Mtech Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 2, 2001

Top Industry Analyst and Consultant for IBM, Microsoft Comes to Maryland for Two-Day Workshop

COLLEGE PARK, Md.—One of the world's leading industry advisors and authors, whose clients have included Procter and Gamble, Microsoft and Levi Strauss, is coming to Maryland on October 2-3 for a special, two-day institute entitled "World Class Manufacturing."

Dr. Richard Schonberger, author of two of the top-selling manufacturing books of all-time, will discuss in detail his 16 principle/five step matrix for helping companies continuously improve their manufacturing in this era of "hyper-competitiveness."

"We're going to teach every company how to create a super-program that incorporates the best features of all the important management initiatives of the past 20 years," said Schonberger, "including lean manufacturing, total quality, just-in-time, re-engineering, visual management, as well as many others. We'll also help you correct your blind spots before your competitor finds them for you."

Schonberger was one of the first authors and practitioners to focus on lean manufacturing, a theory he soon took to the next level, pulling together the entire process from manufacturing to sales—from strategy to front line operations, across all of the business functions and from deep in the supplier base to the final customer—for an integrated approach called "World Class Manufacturing."

Utilizing his approach, Atlanta-based Atlantic Envelope Co. doubled in size within one year, increasing its sales from $159 million to $202 million and its profits by 33%. The company is now competing for third place in the U.S. envelope manufacturing market share.

Becton Dickinson, a $3.1 billion, Fortune-500 medical technology manufacturer, already had 90% of the domestic market captured when it adopted Schonberger's principles. Within one year, one of Becton's plants alone reported a 5% reduction in total costs, waste reduction of 30%, and 80% reduction in vendor rejections.

Other companies benefiting from Schonberger's expertise for continuous process improvement have included Dow Corning, Black & Decker, Touche Ross, IBM and Fiat (Italy).

Schonberger's 1996 book, "World Class Maufacturing: The Next Decade," won the prestigious 1998 Shingo prize for Manufacturing Research. He was selected by World Executive Digest as a "significant pathfinder," by Quality Digest as one of the "New Gurus—The Next Leaders in the Quality Revolution," and was awarded the British Institute of Production Engineers 1990 International Award for an "outstanding contribution to the advancement of manufacturing management." He has written seven books and more than 100 articles for publications such as the Wall Street Journal and Quality Progress.
Schonberger's two-day workshop will be held at the BWI Airport Marriott in Baltimore, Md. Those interested in attending can call (410) 706-3441, or visit the workshop web site, at www.ummap.org for more information.

This two-day institute is part of the University of Maryland Engineering Research Center's (ERC) continued commitment to enhancing the Maryland economy through University-industrial partnerships, consulting, and start-up company incubation. The ERC has sponsored more than 654 joint University/industry R&D projects since 1987, incubated 40 new companies, and offered consultation to industry at a pace of more than 200 projects per year.

The workshop is sponsored by the ERC's University of Maryland Manufacturing Assistance Program (UMMAP), in the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland, along with Virginia's A.L. Philpott Manufacturing Extension Partnership, the Delaware Manufacturing Extension Partnership, the Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center, and MANTEC. UMMAP is an affiliate of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Manufacturing Extension Partnership program.

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