NASHVILLE, Tenn., April 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Achieving manufacturing success via tight, cohesive supply chain management and recognizing Original Equipment Manufacturers that best encourage supplier innovations are the focus of the 2007 Automotive News Manufacturing Conference, May 16 - 18 at the Renaissance Center Hotel in Nashville, TN.
The Seamless Supply Chain: The managerial culture and technical tools that make for high-quality, high-productivity manufacturing is the theme of the bi- annual conference, which will spotlight factory floor coordination and communication not only in state-of-the-art technology, but also state-of-the- art planning and organizational ideas.
The 2007 Automotive News Manufacturing Conference: - Opens with a 5:30 p.m. executive reception Wednesday, May 16 - Features individual morning speakers from 9 a.m. - noon Thursday, May 17: - William G. Diehl, President, CEO & Global Automotive Practice Lead, BBK - Frank J. Ewasyshyn, Executive Vice President - Manufacturing, Chrysler Group - Ron Harbour, President, Harbour Consulting - John G. Kalson, Director of Production, Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama - John Miller, Vice President, Purchasing, Nissan North America, Inc. - Continues with an afternoon panel discussion Thursday, May 17 around the theme Moving Parts: Achieving perfection in supply chain management: - Douglas H. Bartow, Vice President Paint, BMW Manufacturing Corporation LLC - Chris Nielsen, Vice President of Purchasing, Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc. - Vicki O'Meara, President, U.S. Supply Chain Solutions, Ryder System, Inc. - Sanjiv Sidhu, Founder & Chairman, i2 Technologies, Inc. - Frederiek Toney, Executive Director, Material Planning & Logistics, Ford Motor Company - Continues with a 7:30 p.m. dinner program Thursday, May 17 featuring keynote remarks by: - Bo I. Andersson, GM Group Vice President, Global Purchasing and Supply Chain, General Motors - Bill Krueger, Senior Vice President, Manufacturing, Purchasing and Supply Chain Management for the Americas, Nissan North America, Inc.
The industry's top OEMs, as selected by suppliers, will be honored with the first Automotive News Suppliers' Choice Awards, presented prior to Thursday's panel discussion at 2 p.m. Based on results of a survey conducted by J.D. Power and Associates, awards will be given to OEMs that best encourage -- solicit, implement and reward -- suppliers' innovations as part of their total business plan.
The suppliers' impressions of OEMs revealed in the J.D. Powers Suppliers' Choice survey will be reviewed in detail at a 7:30 a.m. breakfast Friday, May 18.
The Automotive News Manufacturing Conference concludes with Friday morning VIP tours of Nissan's Smyrna Manufacturing Plant.
The Automotive News Manufacturing Conference is also sponsored by Automotive Research Alliance, Brose, Nissan, BBK, Covisint, i2, State of Kentucky and the Tennessee Automotive Manufacturers Association.
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