2008-09 Events
May 29th Spring Seminar on S&OP Overview
16 attendees greatly enjoyed the presentation on Creating Cash and Increasing Profitability by implementing an Executive Sales & Operations Planning Process, presented by Jon Minerich of Oliver Wight Americas, at the Holiday Inn, St. Cloud. Click here for more details.
May 11th Student Chapter Recognition
The Central MN APICS Chapter held it's first ever Student Chapter Recognition Banquet on the SCSU Campus to recognize the great work accomplished by the SCSU APICS Student Chapter in the last year. Click here for the details.
APICS Board Recognizes 6 newly certified CSCP's at April PDM
The Central MN APICS Chapter has 6 newly certified CSCP's in our midst! Four of the Six were on hand at the April PDM to be recognized for this great accomplishment. Click here for a picture and more details on their recognition.
Board of Directors finishes work on Strategic Plan Document
For the last several months, the BOD has been working to update our Chapter's Strategic Planning Document. At a recent Board Meeting, elements of the plan were reviewed and updated by the Board. Click here for a picture of the Strategic Planning Sub-group, which met several times to pull together the feedback from the rest of the Board.
December 2nd PDM - Learning Paths: Dramatically Reducing Time to Proficiency
Whether done formally or informally, all companies and organizations do training. The concern is that the training be done effectively and efficiently. Speakers Steve Rosenbaum, President of Learning Paths International, and Ed Robbins, Organizational Development Consultant, presented a methodology to help companies better manage their training. They took the audience from the initial point of developing a business case for training through to developing and understanding the Learning Paths Methodology.
For a brief view of the PDM, click here. If you want to view Steve and Ed’s excellent presentation, click here. For Steve’s white paper, Learning at Light Speed - 55 Ways to Speed Up the Learning Process, click here.
The driving force or focus point of the LP methodology is the concept of “time to proficiency”. The methodology requires the defining of proficiency (What is it and how long does it take to become proficient?) and identifying the current learning path to achieve it. Steve and Ed offered many insights on better structuring of company training initiatives.
November 11th PDM - Alexandria Extrusion Plant Tour & MN Demographic and Economic Trends
Click here for pictures and a summary of our Alexandria Extrusion Company Tour, an overview of their QRM implementation of QROC Teams, and Cameron Macht's presentation on Demographics and Economic Trends. A big thank you to our host, speaker, and and the many members who braved the elements of the first winter storm of the season to make this PDM a success!
October 10th Seminar - Project Management for Operations Management Professionals
We held a very successful and well received seminar on Project Management for Operations Management Professionals on Oct 10th, 2008. It was a great day with an excellent cross section of participants. We had 3 SCSU students, 2 SCSU professors (1 emeritus), Several operations professionals from various companies as well as 5 Central MN APICS board members. All in all, it was a very good mix of individuals. I would like to thank all those who helped to make this a success! Mike Loughrin is a very knowledgeable and talented leader and we were fortunate to have him as our presenter. Thanks Mike. We learned many valuable topics from the beginning of a project, all the way through completion of the project along with how to keep it on track when the inevitable roadblocks arise. Some of the concepts may have been new, while many others were tried and true so we were given solid reinforcement of their value to any project. Please click here for a picture overview of the Seminar. In looking forward, we have plans to partner with the Twin Cities chapter on an undetermined seminar at Remmele Engineering in Big Lake in the not too distant future. Please watch your emails and APICS newsletters as details become available. Once again, Thanks to all and have a wonderful Minnesota fall season! From: Your Central MN Chapter VP of Semiars, Mark Bashans.
October 7th PDM - Lean Lessons from Local Companies
The October Central Minnesota APICS Chapter professional development meeting (PDM) had some "lean lessons" from two central Minnesota companies – Cold Spring Granite (CSG) and Nahan Printing (NP). Fifty-six people toured Cold Spring Granite where they were shown many examples of lean thinking that the company had implemented over several years. In preparation for the tour Chuck Krebsbach, Director of Quality and Continuous Improvement, gave an overview of CSG and described its lean journey. Many had noticed that CSG had closed it's operations in the city of Cold Spring and all were told that the consolidation into one facility was part of CSG’s lean effort. As the tour progressed one could see TPM charts, 5-S examples, cellular layout, and other lean evidence. After the CSG tour, the group proceeded to the Blue Heron, a popular area restaurant, for dinner and a presentation on Nahan Printing’s lean implementation. Kent Gilmore, Chief Operating Officer at Nahan Printing, shared his company’s lean experiences. Kent’s thoughts on how to sustain a successful lean program were well received. (To view Kent’s presentation click here.) Central Minnesota APICS would like to thank Chuck Krebsbach and Cold Spring Granite for the plant tour and Kent Gilmore from Nahan Printing for his sustaining lean presentation. (To view photos of the 2-part PDM click here.)
2008 Student Scholar Award Presentation
Central MN APICS supported two SCSU students to attend the 2008 APICS Conference in Kansas City in September. Under the APICS Student Scholars Program, SCSU students Travis Bjerketvedt and Tyler Bogda were among 99 student scholars that were selected to participate. Click here for more details.
Pictured L-R: Darrell Watercott, Central MN APICS Board President; Travis; Tyler; and Board Members Bruce Skalbeck and John Lien
2008 APICS International Conference in Kansas City
Click here for pictures from the Conference and our Central MN APICS Chapter attendees, courtesy of Board Member Bruce Skalbeck's picture taking prowess. Attending the conference along with Bruce, Travis, and Tyler, were Board members Doris Illies, VP of Programs, and Mark Bashans, VP of Seminars.
September 9th PDM - Tour of Quebecor World and Presentation on Identity Theft
A big Thank You to George Wilkes, General Manager of Quebecor World, and all the tour guides that lead our tours! George gave an excellent overview of Quebecor World, their product mix and philosophy. The guided tours for our 22 members in attendance were very detailed and revealing of Quebecor's unique printing processes. We enjoyed a catered rib dinner while John Justin, Crime Prevention Specialist with the St. Cloud Police Department, scared the dickens out of everyone with the potentials for identity theft. Luckily though, he pointed out many things we can all do to prevent them from happening to us, along with giving everyone a booklet of ideas to protect your identity.