The following manufacturing industry experts are the judges for
the 2008 Progressive Manufacturing 50.

Lisa Bodell CEO, FutureThink Bodell began her career at Leo Burnett in Chicago. After moving to New York, she headed account management teams at BBDO. She later started the New York office for Eagle River Interactive and grew the business to include clients such as Merrill Lynch, Pfizer and Sony. More recently, Bodell co-founded Harvest Communications, an award-winning marketing and branding firm, which served industry leaders including Citibank, American Express and Merrill Lynch. Her proactive approach to business has her currently serving on the board of directors for the Interactive Journal of the Institute of Direct Marketing in London and the Marketing Committee of the Financial Communications Society. Bodell earned her business degree from the University of Michigan, where she majored in business administration and marketing. She is a seasoned speaker and has also developed and taught marketing courses at American University and serves as an MBA mentor at the University of Michigan.

David R. Brousell Editor-in-Chief, Managing Automation David R. Brousell has been Editor-in-Chief of Managing Automation since 1998. Brousell started his career in technology journalism in 1978 at Electronic News. In 1985, he joined Datamation Magazine, and was named Editor-in-Chief in 1991. Brousell has covered numerous industry developments, technology shifts and major product introductions, including the mainframe era and the development of relational databases; the rise of the minicomputer; the advent of personal computing, client-server computing and the evolution of enterprise applications, and the dawn of the Internet.

Bill Canis Vice President for Research and Innovation, The Manufacturing Institute at the National Association of Manufacturers Bill Canis is vice president and executive director of the Manufacturing Institute, the research and education affiliate of the National Association of Manufacturers. Mr. Canis directs efforts to educate policy-makers, the public and the media about manufacturing’s important contributions to the U.S. economy. In addition to directing the research and media outreach programs a t the institute, he speaks to audiences around the country about today’s manufacturing and the challenges it faces. Canis joined the institute as executive director in 1998. Prior to his position at the institute, Mr. Canis was Vice President, International Government Affairs for American Express at the company’s New York Headquarters. Earlier, he was the chief Washington representative for Caterpillar and also served as a staff member in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. His bachelors and masters degrees in international economics were received from the Johns Hopkins University. He and his wife, Susan, and their children live in Virginia.

Douglas A. Engel Partner and Former Vice Chairman and Manufacturing Industry Practice Leader, Deloitte Doug is a Deloitte Vice-Chairman and leads the firm's National Manufacturing Industry Practice. He is also a member of Deloitte's Global Manufacturing Industry Executive Committee. Doug has over 33 years of Big Four client service experience helping manufacturers and distributors of all sizes excel in an environment of constant change and has authored numerous articles about issues impacting today's manufacturers, including how supply chains are a key differentiator. He also led a Deloitte effort to benchmark the effectiveness of over 650 manufacturers worldwide.

Chris Knuffman Lean Manufacturing Champion, Quincy Compressor (2006 Award Winner) Chris leads Quincy Compressor’s Total Customer Value continuous improvement initiatives, manufacturing engineering activities, and several new product time-to-market teams. Quincy Compressor is a leading designer and manufacturer of rotary screw and reciprocating air compressors headquartered in Bay Minette, Alabama. His background includes over 15 years of manufacturing, supply chain, and business process improvement projects for Quincy. Chris is a Lean Black Belt and holds a BS in Industrial Engineering from Bradley University.

Larry Lapide, Ph.D. Director, Demand Management, MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics Dr. Lapide managed the launch of MIT’s Supply Chain 2020 Project that is researching the future of Supply Chain Management (SCM). He is currently an advisor to the project and is the project director of CTL’s Demand Management research initiatives. He is also responsible for its Strategy Alignment Workshop training program. Dr. Lapide has more than twelve years of experience in supply chain and marketing consulting, ten years of management experience in the high tech sector, and seven years as a supply chain technology market analyst, as well as ten years experience in college teaching on a part-time basis. He was most recently on the staff of AMR Research, a technology market analyst firm specializing in software business applications, serving variously as VP and Service Director for Supply Chain Strategies, as VP of Research Operations for Business Applications, and as the GM for Benchmarking Services. Previous to AMR, he was an associate partner with Accenture where he managed projects involving supply chain effectiveness, distribution network analysis, demand planning, service parts logistics, operational strategy, and systems development. He served high-profile clients in high-tech, telecommunications, retail, consumer and industrial product industries, in both the US and Europe. Dr. Lapide has also worked with Data General, Arthur D. Little, and Benchmarking Partners, as well as a lecturer in the Management Sciences department of the University of Massachusetts. He holds a PhD in operations research from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, a master’s in electrical engineering from MIT, and a bachelor's in electrical engineering from The Cooper Union.

Paul E. Martin Global Chief Information Officer, Rexam Plc (2005 Award Winner) Paul is the Global Chief Information Officer and executive committee member for Rexam Plc. In his role, Paul uses the global IT function to facilitate a change in the way that the business operates. This includes delivering supply chain efficiency, operational excellence and exceptional value to Rexam customers and stakeholders. Paul joined Rexam in November 1999 as Vice President and CIO at the Beverage Can Americas division in Chicago, where he led the supply chain business process transformation, implementation of SAP across 17 manufacturing facilities and the successful roll-out of the company's award winning e-business program. Paul is also a member of Rexam's executive committee.

Bruce McKay Executive Vice President, Livingston & Haven (2007 Progressive Manufacturer of The Year) Bruce has served in his role as EVP and Member of the Board of Directors at Livingston & Haven since January, 2001 after serving several other capacities within the company between 1990 and 1997. Formerly he was employed as a Sr. Regional Sales Manager by Steeplechase Software, a world leader in PC based Control Technologies. Bruce currently serves on advisory boards for many market leading manufacturers such as Bosch Rexroth, Mitsubishi, and Phoenix Connectors. He has a BS in Industrial Distribution from Western Carolina, and an Executive MBA from Winthrop University. In addition, he has also completed many technical certifications in the fields of hydraulics, pneumatics, automation and lubrication. Bruce is a licensed realtor in NC and also serves as a consultant to several real estate investing firms.

Scott Mingus Global Director, New Product Development, Glatfelter (2007 Award Winner) Scott Mingus is the Global Director of New Product Development for Glatfelter, an international producer of specialty papers and engineered products headquartered in York, Pennsylvania. The company was named a PM Top 50 for 2007, as well as receiving the Innovation Mastery Award for its transformation from a semi-commodity company to one that now generates over half its corporate sales from new products developed over a five-year window, half of those from new markets. Mingus is a graduate of Miami (Ohio) University and spent 23 years at Avery Dennison prior to joining Glatfelter in 2001. He holds patents in self-adhesive postage stamps and laser-imprintable bar code labelstocks.

Eric Mittelstadt CEO, The National Council for Advanced Manufacturing (NACFAM) Eric was named CEO of The National Council for Advanced Manufacturing (NACFAM) in January 2005, after serving in a variety of capacities with that organization. He is chairman emeritus of FANUC Robotics America, a company that he led from its startup in 1982 as a joint venture between General Motors Corp. (GM) and FANUC Ltd. of Japan through 1998. Previously, Eric worked at GM as managing director in Uruguay and product planning director in Germany. He also held engineering and management positions within the GM engineering staff. Eric has a BME from General Motors Institute (now Kettering University), an MBA from Wayne State University, and completed the Tuck Executive Program at Dartmouth College.

James A. Robbins Partner, Accenture Industrial Equipment Practice James A. Robbins is a partner in the company’s Industrial Equipment practice. He advices manufacturing companies and works primarily on supply chain improvement programs and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems implementation. Robbins expertise extends to providing counsel on a wide range of issues in addition to ERP, including manufacturing improvement, strategic sourcing, inventory management, planning and scheduling and process improvement. He has been with Accenture since the start of his career. Robbins holds a bachelor of arts degree in management and a bachelor of science degree in industrial engineering from the University of Mississippi. He is a board member of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta.

Maureen Steinwall President, Steinwall Inc. (2006 Award Winner) As owner of Steinwall, Inc, Maureen oversees a 41-year old manufacturing company that specializes in process engineering and thermoplastic, generating $11 million in sales annually and employing 94 people. She received her Ph. D. from Capella University in 2006. Her research topic focused on optimism, multimedia training, and empowerment.  Steinwall received a Managing Automation Prgressive Manufacturing Award in 2006 for training and education mastery and a national training award in 2001 for her company's own training software program.

Steven Vidakovic Technology and Knowledge Integration, Global Supply Chain, Pfizer Inc. (2007 Award Winner) Steven joined Pfizer Inc., PGRD, Analytical Research and Development, Groton 2001. He was appointed a Project Coordinator, responsible for Pfizer Automated Laboratory and Automated Emitted Dose Test System. In 2004 Steven was appointed Associate Director, Technology and Knowledge Integration Lead, at the Supply Chain, WWPS. His role is to create and facilitate the implementation of an overarching global strategic plan to link IT, engineering, and knowledge capture initiatives within World Wide Pharmaceutical Sciences, Global Supply Chain and its partners to ensure effective and efficient decision making for cGMP materials. His career spans Defense (DSTO), Industrial (CSIRO) and Medical Research (Micromedical Industries), working on the Australian Left Ventricular Assist Device Program (Ventrassist), Information Technology (GrainCorp), and Business Management (Dadanco Pty. Ltd.) in Australia Steven earned his Bachelors degree in Aeronautical Engineering, followed by Ph.D. in Fluid Mechanics and Aerodynamics, and was a recipient of one of the prestigious Australian Defense Force Scholarships. Recently he completed Executive Masters Program (EMP26) Master of Science in Technology Management, at Rensselaer, Hartford and in 2007 was elected on the Board of Directors of the “Association of Laboratory Automation”.

The accomplishments of Managing Automation's Progressive Manufacturing 50 will be celebrated at an award ceremony that concludes our Progressive Manufacturing Summit, June 10-12, 2008 in Las Vegas. Don't miss your chance to celebrate your company's accomplishments with the industry's top performers. Get recognized for the technology-driven business processes your company is utilizing to better manage operational costs, and more effectively contend with the growing challenges of globalization, outsourcing and off-shoring.