2018 Speakers (Past Event)

Klaus is the Technical Section Head of Laser Machining and Additive Manufacturing for Procter & Gamble.

Andre is currently VP Development Manufacturing Methods for Schaeffler. His role is predominantly focused on how manufacturing methods can be improved through digitalisation and he has a keen interest in what areas advanced manufacturing technology can be successfully applied.

Chemists, various national and international leadership positions in production and site control and optimization, supply chain optimization products and Crude Oil, Experience in transnational cross business projects and lean in various shell business areas incl. Negotiations, portfolio and investment projects Board function as Shell representative for several joint ventures in Europe

Edith is currently the Innovation Technology Sciences Director for UCB. Within this role, her main responsibilities are to develop innovation and new technology in the development of all new molecules, and to introduce innovation across different manufacturing plants.

Jesper is currently VP Elements and Moulds for LEGO, in which role his key responsibilities include delivering innovation to support product development and leading manufacturing site engineering. He has previously delivered organisational footprint and technology strategies across packing, decoration, assembly and packaging. He has a keen interest in the importance of collaboration between departments in order to define, recommend and implement an innovative, customer focused and consumer driven business plan.

Michael is currently head of Information Technology and Automation at Mondi Gronau, where he is currently responsible for large-scale manufacturing automation and IT implementation projects. Michael is influenced by Industry 4.0 characteristics, such as big data analytics methods, real-time monitoring and man-machine interaction in order to realise and implement the potential of applications across the manufacturing process.

Cesare is currently Manufacturing Plant Director for Stanley Black and Decker. In this role, he is responsible for all manufacturing operations and manufacturing support functions. His key responsibilities include planning, organising and directing the manufacturing operations which will ensure the most effective return on assets.

Sergio is currently Managing Director for Agroherni. In this role, Sergio reports directly to the Global CEO and leads the global implementation of their tailor-made lean culture management programme. His key responsibilities include developing a business and cultural turn-around thanks to the adoption of a lean culture approach, professionalising the business at pace and achieve business change based on three main pillars: people, efficiency, and sustainable growth.

The Future Economy Studio mission is to create innovative concepts leveraging digital technologies to reinvent the way we do business. Emerging technologies – like IIoT, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are transforming our economy. New ventures use new business models that are capturing value in creative and powerful ways and it is vital to understand the true power of these new possibilities.

Dr Patrick McLaughlin is the Course Director for the Operations Excellence MSc at Cranfield University. He has worked at director level in the manufacturing industry for over twenty years and has been responsible for several plant-wide lean manufacturing implementations. His experiences with a range of manufacturing processes and working for a number of different companies in several industries has provided him with a strong background in managing manufacturing operations, including managing growth, downturn, restructuring and relocation of manufacturing facilities.

Shaun is currently a Lecturer for Product-Service System Innovation at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. His specialties include service innovation in industrial markets, product development, sustainable energy systems and business engineering.

As co-founder of AtomLeap, Robin makes digitized hardware happen. Past experiences include having worked for Audi (on inductive charging of EVs) and the European Commission, as well as his research appointment at the Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society. He’s also an advisor to the German Bundestag’s ‘Digital Agenda’ committee and highly interested in technologies that help make tomorrow’s world sustainable, just, and awesome.

Filip Geerts is specialised in the management of corporate and governmental affairs departments of companies, national and EU trade associations and non-profit organizations. He was deputy-director for the largest Belgian association for the technological industry, public and regulatory affairs manager for IBM EMEA and secretary general for numerous European trade associations in the ICT, the electro-medical, lighting and environmental sector.

Giancarlo is Managing Director in Accenture and leads the Manufacturing and Quality practice within Accenture Strategy. He has spent 25 years in consulting corporations in large transformational activities, focusing more recently on Digitally enabled transformations. His experience spans mainly Automiotive, Industrial Equipment and Consumer Goods industries

Christine Komander is employed at SAS as Solution Architect in the PreSales Team for Manufacturing. In practical terms, this means that she supports sales with presentations for customers, customer workshops, discussions on all aspects of Approachable Analytics and Machine Learning, live demos, proof-of-concepts and software tests - in short, dealing with customer requirements and customer visions and the presentation of these with the SAS software. Christine has been working at SAS for more than 20 years, starting with Professional Services as a consultant and later in the pre-sales area, with an interruption from 2013 to 2015, during which time she worked as a computer scientist for the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg - of course using the "SAS Software".

Leo is responsible for strategic business development at Ultimaker, working with large global engineering and manufacturing enterprises in several verticals, including transportation, aerospace, consumer products, energy and robotics. He has successfully helped multiple organizations optimize their operational excellence, drive value creation and innovation with the development of FDM applications, in-house 3D printing expertise and processes. A Silicon Valley veteran, he is currently based in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands.

Stefan Lippautz is a member of the Accenture Operations Strategy practice, part of the ASG leadership team and heading the Accenture Strategy Industry X Team Stefan has been working for leading strategy consultancies for more than 20 years. He has experience and expertise especially around Technology & Innovation Management, Industry X.0 and Digital Transformation in engineering intense industries. His focus is “Making Industry 4.0 work with strategy, prototyping and implementation” Stefan studied Materials Science at the Swiss federal Institute of technology and the University of Leoben and holds a M.Sc.

Georges Houtappel is Senior Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at Solvay Specialty Polymers, leading the global marketing and business development teams across all end-markets incl. automotive, consumer, construction, electronics, batteries, healthcare and processing industries. Georges joined the Solvay Group in January 2013 as Global Head of Commercial Excellence leading the commercial transformation of the group and joined the largest business unit, Specialty Polymers, in January 2016. He combines his role in marketing & business development with operational responsibilities as Senior Key Account Manager and head of the digital transformation in commercial. Georges started his career working 7 years as project manager with Siemens leading large scale infrastructure projects in France, Netherlands, Belgium and Algeria. After his MBA at INSEAD he joined McKinsey & Company as a management consultant, where he worked for almost 7 years as a senior manager focusing on commercial transformation projects. Georges holds a Master of Science in Electrical Power Engineering from the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium) and an MBA from INSEAD (Singapore & Fontainebleau)

Andreas Röttger, Head of R&D Automation Systems at Lenze Automation GmbH is responsible for the development of Lenze Automation Systems. He has been with Lenze since 2005, where he was previously responsible for the development of the software for the engineering tools and the application software.