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ITCC presents the 2006 Global Manufacturing Series December 7 - 8
In the order of presentation:
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William A. Strauss, senior economist and economic advisor, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
 | William A. Strauss is a senior economist and economic advisor in the economic research department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, which he joined in 1982. His chief responsibilities include analyzing the current performance of both the Midwest economy and the manufacturing sector for use in monetary policy. He also produces the monthly Chicago Fed Midwest Manufacturing Index, organizes the Bank's Economic Outlook Symposium and its Auto Outlook Symposium. He also conducts several economic workshops and industrial roundtables throughout the year.
He has taught economics and statistics as an adjunct faculty member both for Loyola University, Chicago and Webster University, Chicago. He currently teaches at the University of Chicago, Graham School of General Studies.
His research paper topics include analysis of the manufacturing sector, the auto sector, the Midwest regional economy, the trade-weighted dollar, business cycles, and Federal Reserve payments operations.
He has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun Times, Crain's Chicago Business, Business Week, Investor's Daily, The Economist and many other publications from around the country. Mr. Strauss has also been interviewed on numerous television and radio shows. He is a past president of the Chicago Association of Business Economists and currently serves as a member of the Advisory Council for the University of Illinois at Chicago's Center for Economic Education.
Mr. Strauss earned a B.A. in economics and geography from the State University of New York at Buffalo and an M.A. in economics from Northwestern University.
To view William Strauss' publications, go to www.chicagofed.org/economic_research_and_data/economists_preview.cfm?autID=45 |
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Kathy Benn, vice president, supplier diversity, Cardinal Health
 | With more than 26 years of healthcare experience, including positions in sales, marketing, distribution and logistics, Kathy Benn has been a key player in the transformation of healthcare information and management systems. As Director of Distribution Services for Allegiance Healthcare, she motivated and assisted hospitals in implementing “just-in-time” stockless inventory and materials management systems. As Vice President of Med/Surg Marketing for Allegiance Healthcare, she worked with key suppliers to build strong sales, targeting and marketing plans.
She brings this unique perspective to her current role as Vice President of Supplier Diversity for Cardinal Health. In this role, she works with the business units of Cardinal Health to examine how they develop relationships with suppliers and encourage them to include products and services from small, disadvantaged businesses, including women-owned, veteran-owned and minority-owned businesses, in their procurement practices. She is responsible for the strategy, structure, and results of our supply diversity initiative, supporting both government and private sector customer requirements around supplier diversity.
Ms. Benn is an active speaker and author on topics that include inventory management, or procedural costing, supply standardization and supplier diversity. She holds a B.A. in business administration from Michigan State University and a Masters of Management degree from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University. She is an enthusiastic member of the Chicago Chapter of the Women’s Business Development Council (WBDC), a board member of Opportunity Medical, a Division of the HandicapableTM Hand of Opportunity, Inc., treasurer of the Chicago Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association, Inc. (CHBA), treasurer of the Healthcare Supplier Diversity Alliance (HSDA), and board member of the South Central Ohio Minority Business Council (SCOMBC). Ms. Benn resides in Evanston, IL, with her husband Adrian and son Patrick. |
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Kappana Ramanandan (Ram), president and chief executive officer, Hydrox Laboratories
 | Mr. Kappana Ramanandan (Ram) purchased Hydrox Laboratories in 1981. A research chemist by trade, Mr. Ramanandan used his skills to develop several new products in the early 1980s. This expanded product line helped Hydrox meet the needs of its diverse markets. The company now manufactures about 50 products. Hydrox Laboratories is a contract filler of beauty and medical products. The company does customized blending and filling sizes and private labels. The company was originally established in 1913 and has the unique distinction of being one of the oldest continuously-running manufacturing companies in the United States. |
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Michel Moulin, chairman and chief executive officer, S•K Hand Tool Corporation
 | Michel Moulin is CEO of S•K Hand Tool Corporation since 2001.
He gained a strong engineering and lean manufacturing expertise in the electronic and automotive industry, working for major companies like Schlumberger, Valeo and Hutchinson.
Michel Moulin built his experience internationally and eventually took leadership of various operations all around the world in Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Mexico and the United States.
Facom, the European leader for hand tools, hired Michel Moulin in 2001 as CEO of S•K Hand Tool Corporation, with the mission to recover the American branch, a company that was close to fill bankruptcy at that time.
Instead of closing one of the plants, as suggested by the Group, Michel Moulin acted as a real entrepreneur. He understood the American culture, and the specificity of the market and more than 1,000 new products were proposed in a new catalog in 2003.
He successfully implemented innovative management tools like 5S programs (keep your work environment clean) and Kaizen teams (problem resolution programs) in a very conservative work environment, and unionized work force.
When the company had to face rising health care costs and spiraling steal cost increase, a benefit cut was done and only made possible because the dialog between Management and work force was set on a different spirit that Michel had introduced and continuously developed since.
In 2005, Facom decides to disinvest from the American market. Several large American companies were attracted to buy one of America’s top brands for hand tool since 1921, but Michel Moulin was able to face that new challenge with success, finding financial partners and persuade Facom to be the right choice.
He transformed a subsidiary on its way to close into an autonomous and profitable company, saving 250 jobs and 3 plants (2 in Illinois, 1 in Defiance Ohio). S•K Hand Tool Corporation will be able to keep on manufacturing in the US, selling hand tools to the automotive market, the industry and to the government, sponsoring car races, and proposing innovative tools to professional mechanics but also vocational.
And now, S•K is ready for new challenges with markets development in Asia. |
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Mark Miller, chief executive officer, Prince Industries Inc.
 | Mark Miller is Chief Executive Officer of Prince Industries Inc. In this position, he leads one of the Midwest’s largest and fastest growing manufacturers of metal and plastic components.
Beginning his career in his family’s business in 1978, he has held numerous roles within the company and several management responsibilities, including President. More than 28 years later, he has grown the company to over 30 million in revenue and in excess of 180 employees. From its one location in Carol Stream, Illinois, Prince expanded operations globally in 2001 by importing product from China. At the request of their customers, they formed a WOFE (wholly foreign-owned enterprise) and stated manufacturing in China with warehouse operations and an additional staff of 65 employees. Prince has continued to steadily grow sales at a time when some companies find it difficult to compete with offshoring. Mark’s reputation in the industry for knowledge and integrity affords Prince Industries unique business opportunities with its customers and a competitive advantage.
On the community level, Mark is an active member of Willow Creek Church and a member of C12, a Christian Leadership Organization for CEO & Owners. Mark currently serves on the board of advisors for Kingdom Class Group and G.R.I.P. Outreach. He is married with three children and resides in Naperville. Mark enjoys all types of sports, particularly golf. |
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Arnot B. Heller III, chief engineer and vice president international, Central Screw Products
 | Arnot B. Heller III started working at Central Screw Products in December of 1999, after graduating from the University of Michigan the previous spring. During the 7 months between graduation and Central Screw Products he worked at a small fastener sales house and became acquainted with the industry from the fastener side. A self proclaimed “idea guy,” Arnot led the charge for globalization as his Dad kept things humming in Detroit. Five years into his tenure he is leading the International Department and constantly working on Central Screw Products marketing and services offering. Well versed in processing and manufacturing from years of Saturdays with Dad in the “shop,” he brings a technical knowledge, automation experience, and over four years of direct international contact. He enjoys outdoor activities including sailing and kiteboarding whenever he and his wife can sneak away. |
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William Testa, vice president and director of regional programs, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
 | Bill Testa is vice president and director of regional programs in the economic research department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Testa has written widely in the area of economic development programs, the Midwest economy and state–local public finance. He directed a comprehensive long term study and forecast of the Midwest economy, Assessing the Midwest Economy: Looking Back for the Future, and has fashioned a series of conferences on school reform.
Testa also serves in an advisory or director’s capacity to a variety of professional journals, nonprofit organizations, and economic development initiatives in the Midwest. Testa and his co-workers recently completed an analysis of the prospects for manufacturing in the Midwest.
Prior to joining the Chicago Fed in 1982, Testa was a visiting faculty member in the economics department at Tulane University in New Orleans and a graduate research fellow at the Academy for Contemporary Problems in Columbus, Ohio. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Testa received a Ph.D. in economics from the Ohio State University in 1981.
To view William Testa's Blog and other publications, go to www.chicagofed.org/economic_research_and_data/economists_preview.cfm?autID=76 |
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Bernie V. Bowersock, senior vice president, North American Tool Corporation
 | CAREER
Sr. Vice President, Sales and Marketing for the past 13 years, North American Tool Corporation, South Beloit, IL. Responsible for Sales and Marketing worldwide.
National Sales Manager, 8 years, The Weldon Tool Company, Cleveland, Ohio. Responsible for worldwide sales.
Partner and Executive Vice President, 3 years, Mac Austin, Inc., Lubbock, Texas. A 40 year old, three-branch, industrial supply company, covering West Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico. Subsequently sold the company to two other industrial supply companies, and consulted with one of them for a year and a half.
Western Regional Manager, 5 years, Briggs-Weaver, Inc., Dallas, Texas. A $200 million industrial supply company. Responsible for establishing branches in Midland/Odessa, El Paso, Texas, and Albuquerque, New Mexico, as well as developing integrated supply systems for their customers for the entire corporation and its 27 branches, in six states.
Sales Representative, 2 years, Carboloy Systems Div. of General Electric Corporation. Responsible for sales in Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico.
Sales Representative, 8 years, The Cleveland Twist Drill Co. Cleveland, Ohio. One year Intensive Training in Tool Design, Product Application, and Customer Service; seven years as sales representative in Texas and Mexico.
Staff Sergeant, US Army, 2 years, Instructor, Chemical School, Fort McClellan, Alabama.
EDUCATION
Graduate of Baldwin Wallace College, Berea, Ohio. (BA in Humanities).
PERSONAL
Married 38 years to Jody, a Cardiac and Intensive Care Nurse at Swedish American Hospital, and two grown daughters. Hobbies include archery, shooting, and restoring a 1962 Austin-Healey 3000, a work in progress. |
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Jim Zawacki, chairman, GR Spring & Stamping, Inc.
 | Jim Zawacki is a native of Grand Rapids and a graduate of Aquinas College in 1966. Jim and wife, Joan, have six children and ten grandchildren (1 of the way). He worked his way through college working in the factory and started his career as a Manufacturing Engineer at Bissell Inc. Next, he worked at a Fortune 500 company holding several position in different locations, and the last ten years as Automotive Division President.
Bought GR Spring & Stamping (formerly Grand Rapids Spring & Wire Products) in 1985 and has been deeply involved in trying to make GRS&S the “Best” in their product field – Stampings, Spring, and Assemblies. GRS&S’s goal is “Profits through Continuous Improvement and Having Fun During the Process.” Jim has actively been involved in many networking groups (local, national, & international). He has served as the Current past President of Spring Manufacturers Institute, Past Chairman of the West Michigan Manufacturers Council, Current Chairman on the Precision Metal Association (PMA), President of the Monroe North Business Association, Board of Director “Manufacturers for Fair Trade,” and has won the Donald C. Burnham Manufacturing Management award from SME (Society of Manufacturing Engineers). He is actively involved in promoting World Class Manufacturing/Lean Manufacturing and as current past Chairman of PMA - his theme is “Manufacturing is Vital to our Economy.”
Jim has also co-authored and published several books with Professor Don Klein from Grand Valley State University. The first book, “It’s Not Magic,” is a novel about the turn around of a small company, and the second book is “The Magic Workbook.” The Michigan State University Press published both books. |
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Scott Irvin, manager of logistics, Atlas Material Testing Technology, LLC
 | Scott Irvin is a 1994 graduate of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and a certified production and inventory management professional (CPIM). He joined Atlas Material Testing Technology LLC in 1998 as a buyer/planner and today is the Manager of Logistics for the Chicago operation.
In this role, Scott is responsible for the management and execution of the value chain for the $35M Chicago manufacturing operation. He oversees a staff of 22 responsible for order intake, processing, invoicing, master scheduling, production planning, manufacturing resource planning (MRPII), purchasing, export compliance, customer and field technical services.
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Larry Antos, president and chief executive officer, Mathews Company
 | Larry Antos is an experienced executive with over 42 years of management experience. He has worked in the following industries: oil, construction, electronics, and agriculture. For the last 22 years he has been employed in the agricultural sector manufacturing and selling grain drying equipment. The company has been exporting for over 25 years to many countries around the world. |
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