NORWALK, CT-Richard Schuler, director of lean implementation at Raytheon Co.'s Integrated Air Defense Center (Andover, MA), will present the keynote address "Lean Transformation Process: Leveraging the Power of Many" at this year's Assembly East trade show.

Co-located with NEPCON East/Electro, Assembly East 2006 takes place May 10-11 at the New Boston Convention and Exhibition Center in Boston. Schuler's presentation is set for 11 a.m., May 10.

Together, Assembly East and NEPCON East/Electro represent one of the Northeast's leading trade events, with suppliers displaying a full range of assembly equipment for both the electronics and general manufacturing sectors. This year's event, which is organized by Reed Exhibitions and sponsored by ASSEMBLY magazine, includes an all-new technical conference featuring sessions on lean manufacturing, electronics manufacturing for the military sector, RFID and machine vision, and data management.

In 2005, Raytheon's Integrated Defense Systems Center received the Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing in recognition of its successful implementation of lean manufacturing strategies. In his role as lean implementation director, Schuler played a pivotal role in this process by establishing both strategies and metrics for the program.

"Raytheon's achievement in winning the 2005 Shingo Prize is not only something to honor, but also something to learn from," says Reed Exhibitions vice president Kelvin Marsden-Kish. "The constant demand of doing more with less is what manufacturing professionals are challenged with daily. We are very excited to have Mr. Schuler share his successes and how they can be applied to the working environments of our attendees."

Running concurrently with Assembly East will be the annual SMTA Boston Conference, a 3-day technical conference for electronics manufacturers, produced by the Surface Mount Technology Association (SMTA, Edina, MN). SMTA Boston begins one day earlier than the exhibition, on May 9. For more information, visit www.smta.org.

For more information about NEPCON East/Electro 2006 and to register for free show admission, visit www.nepconeast.com. For more information about Assembly East 2006 visit www.assemblyeast.com.