What Can You Expect at the 2016 Continuous Improvement Conference?

The 2016 Continuous Improvement Conference (April 10-13) is the only industry event focused on helping companies achieve operational excellence by using the concepts of Lean Manufacturing and other management and quality systems. Year after year attendees directly link reduced costs, lowered waste, and increased profit margins to ideas gained from conference presentations and networking. Whether you’re starting a structured improvement program or are looking for ways to sustain and improve your existing efforts, the conference has content specifically designed for your knowledge level. The conference is organized around subject areas: Leadership and Culture, Process and Tools—Advanced, and Process and Tools—Fundamental.

With the event right around the corner, we sat down with PIA Vice President for the Center for Technology and Research and In-House Continuous Improvement Guru Jim Workman about what you can expect at this year’s conference!

JW: One message that will be uttered repeatedly in Milwaukee is that continuous improvement is all about leadership and culture. Without enlightened leadership and a supportive culture, even small gains won’t be sustained. That’s why we have a whole series of sessions that address what is required of leaders that want to move their company toward operational excellence.

Another message is that benchmarking is essential. Companies shouldn’t accept that their performance is satisfactory without finding out how it compares to others. For example, one presentation at the conference details how a printing company was able to drive down its spoilage amount to a ridiculously low level by way of a specific action plan. Knowing how your company compares against those spoilage percentages should be helpful to your goal of improvement.

JW: It’s tough to get a competitive edge, but one way is to operate better—and improve faster— than the competition. You do that by using Lean manufacturing and other management and quality systems to root out inefficiency, engage employees in spotting and fixing problems, reduce excess inventory, shorten lead times, add capacity without capital investments, and so on. The printing and converting industry features some very sophisticated companies that are profit leaders in part because of their ongoing focus on these issues, and many will be speaking and attending the conference.

JW: The CI Conference is built on networking (in fact, years ago it was called the Continuous Improvement Network Conference), so we are careful to maintain that portion of it. We have six conference events designed to foster networking. The roundtable networking tables in which small groups discuss specific topics have been a staple of the conference for years. We conduct this hour-long discussion session on both Monday and Tuesday. Potential attendees can review this year’s topics at ci.printing.org/program/roundtable-discussions.

JW: For the first time, we’ll feature CI-related videos followed by discussion sessions. In addition, we’ve added the CI Café in which small groups discuss and debate a response to several specific CI scenarios. Perhaps the most important change was to add additional, but shorter keynote presentations on Wednesday. Not only are we featuring the Chairman of Snap-on, but also the CEO of WS Packaging Group. Our other keynote speaker that day, an expert on innovation, will delve into how companies can stimulate their innovative spirit.

JW: New attendees should come expecting to take full advantage of the opportunities to learn from fellow printing professionals. The attendees come from some of the most progressive printing companies in North America and, generally speaking, are verywilling to share the what, why, and how behind their CI initiatives. Introduce yourself to people and start conversations. I would also encourage them to take advantage of the plant tours. Seeing how companies outside the industry use Lean thinking and practices can be an eye-opener and stimulate new ideas for their company. Finally, they shouldn’t get hung up on the fact that many attendees and speakers come from companies that may differ in many ways from their company. The principles, approaches, and tools discussed will be widely applicable, regardless of company size and process/product specialty.

There you have it! Be sure to join us in Milwaukee, WI on April 10-13 for the 2016 Continuous Improvement Conference. Register now at ci.printing.org.