Lisa Anderson MBA, CSCP, president of LMA Consulting Group and program awards chair for the Manufacturers’ Council of the Inland Empire (MCIE) Manufacturer’s Summit E=mc² Innovation Awards, a special award ceremony celebrating innovative businesses solving challenges in today’s manufacturing industry, is pleased to announce a new category award of Student Award in addition to the five award categories of Innovation in Product Development, Innovation in Resource or Process Efficiency for Manufacturers, Innovation in Human Capital and Talent and Innovation in Marketing. Submissions are due by January 16, 2017 with awards made at the Manufacturing Summit, the largest event of its kind in Inland Southern California, to be held at the Ontario Convention Center on Friday, February 3, 2017.
“The E=mc² Innovation Awards are a great way to showcase what a company is doing to be innovative to raise the bar,” shares Award Chair Lisa Anderson. “In a climate of robust global competition, talent shortages due to skills gaps, Amazon and mega distributors changing the competitive landscape and poor employee engagement, these awards can prove to Inland Empire companies and their employees, that they are innovative and have great ideas to grow their business and remain competitive. And with the addition of the student category, we now have a spotlight on hiring recent graduates who showcase their talents with their submissions.”
Award winners have tapped into new ideas, processes and manufacturing techniques to build and improve their businesses. Previous winners include Riverside, Calif.-based Newport Cottages, a children’s furniture manufacturer and winner of the Innovations in Human Capital and Talent Award, struggled with workflow issues unable to increase sales from new orders while managing the demand from current customers. They partnered with the Riverside County Workforce Investment Board to promote and facilitate a Lean Manufacturing Transformation Rollout Program and turned their disorganization into a true company transformation.
Last year’s Innovation in Resource & Process Efficiency Award Winner Celestica, a design and engineering through to manufacturing and after-market services firm based in Ontario, Calif., had to overcome a dual problem of reducing costs as requested by customers while improving efficiency to handle more orders. They had to evaluate their operation, perform a Kaizen Blitz to eliminate non-value add activities and rely on employee’s creativity to improve receiving and overall operations.
The 2015 E=mc² Innovation in Marketing Award went to the Riverside, Calif.-based Phenix Technology, a recognized manufacturer and seller of high quality professional fire helmets, for revitalizing this Made in America, 40 year old company into a global powerhouse. Angel Sanchez, Chief Operating Officer and Director of Global Operations of Phenix Technology explains, “As a small business in California, we struggle to compete with large manufacturers from all over the world. Many have what seem to be unlimited budgets for marketing along with reduced costs for doing business.” But part of not just surviving, but thriving is the innovation many in the Inland Empire have. “We are committed to making our products in the Inland Empire, says Sanchez. “To ensure we can continue doing so for decades to come we focused our energy on innovation. From lean manufacturing to creative marketing, we work hard to thrive in California. It was an honor to be recognized for our efforts and hopefully our model can help other small business to succeed.”
The 2017 Manufacturing Summit will be held Friday, February 3, 2017 at the Ontario Convention Center. For more information, visit MCIE Website or cut and paste this link http://mfgcouncilie.com/homepage/
About LMA Consulting Group – Lisa Anderson, MBA, CSCP
Ranked Number 16 in SAP‘s Supply Chain Influencers and recognized as one of the top 1% of consultants worldwide, Lisa Anderson has deep experience helping manufacturers and distributors maximize value.
Lisa is the founder and president of LMA Consulting Group Inc., a consulting firm that helps manufacturing and distribution organizations elevate business performance and maximize value. She is the author of the forthcoming book The Amazon Effect.
If it relates to improving the performance of a manufacturer, Lisa has done it. Her expertise encompasses the full scope of end-to-end supply chain business processes – from your suppliers’ suppliers through your manufacturing operations to your customers’ customers. Her unique talent resides in accompanying these processes with the appropriate organizational development, systems and financial expertise to help clients consistently deliver bold customer promises and substantial company profits.
Prior to founding LMA Consulting Group Inc., Lisa was the Vice President of Operations and Supply Chain of PaperPak, Inc. Her twelve-year tenure included transitions and promotions through the company transformation from a $100 million family-owned business, through a merger and acquisition of three businesses into one $350 million global company, followed by a management leveraged buyout in combination with an investment banking group.
In demand as a speaker for conferences such as the Global Supply Chain & Logistics Summit and the APICS International Conference, Lisa has been quoted and featured in a variety of online and print publications, including the Wall Street Journal, ABC News, and tED magazine.
Originally published on ExpertClick on January 5, 2017