S1: Robotic Automation for High-Mix, Low-Volume Heat Exchanger Fabrication

Time: 9:00 AM - 9:30 AM
Track: Automated Assembly
Presented by: Michael Chang, Project Engineer, EWI

High-mix, low-volume heat exchanger fabrication presents a unique convergence of technical complexity and operational pressure. Manufacturers must manage frequent design changes, varying tube diameters and materials, tight tolerances, and increasing throughput demands—often while facing skilled labor shortages and rising quality expectations. Critical operations such as tube rolling, tube expansion, and tube-to-tubesheet welding remain highly operator-dependent and experience-driven, limiting consistency and scalability.

S2: From Press Data to Autonomous Assembly: How AI-Driven Sensor Intelligence is Redefining Process Integration

Time: 9:00 AM - 9:30 AM
Track:AI in Manufacturing
Presented by: Kevin Den Toom, Product Line Manager, TOX

Manufacturing leaders are no longer struggling with a lack of data — they’re struggling to operationalize it. This session explores how next-generation sensor ecosystems, edge processing, and AI-enabled quality analytics are transforming assembly press operations into connected, self-optimizing manufacturing systems. Using real-world applications from the assembly pressing environment, attendees will learn how high-frequency quality data can improve traceability, reduce variation, accelerate root-cause detection, and enable predictive process control. The presentation highlights practical strategies for integrating smart sensing technologies into existing production environments while driving measurable gains in uptime, throughput, and product quality.

S3: From Auditor to Partner: How Embedded Quality Teams Improve Communication, Ownership and Performance on the Factory Floor

Time: 9:00 AM - 9:30 AM
Track: Quality Leadership, Culture & Workforce
Presented by: Bennie Caldwell, Director of Quality, Bullen Ultrasonics

In many manufacturing environments, quality is still treated as a separate function: the team that audits, inspects and responds when something goes wrong. But in high-precision manufacturing, where small process breakdowns can create major consequences, quality cannot sit at the end of the line. It must be embedded into how teams communicate, solve problems and make decisions every day.

In this session, Bennie will share how his team reframed quality from a compliance function into a factory-floor communication engine. Drawing from real-world experience in advanced manufacturing, Caldwell will explain how simple changes, including replacing underused digital dashboards with a highly visible whiteboard, embedding quality engineers directly into production teams and shifting conversations from “who made the mistake?” to “how did the system allow this to happen?”, helped build trust, improve alignment and strengthen ownership across the plant.

Attendees will learn how to make quality more visible, collaborative and actionable without turning the conversation into another reporting exercise. The session will offer practical lessons for manufacturing, quality and operations leaders who want to reduce silos, accelerate root-cause analysis, improve corrective action discipline and create a culture where operators, engineers and leaders all share responsibility for performance.

S4: Driving Measurable Manufacturing Results: From 96% Defect Reduction to 29% OEE Improvement Using Real Plant Strategies

Time: 9:35 AM - 10:05 AM
Track: Automated Assembly
Presented by: Rajan Chaudhary, Sr. Process Engineer, PPG Industries Inc.

Manufacturers are under increasing pressure to improve quality, increase throughput, and reduce costs—often without the benefit of significant capital investment. This session presents a real-world, data-driven approach to achieving measurable results through process engineering and continuous improvement.

Drawing from hands-on experience leading process optimization and capital projects in chemical and materials manufacturing, this presentation highlights proven strategies that delivered impactful results, including:

• 96% reduction in defects through implementation of vision systems and real-time production monitoring
• 29% improvement in OEE by optimizing centerline processes and eliminating inefficiencies
• 35% reduction in equipment failures through mechanical integrity and predictive maintenance programs
• $1.4M+ in cost savings achieved via Lean Six Sigma initiatives

S5: From Blueprint to Production: How AI Is Transforming Compliance in Manufacturing

Time: 9:35 AM - 10:05 AM
Track: Manufacturing
Presented by: Kunal Chopra, CEO, Certivo

Most manufacturers are done debating whether AI belongs in compliance. The real question is how to get it working, without stalling in pilot purgatory or burning a year on the wrong tool.

This session is a practical playbook for closing the gap between AI strategy and an in-production compliance process. Using real examples from manufacturers tackling PFAS, REACH, RoHS, conflict minerals, and ESG reporting, Kunal will show where AI is actually changing the work today: supplier data collection, document interpretation, regulatory change monitoring, and BOM-level risk assessment. He'll also draw the line between deterministic and generative AI, and explain how to tell which one fits which problem.

Attendees will leave with a framework for moving AI from concept to production, a checklist of pilot failure modes to avoid, and a clear read on what's working in compliance right now and what's still hype.

Key Learning Objectives:

• Map the practical path from AI strategy to in-production compliance workflows, including the most common bottlenecks that stall pilots between blueprint and production.
• Distinguish between deterministic and generative AI in operational terms, and identify which compliance workflows are best suited to each.
• Apply a decision framework to evaluate AI investments, scope pilots that actually scale, and avoid the mismatch failures most commonly reported by manufacturers in 2025 and 2026.

S6: Building Resilient, Quality Focused Teams

Time: 9:35 AM - 10:05 AM
Track: Quality Leadership, Culture & Workforce
Presented by:Ed Potoczak, President, Oakstone Group, LLC

Utilizing well-researched facts and life experience humorous stories, Ed will provide valuable perspective and strategies for success for technical and non-technical stakeholder delegates in building quality-focused, efficient, responsive, and effective teams.

In the product development, quality management, and manufacturing ecosystem, leaders must collaborate with engineers, suppliers, integrators, and clients—often under intense pressure, compressed timelines, and high financial risk.

Yet, “difficult” behaviors—resistance, defensiveness, disengagement, or conflict can slow decisions, increase friction, quietly erode performance, and raise costs.

This 30-minute session introduces a practical, field-tested 3-step leadership communication framework for winning over difficult employees, suppliers, and clients without lowering standards or authority.

Participants will learn how to uncover the real drivers behind misunderstanding and respond in ways that build alignment instead of escalation. Using a 3-Dimensional Communication Model—integrating personality styles, how individuals experience appreciation and respect, and generational expectations, leaders will learn to establish clarity, trust, and mutual respect across all stakeholders.

Attendees leave with actionable strategies to reduce friction, strengthen partnerships, and build high-performing, profitable teams in complex and dynamically changing industry value chains.

S7: A Path to Automation – Manual, Mechanized, Cobot, Robot

Time: 10:20 AM - 10:50 AM
Track: Automated Assembly
Presented by: Dan Colvin, Vice President, North America Robotics & Digital Solutions, ESAB

The fabrication industry is facing a critical shortage of skilled welders. Companies know they need to automate, but moving directly from hand-held GMAW to traditional automation solutions often poses too much complexity and results in paralysis by analysis.

This presentation explores how companies can begin their automation journey with easy to use mechanized tractors, progress to cobots and then, if the need remains, move to full robotic automation.

Simple automation leverages and multiplies the skills of your existing talent to create employee buy-in from the start. I will lay out a roadmap that encompasses the following: capital expense justification with ROI examples, how to select the right applications for a quick win, assembling the correct team, creating a good training and maintenance program for long-term success, and discussing current advances in automation technology (including vision systems, sensors and cobot cells). With a foundation for success, I will conclude with examples to show when to move from mechanized, to cobots to standard automation.

S8: Is Your Plant Ready for AI? Grading Shop-Floor Buy-In and Data Trust

Time: 10:20 AM - 10:50 AM
Track: AI in Manufacturing
Presented by: Vince Sassano, President, Strategic Performance Company

This interactive session moves beyond the theoretical hype of AI to provide small and mid-sized manufacturing leaders with a practical roadmap for integrating AI into existing shop-floor processes. Through real-world case studies and live surveys, we will examine high-impact deployments ranging from intelligent scheduling and downtime reduction to predictive demand forecasting. Participants will explore how to transition from basic experimentation to measurable results by prioritizing specific business pain points over fleeting technology trends. Beyond the tech, the discussion covers critical frameworks for data governance, workforce training, and building a culture that sustains AI-augmented productivity. Attendees will leave with a clear strategy and a step-by-step plan to implement safe, scalable AI that drives profitability and a healthy workplace environment.

Session Takeaways

• Identify High-Impact Wins: Pinpoint the specific AI applications that deliver immediate ROI and measurable productivity gains on the shop floor.
• Build a Practical Roadmap: Master a step-by-step framework for transitioning from basic AI experimentation to a scalable strategy that prioritizes solving core business bottlenecks over following tech trends.
• Modernize Your Workforce Culture: Discover the specific skill sets and cultural incentives required to successfully integrate AI-augmented processes while ensuring long-term employee buy-in and adoption.
• Establish "Safe" Governance: Learn how to implement internal data protections and governance models that accelerate decision-making without compromising your firm's proprietary information.

S9: Corporate Continuous Improvement Without Black Belts: Launching Meaningful CI from Everyday Manufacturing Waste

Time: 10:20 AM - 10:50 AM
Track: Continuous Improvement & Operational Excellence
Presented by: Sheri Seabolt-Walas, Corporate Quality CI Manager, Larsen Manufacturing

Turning Internal Audits into Measurable Continuous Improvement. Internal audits are often treated as a compliance obligation instead of a business improvement tool. This session demonstrates how audit findings can be converted into structured continuous improvement initiatives.

S10: Uncovering Hidden Insights: The Power of Soft Sensors in Industrial Systems

Time: 10:55 AM - 11:25 AM
Track:Automated Assembly
Presented by:Brian Romano, Director of Technology Development, Arthur G. Russell Co. Inc.

Romano will demonstrate how virtual sensors created through software algorithms can extract valuable insights from existing equipment data. Attendees will learn how to leverage sensor data, enhance control logic, and apply statistical modeling to improve machine performance visibility, productivity, and predictive maintenance.

S11: The Future of Lean: AI, Governance, and Innovation

Time: 10:55 AM - 11:25 AM
Track:AI in Manufacturing
Presented by: Girish Gopalakrishnan, NA Senior Manager - Continous Improvement, CNH (Case New Holland)

Lean practitioners continue to face familiar challenges: sustaining improvements, aligning strategy with execution, and embedding problem-solving into daily work. AI increases both the opportunity and the risk. While it can accelerate waste reduction, analysis, and decision-making, it can also amplify poor processes if organizations automate without discipline.

The presentation argues that AI does not replace Lean principles—it reinforces the need for them. Like past technology waves, AI magnifies existing organizational strengths and weaknesses. Organizations that combine AI with disciplined improvement practices will gain competitive advantage, while those that pursue disconnected or poorly governed AI efforts risk creating faster, larger-scale inefficiencies.

AI is reshaping Lean work by enabling real-time waste detection, faster root cause analysis, adaptive standard work, and shifting human roles toward judgment, creativity, and collaboration. However, Lean principles remain essential. Organizations must standardize processes before automating, govern AI initiatives with clear business objectives and accountability, and maintain rigorous experimentation and continuous improvement practices.

Culture remains the deciding factor. Trust, transparency, and front-line involvement are critical to successful adoption. Employees must understand and help shape how AI tools are implemented rather than feeling technology is imposed on them.

The presentation recommends five practical actions: assess cultural readiness, start with small pilots, balance AI insights with human judgment, measure both operational and human outcomes, and continuously review AI systems as conditions change.

The conclusion is clear: the future is not Lean versus AI—it is Lean with AI. Together, they create the foundation for sustainable operational excellence and competitive advantage.

S12: Integrating Cost of Quality into Quality Improvement Projects

Time: 10:55 AM - 11:25 AM
Track: Continuous Improvement & Operational Excellence
Presented by: Herman Tang, Professor, Eastern Michigan University

"How much does your quality control activity cost?” posed by W. H. Lesser of General Electric in 1954, remains highly relevant today. Cost of Quality (COQ) links quality activities to financial performance and supports data-driven decision-making.

This presentation outlines key steps for implementing COQ in quality projects, including program setup, selection of appropriate models and financial metrics, prioritization of cost drivers, and development of data collection and reporting practices. It also highlights how to evaluate trade-offs among prevention, appraisal, and failure costs to guide improvement efforts.

Common implementation challenges—such as data limitations and organizational alignment—are briefly addressed, along with practical approaches to manage them. The presentation concludes by demonstrating how COQ can be integrated with Lean and Six Sigma to translate quality improvements into measurable financial outcomes.

S13: Automated Assembly Machines & Systems,Test & Inspection

Time: 11:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Track: Automated Assembly
Presented by: Stephanie Price, Defense Sales Director, Promess Inc.

Traditional manufacturing quality relies on sampling a subset of parts, an approach that no longer works as industries scale to high-volume, high-risk production. As defense, medical, and aerospace sectors increase output under strict regulatory demands, sampling-based systems fail to catch all defects—creating growing risk and unacceptable consequences.

Promess addresses this by embedding quality verification directly into the production process. Its systems measure force, torque, and position in real time during every assembly cycle, validating each unit against known standards and rejecting defects immediately. This enables 100% inspection—ensuring quality scales alongside production volume, with full traceability and no reliance on downstream sampling.

Key attendee takeaway: Sampling is a quality strategy for low volume. At scale, the only quality strategy that holds is 100% in-process verification — where every assembly is proven right at the moment it is made. Promess makes that possible.

S14: The Data You Already Have: Unlocking Quality and Uptime with AI You Can Actually Deploy

Time: 11:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Track: AI in Manufacturing
Presented by:Jessica Morrison, VP, Strategic Partnerships & Growth, Golgix

Every manufacturer has data. Most can't use it. Aging PLCs, uncalibrated sensors, handwritten shift logs, and siloed historians create a quality-and-uptime fog that no dashboard can cut through.

This session shows how manufacturers are using AI — not to replace their people, but to amplify them — to surface real-time quality drift, flag upstream variables before they cause defects, and close performance gaps between shifts and crews.

Using real case-study data from Golgix AI's manufacturing partners, Jessica Morrison will walk attendees through the ""Hour Zero to Real ROI"" framework: how to start small, build a data foundation from what you already have, and scale AI insights across the plant — without ripping out existing infrastructure.

Attendees will learn:

• How to identify the one use case that will prove AI value in 90 days
• Why cultural adoption beats model accuracy (and how to drive it)
• Real metrics: defect reduction, first-pass yield, and shift-to-shift variance closure
• The difference between plant-centric AI and office-productivity AI — and why it matters
• Built for operations and quality leaders who want pragmatic, provable results — not slideware.

• Why most manufacturing AI implementations fail — and the three things that make them succeed
• How to start with one use case and expand without re-platforming
• The ""Hour Zero to Real ROI"" framework: Discovery → Data Foundation → AI Activation → Cultural Adoption
• Real metrics: uptime gains, inventory accuracy, predictive maintenance outcomes
• How to drive frontline operator adoption (where most AI initiatives die)

S15: Role of AI in Modern Quality Management

Time: 11:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Track: Continuous Improvement & Operational Excellence
Presented by: Syed Ahmed, ASQ

Quality 4.0 Transforming Quality from Inspection to Intelligence
Quality 4.0 integrates AI, IoT, big data, and cloud computing to transform quality from reactive inspection into proactive, predictive, and autonomous intelligence —embedded throughout the entire product lifecycle.

• Quality 4.0 is the shift from reactive inspection to predictive, data‑driven quality using AI, IoT, and automation.
• It connects machines, people, and processes to create real‑time visibility and zero‑defect operations.
• Quality 4.0 blends classical tools (APQP, PPAP, FMEA, SPC) with digital technologies like AI, digital twins, and edge analytics.
• It transforms quality from a compliance function into a strategic business engine.

S16: Automated Assembly Systems Panel Discussion

Time: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Track: Automated Assembly Systems
Presented by: Panelists to be announced
Moderator:John Sprovieri, Editor in Chief, ASSEMBLY magazine/Editorial Director, BNP Manufacturing Division

S17 - How to Automate Selective Soldering - Processes, Machines, and Product Design

Time: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Track: Soldering
Presented by: Ernst Wolf, Managing Director, Wolf Production Systems
Will Hunter, Managing Director, MTA Automation, Inc. dba mta robotics

S18

Time:1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Track: Quality Leadership, Culture & Workforce
Presented by: TBA

S19: Value Stream Mapping for Energy Efficiency: A Review of Lean-Energy Integration in Manufacturing

Time: 2:15 PM - 2:45 PM
Track: Lean Manufacturing and Workforce Development
Presented by: Punit Shetty, Principal Consultant, AMT

The consumed energy in manufacturing is also high and most of this energy is consumed in non-value addition i.e. heating, cooling, lighting and idle machine time. Previously, the use of energy and optimization of production were presented as two different functions and that has resulted in inefficiency. This discussion examines how the concepts of lean manufacturing can be applied with the concepts of energy management in order to ensure maximum energy efficiency and operational efficiency. These are the instruments that are the Energy Value Stream Mapping (EVSM) and Lean Energy-Six Sigma (LESS) and are discussed against the background of the reduction of non-value-added energy (ENVA) in order to define the unproductivity of the use of energy and align these consumptions with production objectives. The review captures a line of case-studies in various industries that have proved to reach an energy saving of between 15 to 50 percent, better flow of production, quality and cost efficiency. The combination of lean and energy management becomes not only the way of minimizing the energy use but making the activity of the enterprises more efficient and the economy and nature as a whole sustainable. It has already been established in the paper that lean and energy management are complementary goals and superior, less expensive and high-quality production processes should be implemented under the condition of integrated plans. The to-be-researched future will require the enhancement of the effect lean-energy incorporation in manufacturing due to the emergence of new technologies and gaps in the long-term researches.

S20: DFMA® in 10 Slides

Time: 2:15 PM - 2:45 PM
Track: Design
Presented by: Bill Devenish, President, The Devenish Group

DFMA®, also known as Design for Manufacture and Assembly, is more than just taking an hour to review drawings prior to their release. It is also more than Design for Manufacturability, which typically just evaluates the specific details of how a part is manufactured. DFMA is a methodology for evaluating the assembly efficiency of a product and identifying manufacturing cost drivers for the parts within that assembly. Find out more about DFMA® within 10 slides, with explanations about what it is, along with when and how to use it.

S21: When Inspection Lies: How GD&T Gaps and Gage Design Drive False Accepts and Scrap

Time: 2:15 PM - 2:45 PM
Track: Quality Systems, Inspection & Compliance
Presented by: Jim Beary, Technical Sales Director, SME and Trainer - GD&T, MBD/MBE, Gages, Fixtures and Inspection, SAE International

This session is vendor-neutral and standards-based. It focuses on transferable methods and inspection decision logic, with real-world examples including a full gage application. Attendees will leave with practical tools they can immediately apply to reduce scrap and incorrect inspection outcomes.

Many quality failures are not caused by manufacturing variation. They are caused by flawed inspection logic.

Incomplete or poorly translated design intent, including ambiguous GD&T, non-functional datums, and unclear acceptance criteria, forces gage design and inspection methods to operate on incorrect assumptions. The result is costly and often hidden: rejecting good parts, accepting bad parts, supplier disputes, and unstable quality decisions.

This session demonstrates how design definition gaps propagate directly into gaging and inspection outcomes. Using real-world examples based on ASME Y14.5 and Y14.43 principles, attendees will see how inspection systems physically simulate the datum reference frame, where common approaches such as full-form NO-GO gaging can fail to detect out-of-tolerance conditions, and why these failures occur.

A detailed automotive gage application will be used to connect design intent, gage design, and inspection results. Attendees will leave with a practical checklist to align functional requirements, GD&T, and inspection strategy to reduce scrap, eliminate false rejects, and prevent incorrect acceptance decisions.

S22

Time: 2:50 PM - 3:20 PM
Track: Lean Manufacturing and Workforce Development
Presented by: TBA

S23: Cost Engineering as a Strategic Advantage in Manufacturing

Time: 2:50 PM - 3:20 PM
Track: Design
Presented by: Jeff Miller, President & Co-Founder, The Society of Product Cost Engineering & Analytics

This presentation examines how manufacturing companies implement cost engineering practices to improve cost visibility and strengthen collaboration across functions within the manufacturing environment. Drawing upon examples from various industries, the presentation will explain how cost engineers serve as technical and financial subject matter experts who bridge the gap between engineering, purchasing, finance, suppliers, and program management. The presentation outlines how cost models are developed to support data-driven decisions throughout the development cycle. It also emphasizes the evolution towards “design for cost,” where cost becomes a continuous design parameter rather than simply a fixed target.

The case studies demonstrate how early and continuous should-cost analysis can prevent costly design and sourcing mistakes. Examples include unrealistic target costs based on outdated designs, supplier constraints caused by inherited material specifications, and late-stage discovery of cost issues due to infrequent cost reviews. These examples provide evidence that enables organizations to identify cost drivers early, optimize product affordability, and create a culture of cost awareness that supports long-term profitability and competitive advantage.

S24: Practical Machine Vision for Precision Automated Metrology

Time: 2:50 PM - 3:20 PM
Track: Quality Systems, Inspection & Compliance
Presented by: David Dechow, Principal Vision Systems Engineer, Machine Vision Source

The application of machine vision for non-contact metrology within an automated process can provide significant value in production environments where precise measurement of part geometry influences quality and dictates functionality. In addition to capturing each non-conforming part, it most significantly can deliver actionable data to manufacturing processes for continuous and real-time improvements.

This automated imaging task, though, can present some unique challenges in the execution of a robust and reliable inline application. In this non-commercial session we will examine some fundamental techniques for successfully integrating machine vision for metrology and will detail specific best practices in system design and integration that can help ensure the performance and success of an in-line measurement application.

S25: Preparing the New Collar Worker for Success in Smart Factories

Time: 3:25 PM - 3:55 PM
Track: Lean Manufacturing and Workforce Development
Presented by: Denise Hall, President & CEO, Peak Performance

This presentation explores how manufacturers, policymakers, and workforce leaders can better prepare the new-collar workforce for success in smart factory environments. Featuring research by the University of Tennessee, Industrial-Organizational Psychology Program, commissioned by the Smart Factory Institute, the conversation will focus on aligning skills training, with the evolving demands of Industry 4.0. Ms. Hall will discuss talent readiness, reskilling and upskilling strategies, and the collaboration needed to build a resilient, manufacturing workforce in the age of automation and artificial intelligence.

S26: AI Enabled Engineering Services: Manufacturing First Design

Time: 3:25 PM - 3:55 PM
Track: Design
Presented by: Omar Mansour, CEO, Kinth

Traditional engineering workflows often separate design intent from manufacturing reality: CAD models are created upstream, manufacturability is evaluated downstream, and the resulting feedback loops slow both design and production. This session will argue for a manufacturing-first design flow, where material availability, machine capabilities, tolerances, assembly sequence, supplier constraints, cost drivers, inspection requirements, and production lead times are treated as core design inputs from the beginning—not as late-stage checks. By bringing manufacturing context closer to design, engineering teams can reduce rework, accelerate iteration, and make better tradeoffs earlier, especially in high-mix, low-volume, or rapidly changing production environments.

AI can become the connecting layer between engineering services and manufacturing execution. Rather than replacing engineers or manufacturers, AI-enabled workflows can translate sketches, drawings, requirements, shop-floor constraints, and supplier feedback into structured design guidance, editable CAD changes, DFM/DFMA checks, routing suggestions, and production-ready documentation. The talk will explore how this shift can help design teams move faster while giving manufacturers more influence earlier in the process, creating a tighter loop between what is designed, what can be built, and what should be optimized before production begins.

S27: ISO Certification: Process, Pitfalls, & Maintenance

Time: 3:25 PM - 3:55 PM
Track: Quality Systems, Inspection & Compliance
Presented by: Sean Donnellan, Project Manager, Perry Johnson Registrars, Inc.

This presentation covers the full roadmap for getting and keeping ISO certification. The main thing to remember is that ISO is an organizational certification—it’s about your Quality Management System (QMS) and how the business runs, not a stamp on individual parts or products.

The Roadmap to Certification
The process generally moves through these major phases:

• Scoping & Setup: You start by defining your sites and boundaries, then build the framework for the QMS.
• Initial Audits: This is a two-stage process—Stage 1 is a document review to see if you’re ready, and Stage 2 is the actual on-site audit of your processes.
• The 3-Year Cycle: Once you're certified, it’s not ""one and done"". You’ll have annual Surveillance Audits to check specific elements, followed by a full Recertification in Year 4.

• Vague Objectives: Don’t set ""bad"" goals like ""be the best"". Use SMART objectives—stuff that’s specific and measurable, like reducing rework by 5% by the end of the year.
• Formality over Function: Management reviews shouldn't just be a ""check the box"" meeting. They need to be action-oriented and drive improvements.
• Impartiality: You can’t have people auditing their own work—it kills the integrity of the system.