Manufacturer of the Year Conference

Celebrating manufacturers committed to continuous improvement

Congratulations to the 2024 award Winners

Registration Is Closed – We’ll See You Next Year

Manufacturer of the Year Conference
October 1st, 2024 7:30am – 1:30pm | The Heritage Center
6155 Earle Brown Drive, Brooklyn Center, MN 55430

MANUFACTURER OF THE YEAR

Conference Schedule

7:30 AM: Registration & Breakfast

8:30 AM: Keynote

9:15 AM: Awards Ceremony

10:00 AM: Break

10:30 AM: Breakout Sessions

11:30 AM: Lunch & Networking

12:30 PM: Breakout Sessions

1:30 PM: Event Concludes

Download the Conference Program

KEYNOTE

Coachability: Your Leadership Superpower

Organizations invest in developing coaching skills to grow the next generation of leaders, but miss the other half of the equation – coachability. Learn the compelling case for coachability and the pragmatic, researched-based way to accelerate complete development.

Kevin D. Wilde currently serves as an Executive Leadership Fellow at the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota. He teaches applied leadership in several graduate courses.

BREAKOUT SESSIONS

From Tools to Systems: Revolutionizing Continuous Improvement for Enhanced Business Performance

Matt Colby

Explore the transformative journey from utilizing individual tools to embracing system-driven continuous improvement to drive improved end to end business performance. Discover how an integrated continuous improvement system can streamline processes, enhance productivity, and drive sustainable growth for your company. Learn how The Toro Company leverages principles, methodologies, tools and best practices into an integrated system to revolutionize their approach to continuous improvement, and what you can do to kickstart your journey.

Top Mistakes New Team Leaders Make

Jessica Lyons

Join a discussion exploring common pitfalls that new leaders fall into including missing critical communications, failing to set clear goals, ineffective delegation, and neglecting key feedback. Identifying these potential missteps is critical in recognizing what is needed to arm new leaders with actionable tools to mitigate challenges and foster a thriving leadership journey. Learn what to include in creating a toolkit for team leader onboarding including training, templates, and standard work to ensure the success of your new team leaders.

Installing the Habits of a Strategic Leader

Dave George

Thinking strategically can be natural for some, but for most people it takes deliberate practice and dedication. Work and life demands can keep you in the weeds focusing on near term obstacles, rather than higher level goals. In this session we will explore tools, questions, and habits to ensure you are spending enough time thinking and working on big picture items that will make you more valuable in any role.

Harnessing the Superpower of Factory Data – Where to begin?

Natalie Paulson, Caden Holzer, Vivek Saxena, & Katelyn Tasto

FactoryTwin team will engage you in a brief presentation with a couple of case studies showing large KPI improvements (throughput, profitability, inventory)using factory data analytics. This will be followed by a hands-on exercise to gage your own digital readiness and potential benefits to your operations.

Mastering Crucial Conversations

Brenda Lundquist & Jody O’Neil

Discover how to navigate tough conversations with confidence and composure. Learn to effectively communicate under pressure, navigate difficult topics and turn challenging interactions into opportunities for growth and collaboration.

Developing Strong Problem Solvers

Jason Braatz

Whether at home or in the workplace, solving problems becomes such a routine activity that we often execute with little or no thought to the process. Strategic problems in both realms, especially the workplace, often require a bit more robustness. Although most people are problem solvers in a tactical sense, why are strategic problem solvers perceived as less common? In this session, I’ll expand on some methods that I have explored in my journey and share some of the experiences that have shaped my current approach to problem solving and developing strong problem solvers.