Destiny of Manufacturing EP 0610 – Jim Schlusemann – SME

Jim Schlusemann, MSMIS, LSME, to be its 2023 president. SME presidents. Director of global business integration in Navistar’s Engine Group. Schlusemann achieved the executive position of chief information officer for Navistar’s engine business. In that role, he directed initiatives that expanded business operations worldwide. Schlusemann later helped Navistar relaunch manufacturing foundries in the US. 
Schlusemann is a well-rounded, experienced professional with a unique ability to help teams execute complex projects. He has great leadership skills that enable him to reach across cultural and organizational differences to create breakthrough solutions. Over the years, Schlusemann’s brought this experience to SME, serving on the SME Member Council and the SME Board of Directors in 2005, 2006, 2011, and 2016-21, respectively. Schlusemann is the founder and president of Prosperia International LLC, focusing on business process improvement and management services. 

Connie King – PMA – Workforce Development Director

Prior to joining PMA in May of 2022, King served as the director of professional development for Baldwin Wallace University, where she created and delivered original, competency-based learning programs for external organizations and university employees. Connie also previously worked for the University of Akron as a manager of business solutions, where she developed and implemented internal and external organizational development programs, and created community, industry-based consortiums for assessing and satisfying skills demands.

Before her higher education career, Connie worked in a variety of corporate and entrepreneurial positions which included expertise in marketing, trade show/events management, publishing, and training and development.

Connie earned a bachelor’s degree in Business from Baldwin-Wallace College and an MBA from the University of Akron.  

Destiny of Manufacturing EP 0608 – Ralph Resnick – America Makes

c3 Consulting

Advanced Manufacturing Agitator

National Center for Manufacturing & Machining (NCDMM) in Vice President, Chief Technology Officer

More than 35 years of manufacturing experience.
President and CEO
Acting Director of the Institute, now known as America Makes.

NCDMM President & CEO, Inaugural NCDMM Fellow.

Chief Technology Officer for both The ExOne Company and Extrude Hone Corporation

Leader in advanced manufacturing.
He holds several patents in manufacturing processes and metrology.

Board of Directors of SME

Chairman of SME’s International Awards and Recognition Committee

President of the North American Manufacturing Research Institute (NAMRI/SME)

MTConnect Institute Board of Trustees

Advisory Board (Chairman) for CANRIMT 

Board member of the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT)

Louisiana Center for Manufacturing Sciences (LCMS)

Chairman of the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) 

Chairman of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) Manufacturing Division.

Advisory board of the Advanced Manufacturing and Applied Research Innovation Institute (AMARII)

ASME Intelligent Manufacturing Technology Group.

Fellow of SME

NAMRI/SME “Outstanding Lifetime Service Award.”
2018 NDIA Silver Medal for “superior leadership and service”
America Makes 2019 “Distinguished Collaborator Award

SME Donald C. Burnham Manufacturing Management Award” 

A graduate of Canisius College located in Buffalo NY. Marc has been working for 24 years in the manufacturing world. That includes time in the automotive and food industries. Currently working as a Plant Manager for Winland Foods.

Doug talks about correcting Thinking Old and shifting their workers from avg 62 to 32

Douglas Johnson is the President and owner of Marion Manufacturing in Cheshire, where he manages the operations of a 76 year old manufacturing company.

Doug recently finished a two year term as chairman of the Connecticut Community Foundation where he still serves on numerous committees.

Serves on the Campaign Leadership Cabinet of United Way of Greater Waterbury.

He is a board member of the Naugatuck Valley Community College advisory committee for the Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center.

He has served as President of the Smaller Manufacturers Association of CT and currently serves on its Board of Directors and co-chairs its Education Committee.

Doug also serves on the National Board of Directors for the Precision Metalforming Associationwhere he was recently elected as the national chairman of the board for 2022.  

Doug is very active in the community where he serves on numerous comprehensive and technical high school advisory boards throughout the region. He is a past board member of the Cheshire Chamber of Commerce and volunteers for the American Lung Association, Smilow Cancer Center, Special Olympics cycling events and many other nonprofits. Douglas is a graduate of the School of Industrial Management at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He lives in Cheshire with his wife Megan.  

Destiny of Manufacturing EP 0605 – Scott Donahy – Piranha

Scott talks about User Friendliness of controls and the garanamals  of tooling 

VP sales and marketing for Piranha Whitney Bertsch a Megafab company

Scott  started in the industry with Piranha in 1993 (30 years in July). 

He began on the operations side of the business in the factory.  He quickly learned that he was a process person and doors quickly started appearing for me to walk through.  He has spent time in Customer Service, Technical Service, Logistics, Machine Installation, Operator Training, Product Management, New Product Line Launches, Sales and has been the V.P. of Sales and Marketing for the last 3 years.  It has been a great company to work with and still looking forward to the future.

Destiny of Manufacturing EP 0604 – Mike Brattain – Systems X

Mike Brattain is an Account Executive at Systems X where he helps leaders in the manufacturing industry understand how to best manage and secure their data.  He has spent his career developing winning business strategies with a common sense approach.  30% of Systems X’s manufacturing customer base is part of the DoD supply chain, where having a strong cybersecurity posture is no longer an option.  Mike is a CMMC-AB registered practitioner and works with a team of IT, cybersecurity, and compliance professionals that have over 20 years of manufacturing technology experience.  When he isn’t busy fighting the good fight, Mike enjoys family time, seeking the Truth, and working towards his PGA Tour Card.  He wishes… 

Destiny of Manufacturing EP 0603 – Brian Holmes – KBHC

F. Brian Holmes, A.Sc.T.(Ret), CMfgE, FSME 

VP / GM at Columbia Plastics Ltd.
He is a graduate of BCIT and has spent his career in custom manufacturing serving industries such as electronics, aerospace, agriculture and medical devices.
six-sigma black belt and lean manufacturing methodology implementation. CMfgE

New technologies including the molding of wood waste products, CAD/CAM, Process Simulation, robotics, metal injection molding, sintering, cast molds for plastic injection molding, and custom real time production monitoring. He also oversaw the implementation of ISO 9001 and ISO 13485 compliant quality management systems.

His experience with the company includes sales, production, operations, quality and general management. His emphasis is on a culture of continuous learning for everyone in the company. 

SME president and chair of the board in 2007.

3 years on the board of the SME Education Foundation.

2012 Class of Fellows of SME for technical and leadership achievements.

Since semi-retiring in 2019 he has been consulting with manufacturers at a strategic level to improve their processes and profitability.

He is currently a Certified Manufacturing Master and a service delivery partner with Tandem Innovation Group.

Destiny of Manufacturing EP 0602 – Will Healy – Universal Robots

Will Healy III is enthusiastic about manufacturing, technology and workforce development. A Purdue University mechanical engineer who loves to share his passion for automation, Will is a global leader at Universal Robots and with the Advanced Manufacturing Industry Partnership (AMIP) in Cincinnati. He speaks from personal experience about people-centric technology investments, managing culture change in organizations, bridging the manufacturing skills gap and creating value through automation. With more than 17 years of experience in a variety of industries including automotive, packaging, food & beverage, metal fabrication, welding and more; Will is widely published, has been a podcast guest & panelist and has presented internationally at a variety of industry conferences. Follow Will on YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn with the handle WillAutomate.

 Contact Information

Work cell: +1-513-401-2061

work email: [email protected]

Location: Cincinnati, OH 45244, USA

Destiny of Manufacturing EP 0601 – Bob Willig – SME

Bob discusses all things manufacturing from workforce and training to smart and the future of manufacturing. 

SME CEO Bob Willig, who has more than 30 years’ experience in the manufacturing industry, has held multiple leadership positions for global divisions within major manufacturing companies, most recently at Stoneridge Inc. where he was president of the Control Devices Division. Prior to Stoneridge, Willig served as president and CEO of Plasan Carbon Composites; before that he was president, Americas, for GKN Driveline, an automotive industry supplier focused on drive system technologies. Earlier in his career, Willig was president of both Power Transmission and Powertrain at The Gates Corp. He has also served on various boards, including Plasan’s Board of Directors, GKN’s Chief Executive Council and Gates Corp. Asia’s Board of Directors.

Willig has extensive experience leading teams across multiple cultures, languages, locations and disciplines.

Willig earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical systems design from Lawrence Tech University and an MBA from Wayne State University.