A Review of Our Free Hybrid Event Manufacturing Digital LIVE

On 6th December 2023, BizClik hosted Manufacturing Digital LIVE, a free virtual event for manufacturing executives. The event included a panel of experts, fireside chats, networking breaks, keynote speakers, live polling, Q&As and interactive chat rooms, virtual sponsor booths and on-demand recordings of all speaker sessions. Subjects included:

Sustainability 

One of the hottest topics to be explored — from reducing environmental impact, promoting the circular economy and improving the supply chain. 

Factories of the Future

Factories of the Future refers to advanced-technology manufacturing facilities which are transforming traditional manufacturing methods, with technologies such as robotics. Additional technologies include automation, IoT, connectivity, data analytics, 3D printing, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and sustainability. 

Women in manufacturing

Only 37% of manufacturing workers are women. In order for manufacturing to be a more welcoming career choice for women, manufacturers need to change the sector’s image and highlight the female role models blazing a trail in the industry. 

AI in manufacturing

Manufacturing Digital LIVE delved into the latest advancements in automation, robotics, machine learning and data analytics, as industry leaders showcase how these technologies are changing manufacturing processes. 

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Speakers from across the world joined to share their knowledge:

Helena Jochberger, Vice-President and Global Lead Manufacturing at CGI

First to take to the digital stage was Helena Jochberger, Vice-President and Global Lead Manufacturing at CGI. CGI is an IT and business consulting service, based in Montreal, Canada, which was founded in 1976. As the Vice-President and Global Lead Manufacturing at CGI, Helena Jochberger’s role is to lead the evolution of CGI’s global Manufacturing Portfolio and Community. 

Alan Duncan, Vice President Manufacturing Solutions, Blue Yonder

Alan Duncan has 30 years of experience as a supply chain professional and has previously worked at Gartner and Criona Consulting. In January 2020, Duncan became Senior Director of Industry Strategy (Manufacturing), EMEA, at Blue Yonder. He was promoted to Vice President for Manufacturing Solutions in 2022. In his talk, Duncan discussed financial and environmental sustainability, supply chain fragility, the impact of COVID-19, hikes in energy prices and more.

Ulrich Angeli, Procurement Director, bp 

Previously in his career, Ulrich Angeli has worked at 3M, Siemens and GE. He arrived at bp in 2012 as the Site Sourcing Leader and was promoted to Sourcing Leader EMEA Refining in 2015, then Procurement Director in 2021. In this role, he is the Regional Director for four manufacturing sites, leads the agile Procurement Support Team and implements holistic Strategic Demand Planning. Angeli works alongside the assigned BUs and site sourcing team to develop bp’s strategic sourcing plans. 

In his keynote, Angeli discussed bp’s history, bp’s sustainability strategy — from resilient hydrocarbons to low carbon energy, as well as the integrated supply chain. 

Later, the Manufacturing Sustainability panel met to discuss the challenges and opportunities in creating a sustainable future for the manufacturing industry, strategies to reduce environmental impact and promote circular economy principles as well as improve supply chain sustainability.

Paul S. Lavoie, Chief Manufacturing Officer, State of Connecticut

In February 2022, Paul S. Lavoie was appointed by Governor Ned Lamont as the Chief Manufacturing Officer for Connecticut. In his role, Lavoie coordinates efforts from the state and private sector to expand manufacturing across Connecticut.

“We’re driving digital transformation within the manufacturing sector,” Lavoie says. “We’re looking at ways we can drive efficiency within the industry, to be able to make sure that we’re improving the sustainability of our manufacturers.”

Ashish Saxena, President, REMTT Strategic Business Unit, Innova Solutions

At Innova Solutions, Ashish Saxena is President of the Retail, Energy, Manufacturing, Transportation, and Technology (REMTT) Strategic Business Unit. With 30 years of experience driving explosive business growth and leading high-performance teams at global firms, Saxena is now responsible for defining and leading the unit’s verticalisation journey and driving business growth. Prior to Innova, Saxena was the Senior Vice President and Sector Head for Manufacturing and Hi-Tech at Wipro Ltd.

In the keynote, Saxena discusses the Scopes, IoT and how new technologies are leading to a reduction of downtime and carbon emissions. 

“IoT helps manufacturers to deploy their operational effectiveness, as well as monitor their equipment and energy usage,” he says.

Shankha Mukherjee, Vice President - Digital Supply Chain, Formerly Schneider Electric

Shankha Mukherjee assists businesses as they work towards their sustainability goals using digital technologies, innovative practices and strategies to minimise waste and maximise resource use. 

Mukherjee transformed supply chain digital operations of multiple Fortune 500 organisations to reduce environmental impact, promote circular economy principles and improve supply chain sustainability. 

“The great advantage that we have at the moment is that the technology is there to make sure that we are able to orchestrate lean manufacturing,” he says.

Bryan DeBois, Director of Industrial AI at RoviSys

RoviSys is an independent control system integrator designed to solve and support practically any process automation, manufacturing information or integration challenge.

In this keynote presentation, Bryan DeBois, Director of Industrial AI at RoviSys, shares his expertise and insights into the transformative potential of AI in industrial settings and how this can be used to revolutionise operational efficiency, optimise processes and unlock new opportunities for businesses. 

“RoviSys is focussed on operationalising AI, that's important because there's actually a lot of AI vendors in manufacturing and they typically have come from the IT space,” says DeBois. “One of the things that we tell our customers is that until somebody on the plant floor is actually making a decision based on the recommendation of that AI model, you haven't seen any ROI.”

Keep your eyes peeled for Manufacturing Digital LIVE’s return in 2024.

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Make sure you check out the latest edition of Manufacturing Digital and also sign up to our global conference series - Procurement & Supply Chain 2024 & Sustainability LIVE 2024
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Manufacturing Digital is a BizClik brand