Manufacturing Tomorrow

With more than 30-years’ experience in cybersecurity and information technology systems management and design, Ken Fanger, president of On Technology Partners, helps companies design, plan and implement cybersecurity, disaster recovery, and business continuity systems.

While his current focus is on the manufacturing sector, Ken has supported pharmaceutical, legal, medical, nonprofit, and government organizations to better understand their work/process flow and develop strategies to meet their goals.

Daniel Herrington is founder and CEO of Voxel Innovations, an electrochemical machining company based out of Raleigh, NC. The company specializes in a pulsed electrochemical machine process (or PECM) that is touted as an efficient and accurate approach to machining high-quality metal components for their medical, aerospace, energy and other industry customers.

Prior to Voxel Innovations, Daniel consulted in the emergent metal additive manufacturing and electrochemical machining industries after working at the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy (ARPA-E). While at the agency, Daniel advised teams from universities, national labs, start-ups, and multinational companies on tech-to-market strategies.

Daniel was also a professional racecar driver in the IndyCar and Grand-Am series, winning multiple races and raising over $1 million in sponsorships. He secured his master’s degree in Engineering Management at Duke University and received his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at North Carolina State University.

Sebastian Elmgren, portfolio manager of smart manufacturing at Ericsson, a 5G and Internet of Things (IoT) company founded in 1876 in Stockholm, Sweden, outlines the most common information and emerging communication technologies powered by 5G and IoT platforms that the company considers priorities for adoption by manufacturers. We unpack the critical role cellular technology will play in the future in solving productivity, supply chain disruptions, and skills gaps. Lastly, we address how smaller firms can reduce the uncertainty in pursuing Industry 4.0, in general.

Other positions that Sebastian has filled at Ericsson during his 13+ year tenure include head of process management, product quality improvement manager and production engineer. Prior to Ericsson, he worked at Ving. He received his Master of Science in automation and mechatronics at Chalmers University of Technology.

As president and founder of Accelerated Manufacturing Brokers, Fran Brunelle specializes in the sale of small- and mid-sized manufacturing firms. With the goal of ensuring the continuity of U.S. manufacturing, Fran and her team help transition ownership to the next generation of entrepreneurs. Recently Fran was named to the 2020 Most Influential Women in Mid-Market Mergers & Acquisitions.

Fran is also the host of WAM (Women and Manufacturing) podcast. Fran writes on topics that help manufacturing business owners prepare their companies for sale and navigate the sale process to ensure a positive financial result in support of their retirement.

During her 13-year tenure at Honda, Meredith Reffey, engineering manager at American Honda Motor Company, has worked in various North American manufacturing facility weld departments, creating specifications for weld equipment with a focus on final body welding and construction.

After serving as the weld equipment project leader for the 2018 Honda Accord and 2021 Acura TLX, Meredith recently moved into a management position, leading associates who conduct new model project roles within weld, paint, and assembly departments. She is a graduate of Honda’s Leadership Advancement Mentorship Program, otherwise known as the LAMP training program, and is the founder and co-chair of the Women Powering Honda business resource group.

She obtained her BS in Industrial Engineering Technology with a minor in Quality Assurance from the University of Dayton.

This second in a two-part podcast features an expert panel from The Ohio State University reacting to Ned Hill’s Institute for Materials Research Materials Week webinar presentation on “Lies, Damn Lies and Consultants: What Manufacturing and Supply Chain Leaders Need to Know about Digital Manufacturing, Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things.”

In order of appearance, the following panelists include:

• Nate Ames, Executive Director, Center for Design and Manufacturing Excellence

• John Gray, Associate Director, Fisher College of Business Center for Operational Excellence

• Farhang Pourbroghrat, Chair, Industrial Systems Engineering

• Kathryn Kelley, Executive Director, Ohio Manufacturing Institute

A special thanks to the Institute for Materials Research for hosting this forum.

During a recent Materials Week webinar Ned Hill, a faculty associate at the Ohio Manufacturing Institute, spoke about OMI research on digitally connected manufacturing enterprises and what is needed strategically and operationally to support them along the Industry 4.0 pathway.

This first segment covers Ned’s presentation on “Lies, Damn Lies and Consultants: What Manufacturing and Supply Chain Leaders Need to Know about Digital Manufacturing, Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things.” The next segment will feature an expert panel reacting to this presentation.

In addition to his work at OMI, Ned is a professor of economic development at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs and is affiliated with the Institute for Materials Research Discovery Theme on Materials and Manufacturing for Sustainability.

A special thanks to the Institute for Materials Research for hosting this forum and particularly Executive Director Steve Ringel and Director of Innovation Jay Sayre for inviting us.

A self-professed Industry 4.0 champion and digital transformation leader, Ted Rozier serves as director of engineering at Festo Didactic North America. The company is a global leader in designing and implementing Industry 4.0 learning laboratories, educational equipment and programs that train people to perform in highly dynamic and complex industrial control and automation environments.

Ted has managed the development of several user-friendly automation control turnkey systems on a global scale. Before joining Festo Didactic, Ted spent 18 years leading the Automation Engineering Department for Doosan Infracore Machine Tool Corporation. He specializes in the design and development of robotics and machine tool turnkey systems for the automotive, aerospace and pharmaceutical industry.

Greg Cebular, vice president of sales at The Technology House, a contract manufacturer specializing in additive manufacturing, cast urethane molding, injection molding, and CNC machining. He is also VP of Sales at Sea Air Space Machining & Molding, a sister company to TTH that specializes in ISO certifications in aerospace, defense and medical industries. Greg began his 3D printing tenure at TTH in 2003.

Greg is a graduate of Ohio University with a bachelor’s degree in Communication and Media Studies.

Rebecca Dray, CEO of Society Profits and executive director of Buy Social USA, focuses her work on building networks of accredited social impact businesses selling goods and services to companies across the US. The goal is to develop a social procurement system that improves society alongside corporate sustainability, shareholder and customer satisfaction & employee retention. Society Profits provides third-party accreditation for social enterprise sellers and helps them gain social procurement contracts, build local networks and improve their social enterprise businesses.

In 2019, Rebecca co-founded Buy Social USA, offering social procurement support services to large corporations, governments and anchor institutions. She served for two years as a Michigan chapter leader for Social Enterprise Alliance and was appointed this year as a board member of the nationwide nonprofit network. In its more than 20-year history, SEA has grown to 1000 members and 16 chapters.

Prior to her work in the US, Rebecca led community enterprises and nonprofit organization management companies in the United Kingdom. Rebecca started her career in the hospitality industry working for Marriott Hotels.