F053: Cutting Cost That Count: Uncovering Hidden Man-Hour and Production Savings

This session will explore how some of the leading global manufacturers, such as Carrier, Dana, Rivian, Collins Aerospace, Grundfos, and many more are changing their design to procurement process, shifting left key decisions, and accelerating time to market and profitability. We will discuss the pressures in each industry, and look at how some of the biggest names in innovation are working to improve design efficiency, negotiate fair pricing with suppliers through data, and reducing manufacturability issues sooner. A series of case studies will be shared, with real insights on how manufacturing costs can be reduced without compromise.

My presentation will be about my 30+ years of experience, from an integrator's perspective that there are numerous other things to take into perspective when looking at cost or labor savings. I want people to stop looking at welding deposition rates and start looking where true cost savings can be derived from. I learned early on in my career, from a very large fabricator that material handling was 85% of their operating cost, that statistic shocked me to a point that my path forward would be from a different perspective than most. Looking from a different lens, has served me well, not to mention the people I have helped along the way. I believe what I have to say, will get people thinking differently about how to cut cost with our current workforce, but also how we move forward with a lesser talent base to draw from.