First Day of the Conference
Monday was a busy day.
The morning started with the usual welcoming and recognition of the many conference team members. After that, we learned about the "No Touch Order" system being used at Bayer Material Science company. Greg Babe, the CEO, took us on a journey from the disaster of first installing SAP. They realized the processes and data and work flows weren't as smooth as they first thought. Greg told us of their recovery efforts and the goal of no human messin' with the customer orders, raw material deliveries, production orders, and final shipment orders. Everything needed to work together in harmony. While they still have a ways to go, Greg told us about the 25% achievement at the Baytown, Texas, manufacturing plant, just down the road from here. As a result, customer satisfaction has greatly increased, productivity is way up, and employees are less grumpy. Seems like a really good thing.
After our Keynote address by Greg Babe, the exhibit hall opened and the conference participants flooded in. Lots of exhibitors, lots of ASQ Divisions, lots of books and flyers and ASQ staff members, all networking and exchanging business cards. It's really great to see all your friends in such a lively environment.
The first of the technical sessions started mid-morning and lasted until about 5 p.m. It is a good thing this convention center is so big, as there were certainly lots of paper sessions going on.
The day ended with receptions by the various committee and program groups. This is also the evening when many of the ASQ Divisions open up their hospitality suites. The rooms are crowded with members, member leaders, ASQ staff, and a few guests thrown in for good measure. All are talking and sharing. It's like a super family reunion.
I got back to my hotel room about 11 p.m. and crashed!
Dennis Arter
