Tauber Manufacturing Institute Hosts Professional Conference
9/15/2005 --

TMI Alumni Board of Directors hosts the first-ever TMI Alumni Conference

ANN ARBOR, Mi. Alumni of the Tauber Manufacturing Institute (TMI) at the University of Michigan reunited on Sept. 15 for a professional conference held at the Four Points by Sheraton in Ann Arbor, along with UM faculty, TMI students, and industry professionals. The conference was organized and hosted by the TMI Alumni Board of Directors (TAB). A joint program of the Universitys College of Engineering and Stephen M. Ross School of Business, TMI's alumni base now boasts over 500 graduates.

Six distinguished speakers delivered outstanding presentations on a diverse range of topics, reflecting cutting-edge issues in the manufacturing industry.

Conference speakers included Mary Petrovich, CEO of AxleTech International, who presented "Lessons Learned from a Modern-Day American Manufacturing and Engineering Success Story: AxleTech International."  In this session, Ms. Petrovich shared her insights from a five-year journey that continues in her quest to build a truly great American company and one that can be held as a role model for others struggling to win with the same global challenges.

Steven Prast, Manager of Manufacturing Consulting at Delmia Corporation, talked about "Lead time compression through knowledge capture: Two world class manufacturers' perspectives." Manufacturing knowledge not properly captured and communicated to the engineering community leads to long launches and production ramp-ups and low profitability. Mr. Prast presented how two world class manufacturers have addressed the challenge of knowledge capture.  Though specific to each industry, the examples clearly demonstrated the universal keys to successful knowledge capture and how they can be easily implemented.

Michael Lowry, President and CEO of Lowry Computer Products, Inc., presented an exciting talk entitled "RFID Technology: Tested, Standardized & Poised for Takeoff." Two years ago Wal-Mart announced that its top 100 suppliers must equip their case and pallet shipments with RFID tags by January 1st of this year. The Department of Defense, Target, Best Buy and other large retailers joined Wal-Mart and issued similar RFID mandates, driving RFID and electronic product code (EPC) technologies into prominence. Mr. Lowry provided an overview of these technologies and their significance in todays supply chain applications.

Damian Beil, Assistant Professor of Operations and Management Science at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, delivered a presentation on "Manufacturing Auctions." Just as many companies have finally come to embrace lean manufacturing processes, the competition is already taking the next step of leaning out their entire supply management system. Internet auctions, when used properly, can make procurement systems better, faster, and cheaper. Dr. Beil introduced various types of procurement auctions, reviewed pitfalls, discussed success stories, and introduced the latest procurement auction research underway at the University of Michigan.

Thom Nealssohn, Senior Project Manager in Masco Corporation's Operational & Technological Services Group, discussed "Innovation: The Latest Buzzword or Next Manufacturing Revolution?"  Mr. Nealssohn shared insights from his journey to develop a process for Innovation one that involves everyone, yields sustainable growth, and is applicable across a wide range of industries. He explained what innovation is (and isnt), how understanding process and consumer needs will help us find big problems worth solving, and most importantly, why Innovation will cease to be a order winner and become an order qualifier.

The final speaker of the day was Brad Hanpeter, Director of Quality and Productivity at Masco Corporation, who presented an overview of Mascos Lean Journey.  A key strategy in Masco's success in running lean operations has been to match specific challenges (which vary in complexity and cross-functionality) with the appropriate progression of tools, including practical problem solving, Kaizen events, value stream mapping, and Six Sigma.

The Tauber Manufacturing Institute is a joint program of the University of Michigans College of Engineering and Stephen M. Ross School of Business.  TMI offers a career-building operations management and manufacturing component that complements select degrees from both schools.

TMI's alumni community is an important link to industry partnerships.  The TMI Alumni Board plans events, programs and outreach activities aimed at boosting TMI's visibility in the manufacturing industry and providing ongoing educational opportunities for its graduates.  For more information about TMI, visit http://www.tauber.umich.edu.

Tauber Media Contact: Email tauber.info@umich.edu