in industrial automation helps companies achieve real value from the Industrial Internet. By using software and mobile solutions, Bernard believes infrastructure and manufacturing executives can transform big data into actionable information and knowledge.

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.

Technical adventurer, worked in project based engineering, OEM engineering, Sourcing, Project lead, International marketing, sales and business development the last decade. I gathered my experience in three different companies, all of them in the Compressed Oil-Free Air domain.

I believe that the power of an organisation lies in its people and that a culture dedicated to nurturing engagement, building problem-solving confidence and reinforcing ownership for standards in every employee is the only way to deliver sustainable excellence in Health & Safety and Operational Performance. Director of Client Development focused on partnering with organisations to support their OpEx/TPM/Lean and EHS Excellence ambitions. A class-leading track record of delivering tailored, high quality Operational Excellence, true TPM, Lean, employee-owned Safety and Change Management programmes across a diverse range of sectors; expert in all aspects of policy deployment, leadership development and mentoring, organisational alignment and teaching and coaching focused problem-solving methodologies; special emphasis placed on nurturing a “trust culture” founded on associate ownership for a sustained operational performance.

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.

For the past two decades I have been a Lean Management Professional building greenfield and turning around brownfield operations within automotive and FMCG industries. The cornerstone of my professional achievements are and have always been people – my workmates who while coached and empowered achieved results far surpassing any expectations. And there is no bigger satisfaction than watching like consistency in using lean methods turn stagnation and disbelief into growth and vision. My field of expertise are Standardization, Continuous Improvement and Root Cause Analysis. However I always refer the tools to psychological and sociological background to provide the holistic understanding of what Taiichi Ohno created giving the world the one and only Lean Manufacturing System.

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.

Denis is an accomplished leader with an impressive history of advancing innovative solutions, including autonomous aerial vehicles, mobile robots, and robot piece picking applications into global warehouse operations. He currently serves as Director of Business Development - Europe for Locus Robotics, leading strategic and operational initiatives aimed at increasing Locus's European portfolio. Before joining Locus, Denis led the Global Robotics Acceleration Program at DHL. In this role, he scouted, tested, advised, and deployed the latest automation and warehouse technologies across diverse industries in over 30 countries. Denis's rich international business background, extensive warehouse experience, and passion for innovation allow him to quickly strengthen Locus's European presence while also expanding existing customer programs. Denis holds a Master of Business Engineering from Steinbeis University of Berlin.

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.

Filip Waelkens graduated as a master in electromechanical engineering from KU Leuven, Belgium. He started his career as consultant at Accenture before joining Bekaert in 2000. After different SAP project management roles for the wire business of Bekaert and gaining experience in manufacturing operations in the role of plant quality manager in the specialty steel wire business, Filip joined in 2013 the global manufacturing excellence team, where he became responsible for the introduction of MES in Bekaert. After a successful pilot in the Slovakian plant, Filip is now leading the global deployment of MES in Bekaert.

Currently Leader of the Business Development team at Resco and taking care of EMEA regions, Giorgio has 10+ years of cross-sector leadership and sales experience. Giorgio is experienced in building an important network of B2B clients and achieving great expertise in delivering projects and results. As a BD Leader he has the responsibility to carry out Resco business strategy and development on a global scale, taking care of more than 100 countries and several different industry sectors.

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.

Dr Kamila Walters, after completion of A-levels at a College of Technology, joined the Jan Dlugosz University in Czestochowa (Poland), to study ‘STEM Subjects with Teacher Training’. She holds both BSc and MSc degrees in Physics, also gained from the same University. Equipped with the MSc degree, she decided to continue her career in research and Academia at the Czestochowa University of Technology (Poland), and, in 2005, successfully completed a PhD thesis, and was awarded a PhD degree in Physics, at the University of Lodz (Poland). In 2007, after moving to the UK, Dr Kamila Walters joined the University of Brighton as a Research Officer, to work on the successful completion of an Anglo-French collaborative project in the field of novel composite materials. After completion of this project, she moved to work in Industry, and, for the next 10 years, gained extensive experience working within a wide range of departments in an SME company within the FMCG sector; these departments included: operations, planning (as Planner, and, later, Planning and Reporting Manager), supply chain (as Supply Chain Manager), and finance (business intelligence – as Finance Business Partner). In June 2019, Dr Kamila Walters returned to work in Higher Education, as Lecturer in Supply Chain and Operations at the University of Brighton – in order to pass-on her industrial experience and to help to develop a new workforce, capable of taking on challenges of working within the Supply Chain.

Mr. Terho is the General Manager for Elisa Smart Factory. Mr. Terho has been advising several Fortune 500 companies to strategically transform and optimise their manufacturing operations with help of digital technologies. Prior to joining Elisa Smart Factory, Mr. Terho held various leadership positions in service management, sales and business development at tier-one wireless service providers, and at global blue-chips including Hewlett-Packard. Kari holds an MBA in Business Administration.

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.

My name is Luc Roesems and latest employed as Vice President Manufacturing at Samsonite. Throughout my career I have held several positions working for multinational companies; From Demand and Supply Manager, to Head of Supply Chain and S&OP, Director Global Operations & PMO, Divisional Plant Operations Director, Vice President Manufacturing. Holding following certifications: APICS CPIM, CSCP and SCOR-P, Lean and Six Sigma Black Belt. Associated with Advance Operations Management School as a free-lance teacher APICS. Have founded my own consultancy company PerfectOps in 2017 (ww.perfectops.be)

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.

Mark Carnaghan is a senior business leadership professional and MBA graduate with distinction who is currently a Director within Meal Solutions Division as part of 2 Sisters Food Group. In this capacity he directs the flagship business unit at Carlisle producing prepared meals across a variety of categories for its principle customer, M&S. Following 5 years’ service as an Army Infantry officer Mark picked up a manufacturing leadership role in Mars before coming to specialize in business Operational Excellence journeys and turnarounds developing a strong track record of delivery as he has progressed into General Management and directorship. This has included leading operations and business units within own label food manufacturing and printing at Greencore, Communisis and latterly 2 Sisters Food Group. As an inspirational leader Mark has led successful cultural and business change programmes within and across sites establishing high performing, empowered teams and sustainable processes to deliver bottom line results including in Information Management. People are at the heart of Mark’s leadership philosophy which stresses role modelling best practice, mindfulness and a strong sense of productive service to enhance the experiences of employees at work and the health of the business as a whole. As a passionate developer of current and future leaders Mark actively coaches and mentors within 2SFG while also being a vocal champion for the Company’s newly launched behaviours. On top of this Mark lectures and mentors students at the University of Leeds as part of the ‘Leaders in Residence’ scheme and is a key note speaker in a number of other settings including business and military leadership events.

Martin Demel works as a Sr. Systems Engineer in the JMP division of SAS, where he supports sales and customer development in the German speaking countries. He is the technical contact person for JMP products especially for customers in chemical, pharma, biotech, semiconductor and manufacturing industries. Before joining SAS he worked for The MathWorks. There he was Application Engineer, and before Technical Support Engineer. Demel was responsible for all MATLAB and some Simulink related toolboxes, parallel computing and deployment. He owns a diploma in Technomathematics from the TU Munich and worked during his study for MAN (construction and calculation) and for IABG (Mechatronic).

Matthias Gräfe is the Global Transformation Executive responsible to transform IBM’s supply chain to become a transparent and cognitive value chain. Matthias runs a group of supply chain subject matter experts and is heading IBM’s Smarter Supply Chain Analytics Center of Competency. Prior to joining the transformation organization Matthias has gained execution experience in several supply chain operational leadership roles. Matthias has more than 20 years’ experience in supply chain management and transformation. He has worked in multiple areas of a supply chain such as engineering, manufacturing, procurement, sales and demand planning and scheduling. Before he joined the global transformation & operations team Matthias has taken leadership roles in growth countries in eastern Europe as well as in Asia Pacific. Matthias is a certified Consulting Supply Chain Management Professional (CSCMP) and is holding patents in the supply chain processes & solutions area. He obtained a Master in Mechanical Engineering and Business Administration at the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany.

Michael Schneider is responsible for scouting and delivering innovative technologies to Roche’s Drug Product manufacuturing network. Michael joined Roche in 2004 and held various positions of increasing responsibility in Biotech and Steriles manufacturing. He started his career in large investment projects for new Biotech and Parenteralia manufacturing facilities. Michael led the Manufacturing Science and Technology unit in Mannheim and was involved in business critical product launches and transfers. Since 2017 he was responsible for the global asset and product sourcing strategy of the Drug Product manufacturing network before taking over his current role in technology innvation in 2020. Michael holds a Master in Chemical Engineering and PhD in Technical Sciences from ETH Zurich and an Executive MBA from IMD Lausanne.

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.

I am the Production Unit / Operations Manager for DES (Drug Eluting Stents) Production Unit in Boston Scientific, Galway, Ireland. I lead an organisation of over 620 employees focused on delivering high quality medical devices, supporting annual revenue of $1.5bn with annual operations budget of $180m. Our success is based on a culture of high performance, enabling our teams achieve their goals focused on a common purpose. With over 15 years’ experience, my background in Operational Excellence has enabled me build systems that deliver high customer value through a culture of engagement and excellence. I have an B.Eng. in Industrial Engineering through NUIG, Galway (Ireland) and a MSc in Lean Enterprise through University of Buckingham, UK. In the 15 years of my profession career I have learned, implemented and tested methods of delivering Operational Excellence / Lean in multiple production areas and sites. From 2013 to 2016, I lead the Operational Excellence team of 15 employees in Boston Scientific, Galway in which we developed the sites Operational Excellence strategy in conjunction with the site Leadership Team. The strategy focused on delivering excellent systems based on a Culture of Engagement. In 2015, the People Engagement program commenced using a Rapid Mass Engagement approach. This program enabled the site improve Engagement levels year on year, outstripping benchmark organisations while the site grew from 2500 employees in 2015 to over 4,200 employees today. In the past 4 years I moved into direct Operations Management where I led teams and Production areas from 400 employees to over 600. My background in Operational Excellence and Culture development allowed me to introduce new systems in these areas and truly test both these systems and my ability to lead and own the results “Business and human endeavours are systems… we tend to focus on snapshots of isolated parts of the system. And wonder why our deepest problems never get solved” (Peter Senge)

Dr Patrick McLaughlin is a Chartered Engineer and Eur Ing. He is a Fellow of both the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the Institution of Engineering and Technology, as well as a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He has an MSc in Industrial Engineering and Production Management and a Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA), both from Cranfield. In a career that spans manufacturing engineer, manager and director, he has worked in both multinational and SME businesses. His experiences with a range of manufacturing processes and working for a number of different companies allied to experience in several industries has provided him with a strong background in managing manufacturing operations, including managing growth, downturn, restructuring and relocation of manufacturing facilities. He has worked at director level in manufacturing operations for over twenty years, and has been responsible for several plant-wide operations excellence implementations. He has experience of implementing and managing change programmes to improve manufacturing performance in automotive, capital goods, industrial equipment and consumer durables. This experience includes responsibility for integrating the design and development of new products into a lean operations environment and developing a continuous improvement culture to facilitate performance gains in lean implementations. He is currently working as Course Director of the Operations Excellence MSc at Cranfield University in the UK. His areas of interest are in Developing Manufacturing Strategy for Competitive Advantage, Creating an Innovation Capability in Operations Businesses, and Strategic Development of Smart Manufacturing/Industry 4 to provide Competitive Advantage.

Rajesh is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor ) at the Teesside University’s Business School in the UK. Over the past 18 years, Rajesh has worked in different areas of science, business and technology across Europe, Asia and America. His primary research focuses on Business Intelligence for Industrial Automation (Industry 4.0). Before joining this role, Rajesh was the Head of Department for Technology Management and a Senior Scientist for Business Intelligence at one of the world’s renowned research institute in Germany (Fraunhofer Society). Rajesh has a BSc in Information Systems, MSc in Mechatronics and he pursued his Doctoral degree in Value Chain Engineering on a full industrial scholarship at one of the UK’s leading group ‘ Warwick Manufacturing Group’ at the University of Warwick. Rajesh has got several awards that includes 3 consecutive years of scientific excellence from Fraunhofer and the highly commendable award for the best international student of the year 2002 in Germany by the German Academic Council. Rajesh speaks 5 languages fluently including Russian and German. Rajesh has visited 55 countries for work, study and leisure.

My name is Roberto Napione (56) , I’m working in SKF since 1992 . I’m mechanical engineer ; I studied Mechanical Engineering in Politecnico of Turin an important Engineering University . My career has been initially in manufacturing Operations: Quality manager , Manufacturing manager , Unit manager, Factory Director (800 people) Then I move to Manufacturing Development : Manufacturing Development for Business Unit, Group Divisions, SKF Group global, Responsibility in technology step up , managing investments and EHS From 2016 till 2020 I build the Machine Centre of Excellence ; teams in Sweden, Italy, France , India and China. Task to develop machines and IP’s based on key strategic knowledge and connected to I4.0 and smart manufacturing. We produce proof of concept in new technology and we install the machines and the knowledge. In 2020 I got the responsibility of Manufacturing Knowledge Management for EU/ASIA/AMERCAS with the task to preserve the strategical knowledge in Covid and post covid situation and prepare for the new future needs. Involved in several external communication experiences , summit, video, books.

o I’m a 33 year old man with passion for leadership, growth and development. A father of four. Married. I’m exited to share from my mistakes and from the things I have learned so far in my so far short leadership carrier. I’m about to finish my certification as an ICF coach also. I am exited about developing both people and processes, preferably developing people. When I am not working I spend time with family, go out for a morning run, play the guitar or spend time in the garden! With four kids ages 1,5-8 there is always something to do!

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. He is responsible for the factory master planning and Capex program for the production network.

During his 15+ years project management experience, Serkan executed several projects in Philip Morris International and before in white appliance, steel industries. He is currently responsible for the execution of transformation project at PMI facility in Turkey.

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.

Wade Wessels is Director of Connected Solutions and IoT at Donaldson Company, Inc. a multibillion-dollar filtration company serving industrial and transportation markets in 164 countries. Wessels leads a cross-functional team that develops new solutions and business models based on Internet of Things (IoT) technology. His group recently launched the company’s first connected maintenance solution for industrial filtration applications. With degrees in engineering and business entrepreneurship, Wessels has more than 15 years of experience leading new initiatives at Donaldson and Honeywell, in positions ranging from engineering management to marketing and new business development. His work has focused on IoT, sensing, electronics, and green diesel, using new technologies to reinvent legacy product portfolios or start new corporate ventures. Over his career, Wessels has served OE and after-market customers in sectors as diverse as heavy-duty vehicles, aerospace , defense, and industrial capital equipment, and has collaborated with U.S. and foreign governments on green technology initiatives. Wessels has been a featured speaker at many conferences. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University and an MBA in Entrepreneurship and International Business from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Business.

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.

Jorin Preuß is Vice President Supply Chain Management at ElringKlinger AG. He joined the EK Group in 2015. Since then globally responsible for all operational supply chain departments in above 25 locations. With teams in headquarter in Germany and regional functions in America and Asia, the corporate functions assign transparency and standards for all operations, such as business units and the board. Establish SAP standard training and reports for better control of supply chain management. Introduce and modify key responsibilities to interlink departments of sales, purchase, production, finance, and IT. Answerable for Capex planning and publication for all logistics equipment globally. He holds a Diploma degree in industrial engineering. Starting 2008 in automotive industry in charge of several logistics and supply chain strategy projects for operational relocations, lean improvements and SAP standardizations. Instrumental to marginal cost control for crossover production as necessary for relocations and optimisations.

Fatma is the Product Value Chain Director in Grandvision Turkey ( Atasun Optik with local company name ) with 14 years experience in the retail sector. She has joined Grandvision 4 years ago with key responsibilities of Category Management, Demand & Supply Planning, Purchasing and Logistics. She has been responsible for key business projects implementation such as Showroom Model, S&OP, Product Tracking System, Quality Management System. After graduating from Boğaziçi University Economics, she has started her career with C&A Turkey in 2006 in Category Management & Planning. She was responsible for Ladies Division and proved the category growth & profitability increase within years with many actions regarding the collection content, pricing, stock planning. She was promoted as C&A Turkey Marketing Director in 2013 with the responsibilities of Category Management, Planning, Advertising & Communication, Visual Merchandising. She has a passion about the retail industry and improving the company growth via Planning & Category Management strategies. With deep interest in continuing personal development; she has also accomplished ICF Accredited Coaching Certification Programme in 2019.