Displaying 171-180 of 363 results for

WEST Session: Things are changing quickly. Five years ago, we were telling welders to learn the code, now we're telling coders to learn to weld. How can manufacturers, who live and die by process reliability and scalability take advantage of tools that can't seem to do simple addition reliably. As the saying goes, 'there's no such thing as a bad tool, only the wrong tool for the job'. We're about to witness a step change in the adoption of true continuous improvement methodologies, and most people don't even see it coming.

WEST Session: Manufacturing is undergoing rapid digital transformation—driven by predictive maintenance, AI-driven insights, and smart factories. Yet IT/OT convergence is not achieved in strategy documents; it is lived daily through remote access, where people, vendors, and data cross into critical environments. This presentation explores the unique challenges CISOs and OT teams face—legacy patching debt, vendor access sprawl, ransomware pressure, and compliance demands—and why secure OT remote access is the essential bridge to efficiency, resilience, and productivity. Through industry case studies, we’ll examine how leaders are standardizing connectivity, reducing downtime costs, and enabling AI-driven operations—while ensuring security never falls behind transformation.

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WEST Session: Manufacturers face constant pressure to improve output while controlling costs, yet productivity gains are often pursued through equipment upgrades or process reengineering alone. A critical but overlooked lever is the frontline workforce—the people running machines, moving materials, and maintaining operations every day. When employees are disconnected from the information, communication, and tools they need, even small inefficiencies compound into significant losses. This presentation explores how targeted technology investments can unlock measurable productivity improvements, sometimes as much as 25%, by empowering frontline employees. We will examine the most common friction points that reduce performance, such as paper-based reporting, limited resource access at work stations, delayed reporting and task triggers, inconsistent training and retention, and siloed communication. We’ll then show how software solutions can extend existing ERP, HCM, and MES systems to the shop floor, creating a single hub where employees can access workflows, compliance updates, and real-time alerts. Attendees will see how manufacturers are achieving faster response times, reducing downtime, streamlining onboarding, and improving compliance by modernizing the employee experience. The session will provide a practical framework to quantify workforce productivity losses and demonstrate the ROI of equipping employees with the right digital tools.

WEST Session: This presentation will explore the technical challenges of manufacturing complex tube geometries, including tight-radius and compound bends, which are critical in today’s aerospace applications. Presenters will demonstrate how in-house capabilities such as welding, machining, fixture design, and chemical processing streamline production and reduce overall lead times. Attendees will gain practical insight into integrating advanced bending technologies with digital data control systems to improve accuracy and repeatability. The session will also highlight how strategic investments such as developing in-house chemical processing enhance supply chain resilience, reduce risk, and improve schedule reliability. Case studies from aerospace programs will show how design collaboration, cost-down initiatives, and dedicated planning drive consistent improvements in product quality, efficiency, and delivery performance.

WEST Session: We don’t lose deals because we’re not working hard enough. We lose them because we’re working on the wrong things. In manufacturing, wholesale, and distribution, sales teams are moving faster than ever—yet growth feels stuck. Why? Noise. Endless updates. Unreliable forecasts. Chasing the wrong deals. We’ve accepted it as the cost of doing business. But what if it’s actually killing your momentum?This 20-minute talk is a call to rethink how sales teams operate—with more clarity. You’ll learn: Why noise—disguised as intuition—is wrecking your forecast How bad data and busywork eats into your selling time What top sales teams are doing to cut through the noise and stay laser-focused And you’ll see real-world proof: 44% growth at Creative Foam.This isn’t a product pitch. It’s a shift in perspective. If your team’s putting in the effort but still falling short, this is the rethink you’ve been waiting for.

WEST Session: Even the strongest security controls can’t stop every attack, making preparation the key to resilience. In this session, Complete will provide an overview of today’s threat landscape, review real world breaches in manufacturing, and share actionable steps to evaluate your organization’s readiness to ensure business continuity in the face of a cyber incident. Participants will gain insights into the evolving tactics used by cybercriminals, learn how to identify hidden vulnerabilities within complex industrial environments, and understand the critical role of incident response planning. The discussion will also highlight best practices for building a culture of cyber awareness, strengthening collaboration between IT and OT teams, and aligning security strategies with business objectives. By the end of the session, attendees will leave with a clearer picture of their current risk posture and practical measures they can implement immediately to enhance resilience and minimize operational disruptions.

WEST Session: For decades, manufacturing poured its innovation into automating production, while business operations like sourcing, purchasing, and procurement were left behind. Companies chased bloated ERPs that promised to do everything and ended up doing little. That is why email and spreadsheets have ruled for so long: they are flexible enough to handle the messy realities of manufacturing. But organizations should dictate software, not the other way around. Today’s technology makes it possible to solve discrete problems with precision. When you automate something as specific as the RFQ process, eliminating every email and copy-paste, the ROI becomes immediate. Apply the same focus to supplier communications or purchase orders, and the gains in profit and throughput dwarf what you get from another machine on the shop floor. The future is not about automating production. It is about automating the work that has been ignored.

WEST Session: AI promises to transform manufacturing and service operations, but for most teams the challenge is not algorithms—it’s integration and adoption. This session will be co-presented by industry experts who will share real-world lessons from deploying AI-powered workflows at an e-recycling facility and in design-for-manufacture (DfM) and quoting. Attendees will learn a practical framework for deciding when to use deterministic software workflows, when to embed AI as an enabler, and when—if ever—to rely on autonomous AI “agents.” Using concrete metrics, we’ll show how hybrid approaches reduce cost, latency, and risk while delivering measurable gains. We will also describe the importance of human feedback in improving accuracy metrics. This is an inside look at what’s working (and what isn’t) as we automate inspections, quoting, and compliance tasks across the physical and digital sides of manufacturing. You’ll leave with a decision surface you can apply immediately to your own operations.

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