Manufacturing Business Conference

Panel Discussions

Each panel will consist of 3-4 speakers and will be moderated by a Kellogg faculty member with expertise in the respective topic. The panel discussions are scheduled to last approximately one hour and ten minutes, with the final fifteen minutes reserved for audience Q&A.

What's Next? Where Do U.S. Manufacturers Go From Here?

Moderator: Professor Ben Jones, Kellogg School of Management

The aim of the panel is to assess some of the key issues faced by the U.S. manufacturing industry. It will include a general discussion on comparative advantages between the U.S. and other countries. Why are certain goods continued to be manufactured in the U.S. while some are almost completely off-shored? More importantly, as international markets present the best growth opportunities, how are firms planning to cater to this growing demand? What are the key challenges and issues that firms must address as they look to grow outside the U.S.?

Panelists

Margaret MacLean: Vice President, MacLean-Fogg International
Jerry Newton: Operations Manager, John Deere
E. Scott Santi: Executive Vice President, Illinois Tool Works Inc. (KSM '94)
Conrad Winkler: Vice President, Booz Allen Hamilton (KSM MMM '95)

Rapid Innovations: Fast Failures

Moderator: Professor Larry Keeley, Kellogg School of Management, President and co-founder of Doblin Inc.

Companies are constantly being challenged to keep up with the fast pace of innovation. However, a Doblin analysis states that on average only 4% of all global innovations succeed. So, what can companies do to increase this success rate? This panel will discuss best practices for product innovation in various industries. Panelists will also address innovation challenges, failures and lessons learned.

Panelists

Steven Fahrenholtz: Director of Strategy and Innovation / I-Squad, General Mills
Chris Roche: Director of Technology & Product Development, Eaton Corporation
Robert Siegel: X/Seed Capital Management
Maheshwar Singh: Partner, Life Sciences & Healthcare, PRTM (KSM '95)

The New General Manager

Moderator: Professor Bill White, McCormick School of Engineering

This panel will focus on the role of the general manager in the evolving manufacturing scenario of outsourcing and offshoring. The panel discussion will analyze the change in skill set required to successfully navigate the cultural and cross functional / cross organizational barriers in an environment where the design and manufacturing functions are separated by company lines and often by international borders. The discussion will examine if the required skill set has actually changed over time. It aims to examine how companies manage the integration of the design and manufacturing process, from a people and process standpoint, i.e. What are the challenges organizations face from a people skills standpoint and how are they equipping themselves to face those challenges?

Panelists

Jeff Bougher: President and CFO, M4 Sciences (KSM MMM '02)
George Foo: EVP of Operations, Embedded Computing & Power, Emerson Electric
Tom Goesch: Managing Director, Power Electronics
Kaj Grichnik: Vice President, Booz Allen Hamilton

Returns in Middle-Market Private Equity Investments: Where Finance Meets Operations

Moderator: Professor David Matsa, Kellogg School of Management
The panel will consist of middle-market investors as well as operators of firms that have participated in a recent middle-market deal and a subsequent exit. Smaller firms, with relatively inexperienced management and severe capital restraints will be the ideal targets for the middle-market investors. Considering the small sizes of investment in these transactions, the investors tend to hold their assets long enough to facilitate significant change in management and/or operations. The panelists will discuss the lesson learned as well as best practices for developing and executing a growth strategy from an investor’s perspective.

Panelists

Mike Donohoe: Vice President, Business Development, Danaher Corporation (KSM '95)
Jeff Gonyo: Founder & President, Geneva Glen Capital LLC (KSM '88)
Paul Mayfield: Managing Director, Due Diligence and Compliance, Willis Stein & Partners