SME's Flagship Event -- the 2004 Annual Meeting -- Comes to Cincinnati on June 9-13 to Help Manufacturers Meet Challenges of Global Competition

Events-At-A-Glance:

• Management Forum:

  "Making it in America: Rising Up to the Global Challenge with Lean Manufacturing"

  Wednesday, June 9, 7:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. Manufacturing experts - executives from the Ariens Company, The Boeing Company, Carver Pump Company, John Deere Company, Lean Investments, LLC, and Toyota Motor Manufacturing - will discuss how they reduced their company's operational costs, improved efficiency, increased productivity, enhanced product quality, compressed product development cycles, and accelerated speed-to-market of new products, without having to outsource production overseas to low-wage countries.

  The Management Forum luncheon keynote, "Lean is Not Enough," will be presented by Christopher Couch, PhD, manager of Operations Strategy, Corporate Strategy Division, Toyota Motor Manufacturing, North America, Georgetown, Ky. The Forum concludes with a tour of Toyota Motor Manufacturing in Georgetown, Ky., for a firsthand look at Toyota Production Systems' lean manufacturing principles being applied on the factory floor in the making of Avalon, Camry, and Solara passenger cars.

• Plant Expedition tours of Mazak, TechSolve, and Cincinnati Lamb are scheduled for Thursday, June 10 - 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. The Mazak National Technology Center will offer a review of the foundations of lean in high-volume production, the Cincinnati Operations of Cincinnati Lamb will present product demos and product presentations, including how to effectively manage and lower the cost of ownership, and the tour of TechSolve will present a high-tech briefing on Advanced/Emerging Machining Technologies covering the Smart Machines initiative that SME, TechSolve and others are supporting - high-speed machining and dry/near-dry-machining developments.
• An Opening Reception/Dinner Cruise on Thursday, June 10, 6 p.m. - 10 p.m., will offer the manufacturing community a forum for networking and idea sharing.
• Keynote Remarks - Breakfast on Friday, June 11, 7:30 a.m. - 9 a.m. will be presented by Alan G. Robinson, PhD, faculty member, Isenberg School of Management, University of Massachusetts. Robinson, recognized as a leading authority on lean, and co-author of "Ideas are Free," will discuss how to tap into the valuable ideas of your front-line employees who see many opportunities in their day-to-day work that managers don't. From simple ideas for saving time, effort, and money, to entirely new ways of doing business, managers will learn how to tap into their employees' ideas to help gain significant advantages over their competitors.
• Keynote Remarks - Luncheon on Friday, June 11, Noon - 1:15 p.m., presented by Grant Aldonas, Under Secretary of International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. Mr. Aldonas, responsible for advising the Secretary of Commerce on international trade issues, will discuss the Manufacturing Initiative, the role that small and medium-sized companies have played in helping to focus and shape that Initiative, and some of the Initiative's specific recommendations which will impact global competitiveness.
• Professional Development Conference on Friday, June 11, and Saturday, June 12 - four concurrent sessions will be offered. This year's event includes new programming to help manufacturing professionals improve leadership skills and their knowledge of how to compete in today's global manufacturing environment. The conference offers two professional development paths - "The Workshop Route," featuring sessions on leadership skills, and "Destination Certification," offering a review course and certification exams.

The SME Innovation Station on Friday, June 11, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Saturday, June 12, 9 a.m. - noon, provides an opportunity for SME members to help share their ideas about critical issues, feedback on their membership benefits, and suggestions to help SME grow.

The SME Online Technical Forum and Virtual Chapter Meeting, "Lean Manufacturing Tools for Survival and Profitability," led by Gary Connor, author of "Lean Manufacturing for the Small Shop," will be held on Saturday, June 12, 1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. SME members who wish to attend virtually, should contact Karen Shifferd at (313) 425-3221 or Dan Glencer at (313) 425-3216.

• Annual Awards Reception & Banquet on Friday, June 11, 6:30 p.m. - 11 p.m., will honor the accomplishments of manufacturing leaders. SME will give special recognition and present to its seven 2004 International Honor Award winners. The SME Education Foundation will present its Family Scholarship and the Philip Marsilius Director's Scholarships to talented young people pursuing degrees in engineering.

For Additional Information:

To register for the 2004 SME Annual Meeting or join the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, call the SME Resource Center at (800) 733-4763. You can also join SME online at www.SME.org/join or visit the Annual Meeting Web site at www.sme.org/annualmeeting.

Event Sponsors:

The 2004 SME Annual Meeting is sponsored by Cohesia Corporation, Makino Inc., Product Development Management Association (PDMA) & TechSolve, Inc.

About SME:

The Society of Manufacturing Engineers is the world's leading professional society supporting manufacturing education. Through its member programs, publications, expositions and professional development resources, SME promotes an increased awareness of manufacturing engineering and helps keep manufacturing professionals up to date on leading trends and technologies. Headquartered in Michigan, SME influences more than half a million manufacturing engineers and executives annually. The Society has members in 70 countries and is supported by a network of hundreds of chapters worldwide.

Editors Note: The Society of Manufacturing Engineers background information, press registration forms and news releases can be accessed on the SME Home Page at www.sme.org/pressroom.

No. 20040046

If you have any questions or comments, please contact SME Public Relations by phone (313) 271-1500, e-mail communications@sme.org, or Fax: (313) 425-3403