Program 2019

Michele is Vice President and CIO for the Manufacturing Division with Merck. In this role, she provides strategic leadership, oversight and delivery of information technology and digital solutions for the Merck Manufacturing Division. A change agent with proven track-record of delivering high-impact projects producing outstanding business results broadly across Pharmaceutical Supply Chain and Manufacturing. Michele and her team have been nationally recognized for the past 3 years in the areas of technical innovation, including next generation data and analytics platforms; supply chain transformation; and modernization/ digitization in manufacturing plants. In Nov 2017, Michele was awarded a Gold Stevie® Award for Women in Business in the Life Sciences and Healthcare Transformation category. Michele holds a Bachelors’ double major degree in Math and Computer Science from Rutgers University and an M.B.A. in Information Sciences from Rutgers Graduate School of Management. Michele serves on Frost & Sullivan's Manufacturing Leadership Council Board of Governors, the Strategic Advisory Board for enigma.io, and the Big Data Advisory Board for Rutgers University.

Paul Unitas is the Director of Manufacturing - Cleaning Division for The Clorox Company. In this role he is responsible for leading those facilities in achieving world class results in safety, quality, efficiency and people development. Paul joined Clorox in 1993 as Plant Manager at the Brita facility in Toronto, Canada. He has held various leadership roles at various manufacturing facilities and divisions during his tenure, with Clorox. In 1998 with Kingsford in Belle, MO; 1999 with Glad in Cartersville, GA; 2002 with Hidden Valley in Reno, NV and then in 2005 with Hidden Valley in Wheeling, IL. Paul accepted the role in Atlanta, in 2012. Paul has led 4 of our manufacturing facilities to our top PSO Award, during his time. Prior to joining Clorox, Paul worked for Tremco for 6 years in Toronto, Canada; holding manufacturing assignments of increasing responsibility. A Toronto, Canada native, Paul holds a Civil Engineering Technologist Degree from Ryerson Polytechnical University.

Dr. Nourredine Boubekri is currently a professor of Engineering at The University of North Texas. He received his Ph.D. in 1983 from the University of Nebraska Lincoln in the field of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering. He received both his Master and Bachelor of Science degrees in 1980 from Boston University in the field of Manufacturing Engineering. His experience and tenure started at the University of Miami where he began as an assistant professor in the department of Industrial Engineering. There he founded the University of Miami Industrial Assessment Center in the year 2000, which is currently still funded by DOE. His experience includes his roles as Department chair /Director of Research and Innovation at NIU (2002-2006), Department chair at UNT (2006-2010),Director of UNT SACSCOC reaffirmation (2012-206). He directed more than thirty Master and Ph.D. Students and published more than 100 technical articles and journal papers in the areas of green machining , product development, innovation and technology management, His research funding exceeds five million dollars in grants and contracts. His experience in international collaboration includes a number of programs with various institutions in China, Turkey and France.

Valerie Knupp – Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages, Plant Manager III and Certified Reliability Leader. Currently, I lead a Coca-Cola production and distribution facility situated on 44 acres with direct accountability for ~300 associates and 28MM case volume production annually located in San Antonio, TX. Over the years, I have held many operational leadership roles including Group Director of Field Services, North America leading a team of ~300 service specialists supporting the service and installation of Coca-Cola Equipment. I’ve also held a variety of leadership roles in the manufacturing of CNC Machine Tools. I am Green Belt Certified, a Certified Reliability Leader and have a Master’s in Business Administration. I am married and have two beautiful children. I was born in CA, raised on a farm in rural central Illinois, returned to Southern California for many years, then spent thirteen years in Oklahoma where I began my career with Coca-Cola and am now living in South Texas.

Dr. Pritchard is an Associate Professor at the State University of New York - Empire State College located in Buffalo, New York USA and his Ph.D. dissertation from the State University of New York University at Buffalo is titled “Global Decentralization of Commercial Aircraft Production: Implications to the U.S. Based Manufacturing Activity”. Dr. Pritchard has over 20 years of aerospace experience in aircraft automation assembly as former Director of Operations of Gemcor and has been involved with seven aircraft launches, managed international offsets programs, completed foreign financing transactions and has expertise in aerospace marketing and product introduction into the regions of Europe, Russia/CIS, China and Asia. Dr. Pritchard’s research in the commercial aircraft industry focuses on the global supply network, and has been published in The Economist, Financial Times, Newsweek, and Business Week along with aviation trade journals such as Flight Global and Aviation Week. He has recently presented his current research titled “Aerospace 4.0: Implications to the New Manufacturing Ecosystem” in China, Russia, India and United States. The research focuses on next generation single aisle aircraft (late 2020s) that will be adopting advanced manufacturing robotic applications (COBOTS-Collaborative Robots, MOBOTS-Industrial Robots on Automated Guide Vehicles), automated fiber placement, thermoplastics composites and additive manufacturing processes.

Shane A. Yount is a nationally recognized thought leader, author, and President of Competitive Solutions, Inc., an international Business Transformation consulting firm which pioneered the acclaimed organizational development system known as Process Based Leadership® - A business transformation methodology designed to create a sustainable culture of clarity, connectivity, and consistency through the use of Non-Negotiable Business Processes. Shane began his career with Perdue Farms, Inc., the nation’s second largest poultry grower and processor. Having performed such roles as Front Line Supervisor, Site Operations Manager, Quality Manager, Director of Human Resources, and Corporate Continuous Improvement Champion, Shane brings extensive experience in every aspect of organizational dynamics and effectiveness. His “Real World” process driven approach to creating and sustaining high performance has led leaders across the country to embrace the Process Based Leadership® methodology as a core operating system in driving organizational focus, urgency, and accountability. Since 1991 he has led the offices of Competitive Solutions, Inc. (CSI) in becoming one of the nations most recognized Business Transformation consulting firms, personally working with such organizations as Michelin, Genentech, Pfizer, Lockheed Martin, the Department of Defense, and many others. Shane’s approach of challenging leaders to confront what truly “powers performance” within their organizations often allows leaders a unique glimpse into their personal leadership legacies. His impactful message and delivery has made him a coveted speaker at national conferences and tradeshows. His three books, “Buried Alive: Digging out of the Management Dumpster,” “Leaving Your Leadership Legacy” and “Leading Your Business Forward: Aligning Goals, People, and Systems for Sustainable Success” are required reading in many organizations.

Ken Baker is the CEO of NewAge Industries, a plastic and rubber tubing and hose manufacturer and RFID tag solutions provider located in Southampton, Pennsylvania. The company originated in 1954 and Ken joined in 1985 as the second generation of his family to carry on its successes. NewAge provides solutions to many Fortune 500 companies and services customers worldwide. Ken has over 35 years of experience in the tubing and hose industry. He is a majority owner of Colex International, NewAge’s sister plant in Leicestershire, England. In 2001, Ken led NewAge in the launch of AdvantaPure, the company’s high purity tubing and hose division, and has since worked to develop several innovative Single Use disposable solutions. He is a co-inventor on five patents in RFID tagging technology for the company’s Verigenics™ RFID division and is a co-founder in the RFID in Healthcare Consortium. Ken is also a board member of the BPSA Bio-Process System Alliance, an industry trade organization. In 2006, Ken established the company’s Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), and its employees now own 49% of the company. He is a founding member and Chairman of Pennsylvania Center for Employee Ownership (PCEO), a new organization designed to raise awareness and increase the number of employee owned companies in Pennsylvania. In addition, Ken spends time speaking about ESOPs to other CEOs at local and national events. Ken invites area high school students to intern at NewAge Industries each summer and is on the Foundation board of Montgomery County Community College. Ken is also a generous contributor to local and national charities.

Ken Guity is a senior executive whose passion is supporting manufacturing companies to optimize business performance by deploying lean leadership strategies and increasing engagement of team members. He firmly believes that the sustainable success of an organization can only be achieved by developing a culture of continuous improvement. Ken has extensive experience leading multi-functional areas of several global, world-class organizations. He is recognized as a leader capable of creating and articulating a vision and energizing employees at all levels to achieve organizational objectives. Ken has a track record as a skilled change agent with a history of leading divisions of various companies to new sales and profitability levels. Most recently, Ken was credited as the architect of the vision for lean practices for MacLean-Fogg, a manufacturer of components for automotive, power distribution and telecommunications. He led the communication, implementation and lean transformation of two business units of the company. Ken also co-developed, articulated and communicated the company values, and strategic operating principles. Building on his operational strengths, Ken has achieved significant company turnarounds and is recognized for his success in growing sales and profits. His strategic approach to business success is reflected in his work as CEO and President of BOS Automotive Products, where his focus on lean practices and cost optimization quickly delivered significantly improved bottom-line results. Ken also had significant impact on profitability and growth at Autoliv North America where he held senior executive positions, including Vice President of Seat Belts. Prior to that, Ken was the Vice President of West Coast Operations for NSK Safety Technology, where he led the successful launch of a “greenfield” manufacturing facility in Mexico, producing safety critical automotive components. Ken’s track record of business improvement is based on his philosophy of customer focus, and total enterprise engagement. He is known for his ability to identify business success impediments, work with companies to refine organizational structure, install capable leaders, and improve core processes, cost effective sourcing, as well as effective, lean operational practices. Thanks to his people oriented approach, he has successfully developed teams and managed in a number of diverse cultural environments, including Japanese, Swedish, German, Mexican and American organizations. His scope of responsibility has included businesses with $365 million in revenue and 3,000 team members. Ken Guity is certified in Executive Lean Leadership. He earned his Master and Bachelor degrees in Industrial Engineering from the University of Tennessee- Knoxville.

Mike Quinn is an Executive Director and Vice President of Operations for Rio Grande. Over the past 30 years, Mike has been privileged to lead high performing teams in achieving engineering, manufacturing and operational excellence across industries as diverse as automotive, entertainment, medical, capital equipment, and now jewelry supplies! Mike has a passion for continuous improvement and continuous learning. He has deep real-world experience instilling a participative improvement culture in a variety of company environments. Mike holds a BSME from the California State University at Long Beach, and an MBA from California Lutheran University. He is a certified by APICS as a CPIM, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers as a silver level Lean practitioner, and the Pyzdek Institute as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.

Mr. Muscat’s corporate career has spanned 37 years with a variety of global experiences in the Automotive, Defense Electronics, Aerospace and Office Furniture industries. His experience includes engineering, manufacturing, program management, mergers and acquisitions, global manufacturing strategy development and execution, and the implementation of the Toyota Production System/Lean Manufacturing principles. Mr. Muscat’s career began in 1978 at Ford Motor Company in Dearborn MI in their Automotive Assembly Division which included projects at Ford’s assembly plants in Louisville KY, Wayne MI, Wixom MI, and Metuchen NJ. In 1980, he joined Raytheon Company’s Submarine Signal Division where he held a variety of manufacturing engineering and program management positions working on surface ship sonar programs. From 1984 – 1986 he worked at Ball Aerospace in Boulder CO developing manufacturing operations for military aircraft antennas. He joined Knoll-Shaw/Walker in Muskegon MI in 1986 and held the positions of Project Engineer, Product Engineering Manager and Director of Engineering – Midwest Operations. Mr. Muscat joined Herman Miller in 1991. He was responsible for engineering, new product development, operations management, corporate quality, mergers and acquisitions, and global facility strategy. He led a core team that developed and implemented the Herman Miller Performance System, Herman Miller’s adaptation of the Toyota Production System/Lean Manufacturing, worldwide. Mr. Muscat oversaw all new North American product launches in Operations from 2001 - 2014, and researched the development of new materials and manufacturing processes for the factory of the future. His responsibilities included all North American facilities along with numerous facility construction projects, consolidations and upgrades internationally. He currently serves as Principal, Muscat Consulting, LLC, a Lean Manufacturing, Engineering and Operations consulting firm. Born in Detroit, Michigan Ray has a BSE in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the University of Rhode Island. He has served on the University of Michigan IOE Academic Advisory Board, the College of Engineering Alumni Society Board among others. Additionally, he has lectured and consulted on the application of Lean principles at the University of Michigan, Michigan Lean Consortium, American Manufacturing Strategies Summit and for State of Michigan employees.