How do you find ways to improve profits in these difficult market conditions? Learn practical fixes that you can quickly leverage to improve your profits. Also get an insights into the role that technology can play in improving margins.

ISA's Manufacturing IT Forum, "Connecting IT and Automation," will focus on the opportunities, conflicts, and technologies that are creating new dynamics for owner-operators, suppliers, and integrators of IT systems in manufacturing environments. Editors from the leading publications will moderate sessions and Q&A panels. Attendees at the forum will have the opportunity to hear presentations focused on understanding how companies have successfully addressed the issues and used Manufacturing IT as a competitive advantage. Sessions will include presentations about the applications of technology, organizational structures, and best practices for the transformation of systems, processes, and business. Case studies and panel discussions with industry experts and members of the press will offer insights and practical tools that professionals need to address their challenges.

QAD is a leading provider of enterprise applications for global manufacturing companies. QAD applications provide critical functionality for managing manufacturing resources and operations within and beyond the enterprise, enabling global manufacturers to collaborate with their customers, suppliers and partners to make and deliver the right product, at the right cost and at the right time. Manufacturers of automotive, consumer products, electronics, food and beverage, industrial and life science products use QAD applications at approximately 6,100 licensed sites in more than 90 countries and in as many as 27 languages. For more information about QAD, telephone +1 805 684 6614, or visit the QAD Web site at: www.qad.com.

This course helps finance and operations executives learn how to lower the total cost of manufacturing, create working capital, save money by partnering with suppliers, reduce the asset-drain of work-in-progress, reduce procurement costs, improve factory utilization, and more. Taught by Alan G. Dunn, who specializes in manufacturing management, cost management, and business finance and is a former partner at Coopers & Lybrand and a vice president at Gemini Consulting.

Orchestrating the Business: 2008 & Beyond
People. Processes. Platforms. The Progressive Manufacturing Summit is open to forward-thinking senior-level manufacturing executives from corporate, line of business, finance and IT functions and who are responsible for identifying and implementing the manufacturing strategies and technologies that drive their organizations.

Building on the success of the past three years, the MESA 2008 NA P2E Conference will focus on “Delivering on Strategies” and the new MESA strategic initiatives and guidebooks. Attendees will learn best practices and guidance that detail how plant-wide information systems support five key strategic corporate initiatives – lean manufacturing, quality and regulatory compliance, product lifecycle management, real-time enterprise, and total productive maintenance.

At PLM Road Map 2008 join leading industry analysts from CPDA, key industry players, and front-line implementation experts as they discuss their experiences in addressing strategic PLM topics. Find out about their successes in making technology work by linking it across the whole product lifecycle, the obstacles they encountered on the way, and how they developed strategies to overcome them. PLM Road Map is a strategic conference focused on the critical trade-offs that shape product development. At PLM Road Map 2008, find out first hand which issues are confronting end users. Presentations will cover driving critical parameters across design, frameworks for process transformation, the impact of organizational and cultural constraints, SOA for integration across the full development cycle, transforming CAE into a strategic business initiative, BOM integration across design and manufacturing, mechatronics and embedded software, and more.