Sean Ramirez
Speaker at WEST: Sean Ramirez, CEO, Tera Engineering
Speaker at WEST: Sean Ramirez, CEO, Tera Engineering
WEST Session: Brought to you by SME
WEST Session: This session explores how connected manufacturing processes can unify production, inventory, scheduling, and financial data into a single, real-time source of truth. By integrating critical business functions—from sales orders to production planning, quality control, and shipping—manufacturers can break down silos, eliminate redundant processes, and improve responsiveness to market changes. With access to accurate and timely information, decision-makers gain the visibility needed to identify bottlenecks, reduce errors, and optimize resource allocation. Attendees will learn how adopting a connected approach not only increases efficiency and collaboration but also positions manufacturers to adapt quickly to evolving customer demands and market conditions, ensuring long-term competitiveness and growth.
Speaker at WEST: George Barnych, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM)
WEST Session: Sponsored by: UiPath Moderated by: Paul Boris This panel brings together different perspectives, from a small, family-owned manufacturing company to one of the largest digital solutions providers, to discuss the deployment of advanced technologies and how the landscape continues to change rapidly. Using AI to improve efficiency, automate tasks and analyze data allows manufacturers enhanced decision making and is even transforming entire industries. AI is disrupting traditional thinking at an accelerated pace. This panel will cover organizational factors/business considerations, technical challenges, skills/labor gaps, ethical considerations and other.
WEST Session: As manufacturers strive to improve machine utilization, reduce downtime, and address workforce shortages, robotic CNC machine tending has become a critical automation strategy. Advances in robotic platforms and machine-tending technologies now enable shops of all sizes to increase throughput while maintaining consistent quality in competitive markets. In this session, Verx Corporation—a FANUC Robotics Authorized System Integrator and full-service distributor for VersaBuilt —will introduce the fundamentals of robotic CNC machine tending. Attendees will gain a framework for understanding how system components—robots, grippers, workholding, and operator interfaces—work together in collaborative applications. Following this introduction, VersaBuilt will highlight key challenges and solutions specific to CNC machine tending. Topics will include gripping strategies for varied parts and high-mix applications, simplified integration methods that reduce operator complexity while improving reliability, and how VersaBuilt’s MultiGrip, DuoGrip, and Zero Point (ZPS) Automation Systems leverage FANUC CRX robots to deliver scalable automation to a broader range of manufacturers. The session will conclude with a live Q&A, giving participants the opportunity to connect these insights with their own manufacturing challenges. Attendees will leave with both a strong conceptual foundation and practical examples for addressing common barriers in robotic machine tending.
Speaker at WEST: Kevin Rankl, VP Tech Support, SolidCAM
Speaker at WEST: Michelle Leon, Operations Manager, Levil Technology
Speaker at WEST: Errol Burrell, National Product Manager, Matsuura USA
WEST Session: In a manufacturing landscape where production has evolved to be lean, automated, and connected, post-sales support remains outdated—fragmented across PDFs, portals, and manual processes. Impaqx’s Pikclix redefines this landscape with SupportOps 3.0, a transformative, AI-powered platform built to modernize maintenance, service, and parts ordering. By integrating Generative AI, Agentic AI, LLMs, RAG, and Vision AI, Pikclix delivers intelligent, contextual, and actionable support experiences across the customer and technician journey. From conversational AI assistants trained on proprietary documents to clickable assembly diagrams that link directly to live parts catalogs, Pikclix simplifies complex tasks, enhances part identification accuracy, and improves customer satisfaction. The platform empowers manufacturers to scale rapidly—requiring no infrastructure overhaul, integrating with existing systems, and going live in under a month. Business impact is significant: reduced return rates, increased part order volume, and improved customer loyalty. With built-in analytics and automation, Pikclix not only answers support queries but uncovers trends, predicts failures, and drives engineering improvements. In an era where 40% of revenue can stem from aftermarket services, Pikclix transforms post-sales support into a strategic growth engine—bridging the modernization gap and preparing manufacturers for the future of intelligent support.