Executive Leadership Conference addresses industry questions

PMMI members gathered in Scottsdale, Ariz. last week for the association’s 2016 Executive Leadership Conference.

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PMMI members gathered in Scottsdale, Ariz. last week for the association’s 2016 Executive Leadership Conference. Hot topics included hyper competition in the U.S. economy, the future of the packaging and manufacturing industries, how to manage millennials and improve company culture.

2030: The road ahead
The next 15 years will be transformative for the manufacturing, processing, and packaging industries as automation and big data drive a culture of sustained innovation, according to speaker Andrew Zolli, futurist and strategic advisor for social impact. Machine builders should pay more attention to the slow moving trends versus the fast moving ones for a more powerful advantage, Zolli urges. Embracing automation and simplicity will also help companies manage the whirlwind of innovation in the coming years.

Culture transformation
In a time where recruiting and retaining talent is a pain point across the industry, many companies from OEMs to CPGs are putting company culture first to attract employees. But the implementation of an entirely new culture isn’t easy. Speaker Joe Urbanski, COO, Total Solutions Group, a company that offers solutions to alight company culture, says there are three steps to take that will provide more insight into the areas of your company’s culture that could use improvement.

  1. Ask your people what’s really most important to them and why they remain with your organization.
  2. Determine what’s not working that may be hurting morale, ownership, and the bottom line.
  3. Document your findings in culture documents that make clear who you are and what you’re about.

Voice of the customer
At Johnson & Johnson, David Smith, VP, global packaging, has always asked himself, “How can we do this better?” Not only when it comes to creating a more innovative packaging concept, but down to Johnson & Johnson’s OEM partnerships. In its capital equipment procurement, the company has historically been a customer driven supplier without looking for partnerships. However, the company is shifting its focus to more global partnerships, which will allow them to sustain significant capital expenditures on state of the art technology. During procurement, Johnson & Johnson looks at machine flexibility, life cycle cost, innovation, flawless project execution, competitive positioning, and after-sales support as key factors in supplier selection.

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