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Join other Engineering and Quality professionals during this two-day virtual summit.

This virtual event will bring together industry leaders to educate attendees on many different subjects, including the following:

• Automation Tools and Software
• Emerging and Innovative Technologies
• Preventative Maintenance through In-Line Inspection
• Managing Risk
• Training Best Practices
• Employee Retention
• Validation Strategies
• Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI)
• Inspection Correlation Best Practices

Attendees will have access to new ideas, expand their professional network, and have an opportunity to explore new methods of improvement.

Agenda (details subject to change): 

March 10

11:00 AM   Risk Management in Process Development - Perry Parendo, Perry Solutions

Product development companies can be strategic when using Risk to create a competitive advantage. Several industries push risk management to key suppliers, in some cases this is through APQP methodology. Do we simply comply, or do we gain the intended value? Participants will want to engage in the risk process when they understand and obtain the possible value. Learn how to best insert risk management assessment into each stage of the design and manufacturing process, including creation of validation strategies.

12:00 PM   Is it time to replace your injection molding robots? - Dan Spohr, Regional Manager- Robots & Automation, Wittmann Battenfeld

Do you have older robots that you think are doing the job just fine? Are you questioning whether adding a robot is worthwhile? Injection molding robots today are much faster and smarter than the ones produced 5 to 10 years ago. Is your robot thinking for itself to help improve cycle time? Can your robot be faster? A difference of only a tenth of a second mold open time can result in big savings! We will take a closer look at the technology offered today and how it can benefit your production.

                  Connected Worker Platforms - Bob Wise, Notiphy Corporation

Connected worker technology is more than just project management or a digital checklist. They allow manufacturing companies to digitize jobs orders, tasks, and standard operating procedures (SOPs). Today, all jobs and SOPs are either on paper or various types of boards. With people doing over 70% of the work, they allow work to be digitally executed and remove all non-secure paper. Frontline workers increase efficiency, productivity, and safety while management has operational control and the ability to make data-driven decisions from trends and patterns not currently visible.  Companies can scale while limiting some of the headcount they may need without this technology. In a small company, yearly 5x ROI can be achieved in decreased downtime and mistakes, reduced training and re-training costs, and increased employee retention and reductions in hiring costs. They are all other areas of concentration you have on the topics list for this Summit.  Finally, they can be used independently or integrated with ERPs, business process management software, warehouse management systems, and others to add logic and intelligence to those platforms. 

1:00 PM   Visual Inspection Systems - Thinking Outside of the Box - John Bellett, Custom Rubber Corporation and Robert Sinor, Trademark Plastics

The continual increase in demands from OEMs and end-use customers will ultimately end with the expectation that suppliers will never supply a bad part. The process of implementing quality inspection systems can be as simple or as complex as desired, and can range from simple tasks, such as the checking of print data and the presence of labels, to complex requirements, such as pattern and character recognition. Panelists during this session will share how the implementation of their visual inspection systems significantly increased product and manufacturing quality, rapidly identify process issues and strengthen productivity.

                 Affordable Automation: Solving the Machine Operator Shortage - David Heiner, Rapid Robotics

Most manufacturing companies are struggling to fill open machine operator positions, and then Covid-19 and social distancing only made this situation worse. Traditional automation has been both expensive and complex. Now, recent advances in robotics and machine learning have made it possible to automate simple, repetitive manufacturing operations. Join us to see specific examples of manufacturing processes that have been automated and see if these might apply to your organization.

2:00 PM   Training Best Practices - "Fostering a skilled workforce" - Eric Bowersox, Beaumont Advanced Processing & David Hoffman, American Injection Molding Institute

As a result of on-going labor shortages, what often keeps managers up at night is not only trying to find skilled people to fill open positions, but also developing their job skills and knowledge so that they are effective in their new roles. A further challenge is how to retain these new employees once they have developed these skills. One proven approach to filling skilled positions is to grow employees from within through an apprenticeship program designed specifically for injection molding manufacturers. This presentation will provide insight into the results of, and strategies for, implementing such a model. In addition, other practices will be presented that are designed to help HR and operations managers ensure they are providing employees the most effective training. Intertwined throughout this presentation will the subject of job retention and its relationship to training and employee morale.

                Best practices to foster cross functional collaboration and speed up the launch of new products - Nicandro Buono, Synventive Molding Solutions

In today’s world new products and technologies are being brought to market in record speed. In this discussion with Nicandro Buono we will explore the benefits of fostering cross-functional collaboration within the innovation process to make sure that customer needs are focused on throughout. This methodology of launching new solutions will ensure your products hit the market as per plan with the needs of the consumer prioritized. We will explore this concept through the lens of a case study involving the launch of a new Telematics technology being introduced by Barnes Molding Solutions in 2022.

3:00 PM    Day 1 Content Ends

March 11

11:00 AM   Practical Industry 4.0 - Scott Roger and Matt Bryant, Noble Plastics

Industry 4.0 creates the basis for technologies and solutions that enables manufacturing companies to identify shortcomings and imminent disruptions in the production process at early stages, giving sufficient time to act before a failure occurs. An ideal, digitalized, automated Industry 4.0 world is one in which people, machinery, and systems are all digitally linked. This linkage provides manufacturers greater efficiency, quality, and performance for their businesses, but reaching this utopia requires careful planning. This presentation will provide a perspective on the practical application of Industry 4.0 from Quality and Engineering professionals.

12:00 PM   Advanced Product Quality Planning - Cory Hoeppner, RJG

Manufacturing processes require a lot of moving parts from design to production and the ultimate goal is customer satisfaction. This webinar will provide awareness of APQP processes and how one might use them to be successful along the way.

                  New Cooling Systems - Sujit Sheth and Paul Moreau, Progressive Components

The total cycle time for a mold is made up of a long cooling time, often up to 60% of the total cycle time. There are significant opportunities to better understand the impact that cooling has on the overall process, part quality and mold function.  Monitoring the flow and temperature through each circuit allows injection molders and mold makers to collect and analyze data to drive optimization and continuous improvement activities.  Molders utilizing a process monitoring system can view and collect data related to coolant flow, temperature, and pressure with information recorded and time stamped for historical tracking. Mold makers and tool room managers can utilize a testing station that analyzes the mold for flow capacity, leaks, and optimal process set points.

1:00 PM    Precision Metal 3D Printing: A New Hybrid Technology for Tooling Applications Using Paste Material - Scott Kraemer, Mantle 3D

3D printing with a flowable metal paste is a novel idea.  How is this done and what new technologies could unlock greater adoption by offering precision parts with faster lead times and lower costs? Metal 3D printing has held intriguing possibilities for several applications because of the opportunity to make optimized geometries that cannot be made with conventional methods. But until now, the adoption of metal 3D printing for very precise components has been limited. Mantle, a new precision metal 3D printing company that is focused on tooling applications, has spent 6 years developing its hybrid additive/subtractive technology and flowable metal paste materials. Scott Kraemer, Senior Applications Engineer, will give an overview of Mantle’s technology and several customer case studies of highly precise parts, reduced lead times, and lower costs. 

                 MES in an Era of Labor Challenges - Andrew Robling, Epicor

Labor shortages in the manufacturing world are a real challenge and one that isn't forecast to go away anytime soon.  In this session, you will learn how a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) can help you in several areas including:

• onboarding your temp and new labor
• attracting and retaining talent
• automating manual tasks so your workforce can focus on making parts
• getting you closer to Lights Out operations.

2:00 PM     How to Develop & Implement a High-Performance Training Program - Todd Bryant, Paulson Training
Developing your personnel, whether they’re on the plant floor, front office, sales, or C-suite, is one of the most important investments a sustaining organization can make. Employees are more than a payroll expense. They are smart, resourceful people who can think, learn, and continually improve their value and contribution to the organization. The best companies invest in their employees by training them to become knowledgeable and committed workforce.
Plus, a solid training program creates efficiency in operations, saves on material costs, and aids in safety protocols; and even better, training can be a valuable tool in recruiting, onboarding, and advancing. But how to get started? How to choose a quality training program? In this dynamic presentation, Paulson Training will show you how. Attendees will learn a few key strategies on what to look for, develop a checklist in getting started, and understand best practices in establishing a sustainable training program that gets results and more. Join this lively and informative presentation and equip yourself to help your business go further.

                   The Cosmetic Process Window: Key to Robust Processes, Zero Defects, Reduced Inspection & No Process Tweaking - Suhas Kulkarni, FimmTech

Every molding company strives to achieve zero defects with the least amount of inspection to improve the overall efficiency and profitability. To achieve this, technicians are constantly adjusting processes and tweaking them which is an indication of a process that is not robust. One of the key identifiers of a robust process is the Cosmetic Process Window. The talk will focus on the definition of a Cosmetic Process Window, the benefits of extent of the window, the parameters to be selected and how it is determined the process robustness and process capability. The concept of the Dimensional Process Window will be introduced.  

3:00 PM     Day two content ends.

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