Scheduled for St. Louis from April 18 - 20, this year's version of the annual Assembly & Automation Summit, Achieving World-Class Manufacturing with Advanced Automation, will include more than 60 papers and presentations, separate keynote addresses by representatives of government and industry, plant tours, forums, and between 30 and 40 exhibits of products and technology. Technologies on display at the summit will include: assembly and joining; controls; CAD/CAM; software; electronic manufacturing; lean manufacturing; machine vision; quality; radio frequency identification (RFID); robotics; and more.

On April 18 (Monday) attendees at the summit will have a chance to tour the Ford Assembly Plant, Boeing's operations in St. Louis, and the Proctor & Gamble plant. The Ford plant tour will focus upon the assembly and automation processes developed for the Ford Explorer, Mercury Mountaineer, and Lincoln Aviator sport-utility vehicles. Highlights of the tour include the body trim areas and the chassis/body marriage operations.

Interested attendees can take a Monday-evening riverboat cruise that will be hosted by SME's St. Louis Chapter No. 17.

In the first keynote address at 8:00 am on Tuesday, April 19 Daniel Wheeler of Boeing will explain how Boeing's efforts tie in with the summit's themes of world-class manufacturing and automation.

Technical session modules presented on Tuesday, April 19 will include: robotics technology; microsystems and emerging technologies; strategic business improvement; successful automation implementation case studies; verification and testing; process and systems optimization; programmable controls; and a new one-day seminar forum on RFID. The RFID forum will address the technology's value as a tool that can be used cross-functionally in various process applications to optimize supply-chain effectiveness. RFID can increase material flow visibility, collect real-time data, and improve forecasting as well as the ebb and flow of supply and demand.

Each module includes four papers or presentations. From 12 - 6 pm, tabletop-type exhibits will be displayed, and from 4:30 - 6 pm attendees are invited to attend a networking reception on the exhibit floor.

Al Frink, assistant secretary for manufacturing and services, US Dept of Commerce, will deliver the keynote on Wednesday, April 20. He'll discuss the government's view of the role played by automation and assembly technologies in the US economy. Chief advocate for the US manufacturing sector within the federal government, he brings 30 years of private-sector experience to his position. Frink co-founded Fabrica International (Orange County, CA), a carpet manufacturing company. The firm started operations with five employees, and now employs more than 400. It was purchased by The Dixie Group in 2000.

Wednesday's technical session modules will be supply- chain measurement and communications; automation case studies; manufacturing technology commercialization; modeling and software; material handling and packaging; systems integration; and a one-day feature workshop on the lean enterprise. Exhibits will be displayed from 9 am - 3 pm.

A student summit will be held Wednesday at 8 am. Approximately 200 high school students will hear presentations by student chapter members from the St. Louis Community College, and the high school students will then tour the community college. Parties interested in supporting this event, perhaps as a sponsor, should contact Mark Stratton of SME at 313-425-3307. Other sponsorship opportunities can be found at: www.sme.org/automationassemblysummit.

For more information or to register contact the SME Resource Center at 800-733-4763 or go to the event Web site at: www.sme.org/automationassemblysummit.