The Maryland World Class Consortia holds regular meetings each quarter for members, potential members, supporters, and guests. Each meeting is a half-day "mini-conference" that provide new developments among Consortia members, examples of World Class tools in action, and networking with active practitioners. The March 2011 will feature lean experts Drew Greenblatt and Michael Bremer.
Drew Greenblatt
President, Marlin Steel Wire
Drew Greenblatt is a vocal advocate for U.S. manufacturing and business. In many highly competitive industries, domestic players try to fight low cost overseas suppliers head-to-head and quickly find themselves commoditized out of existence. Marlin Steel Wire has bucked this trend, and as a U.S. manufacturer of wire baskets, racks and shelving, and sheet metal fabricated products, has applied lean thinking, automation, and other techniques to not only survive, but to thrive and grow – even in the toughest economy our country has seen in decades.
True Lean Thinkers understand that lean methods cannot be used solely for cost reduction and productivity improvement. Unless the business grows, lean businesses must either shed capacity or never see their improvements drop to the financial bottom line. Lean leaders must think innovatively and for the long term. Marlin Steel Wire’s experience illustrates how.
Michael Bremer
Principal, The Cumberland Group and ChicagoLand Lean Enterprise Consortium
Co-Author, Escape the Improvement Trap: Five Ingredients Missing in Most Improvement Recipes
Despite performance improvement initiatives such as Lean, Six Sigma, and Supply-Chain Management, only a handful of companies actually break out of the pack to transform their enterprise. This problem is not unique to today's improvement methodologies; the same issues existed when organizations first adopted TQM, 
re-engineering, and other popular improvement methodologies.
In this insightful presentation, Michael Bremer describes his insights and recommendations for breaking out of the improvement trap and achieving powerful results from your enterprise transformation efforts.
Agenda
08:00 a.m. - Registration and continental breakfast
08:30 a.m. - Introductory remarks and Drew Greenblatt
10:00 a.m. - Networking Break
10:30 a.m. - Michael Bremer
12:00 p.m. - Optional networking lunch
Location
Frederick Holiday Inn & Conference Center, 5400 Holiday Drive, Frederick, Maryland 21703
Please visit the hotel's website for directions. Refunds for cancellations will not be granted after February 23, 2011.
