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Conference
Foundation

Transform Your Manufacturing Operations with a Digital Plan

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Event Details
Jun 15, 2023   – 
Chicago, IL
Gleacher Center, 450 North Cityfront Plaza Dr, Chicago, Illinois 60611
Event Contact
Events Team

Agenda: Digital Transformation Strategy in Manufacturing

Thursday, June 15

8:30 – 9:00 am CT
Continental Breakfast

Grab a bite to eat and network with your fellow peers. 
 

9:00 – 9:45 am CT
Develop a Digital Strategy that Will Revolutionize Your Plant

With the advantages of digital transformation as a constant reminder, writing a strategy to set you on the right path is paramount. But do you truly understand what problem you are trying to solve? Hear from Cummins Inc.'s Elizabeth Hoegeman, Executive Director of Global Manufacturing, Vishal Devarabhavi, IT Director of Manufacturing Systems, and Rachel Lecrone, Director of Manufacturing Systems, on what they’re doing to support their digital investments with a sound strategy at the front end.

Vishal Devarabhavi, Cummins Inc

Vishal Devarabhavi

IT Director - Manufacturing Systems, Cummins Inc

Elizabeth Hoegeman, Cummins Inc

Elizabeth Hoegeman

Executive Director Global Manufacturing, Cummins Inc

Rachel Lecrone, Cummins Inc.

Rachel Lecrone

Director of Manufacturing Systems, Cummins Inc.

Rachel Lecrone is the Director of Manufacturing Systems at Cummins Inc. where she and her team work with plants around the world to ensure they have the right IT systems to support manufacturing operations and use them effectively. She also launched Cummins’ Manufacturing Industry 4.0 initiative aimed at applying the latest digital technology to transform Cummins manufacturing operations.

Rachel began her career with Cummins as a Controls Engineer in the Heavy-duty Engine Assembly business. Throughout her 28-year career, she has held various roles in manufacturing engineering and operations, plant management, and supply chain. She enjoys applying new technology to tackle longstanding manufacturing problems.

Rachel lives in Pittsburgh, PA, with her children Anna and Eddie, and two dogs.

9:45 – 10:30 am CT
Digitalization is the Core of Digital Transformation

What exactly is digital transformation and who owns it? Take a peek into Kautex’s digitalization journey along with (many) lessons learned with Cynthia Carbrey, Chief Information Officer of Kautex Textron mapped this out and lessons learned along the way.  

Cynthia Carbrey

Chief Information Officer, Kautex Textron

Cynthia Carbrey is the global CIO for Kautex Textron, a Tier One automotive supplier to global OEMs. She has 25 years of experience in the IT industry. Prior to assuming her CIO role, Cynthia began her career with Bell Helicopter Textron in 1997 and moved to Textron Information Services (TIS) in 2006. While at TIS, she held roles of increasing responsibility related to HR Information Services and Digital Solutions, working closely with counterparts from all business units to implement global IT solutions and services. She transitioned to Kautex Textron in 2018 to serve as the Director, IT Americas, and also assumed responsibility for the Global Engineering Tower. In 2020, Cynthia was appointed VP Information Technology / CIO Global for Kautex Textron.

Cynthia holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Information Systems from the University of Texas Arlington and the University of Dallas, respectively.

10:30 – 11:00 am CT
Networking Break 

Keep the conversation going over coffee and snacks. 
 

11:00 – 11:45 am CT
Digital Transformation in action: An Operations Case Study

Seth Wiafe, Manufacturing Digitalization Manager at Warner Electric (Operating Companies of Altra Industrial Motion Corp.), will share learnings from an operations-focused implementation of a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) called MBrain. MES is the backbone of two-way data in operations. Seth will talk about implementing various modules and functionality of this system over several businesses over the past two years and what he is planning for the future.  

Seth Wiafe

Manufacturing Digitalization Manager, Warner Electric

11:45 am – 12:30 pm CT
Networking Lunch
 

12:30 – 1:15 pm CT
Challenges Solved with Digital Transformation

It's always good to hear from someone who's been through it. Siemens’ Tom Tengan, Director of Digital Enterprise will discuss a variety of customer digital transformation case studies. Take away key areas to target and tactics to implement on your own transformation path.

Tom Tengan, Siemens

Tom Tengan

Director Digital Enterprise, Siemens

1:15 – 2:00 pm CT
People Required to Drive Digital Transformation

Digital transformation doesn’t happen in a vacuum – how are the right teams brought together to maintain communication as digital investments are made and executed? Attendees will engage in this interactive session to discuss the who, what, how and when of digital transformation.

 

2:00 – 3:00 pm CT
Roundtable  

This roundtable time is the ideal time to share questions/challenges you may have with the collective group. John Miller, Managing Director, of Operations Community, Manufacturers Alliance will moderate the conversation.