Norbert Leinfellner On His Passion For Change Management

In design, interview, medical device, medtech, product development by Alicia CheungLeave a Comment

Norbert Leinfellner has been with Fresenius Medical Care in Concord, California, since 2015. Prior to joining Fresenius, Norbert worked as a Program Manager at other medical device companies in the San Francisco Bay Area, most recently at Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc. in Dublin, California, for the development of devices in the Carl Zeiss Retina Diagnostics product line. Norbert holds a Ph.D. in Physics from Technical University Graz, Austria. Norbert has a long history of passionately implementing cultural change at companies which are increasingly challenged to deliver value in a rapidly changing market. The cornerstones of such a cultural change include the implementation of effective project management and the transformation to a matrix organization that promotes ownership, transparency and clear roles & responsibilities. Norbert will be speaking about “Organizational Change Management as a Strategic Growth Initiative” at our upcoming 2018 American Medical Device Summit taking place October 23-24, 2018 in Lombard, IL. We spoke with him in advance of the summit to hear more about his passion for change management.

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Shaping Tomorrow’s History – Today: In Conversation with Jonna Gerken

In aerospace, interview, leadership by Alicia CheungLeave a Comment

For more than six decades, SWE has given women engineers a unique place and voice within the engineering industry. It is an organization centered around a passion for members’ success and continues to evolve with the challenges and opportunities reflected in today’s exciting engineering and technology specialties. Jonna Gerken is the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) FY18 President. In this capacity, she leads a 40,000-member international organization which encourages more women to enter and stay in engineering fields. She is also the manager for the Program Chief Manufacturing Engineering (PCME) team at Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies Corporation (UTC). Her team ensures all engine components meet manufacturing readiness levels appropriated to their life – cycle stage. Jonna will be the Manufacturing Stream Chair at our upcoming 2018 American Aerospace & Defense Summit taking place December 12-13, 2018 in Glendale, AZ. We spoke with Jonna prior to the summit to learn more about her role at SWE and her thoughts on diversity in the workforce.

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Women in Leadership: Raina Dauria, Johnson & Johnson

In interview, medical device by Cressida MurrayLeave a Comment

In the lead up to the American Medical Device Summit, we are highlighting some of the incredible women of the medical device industry through our Women in Leadership series. First up is Raina Dauria, VP, Worldwide Regulatory Affairs, Cardiovascular & Specialty Solutions Business, at Johnson & Johnson. In October, Raina will speak at the American Medical Device Summit on “Developing a Culture that Values Regulatory Leadership.” We spoke with Raina in advance of the summit to learn how Johnson & Johnson fosters a culture of leadership and how she has developed as a leader in her own career.

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Unveiling New Sustainable Packaging Materials and Design at Hasbro

In interview, packaging, sustainability by Cressida MurrayLeave a Comment

Hasbro is a global play and entertainment company committed to Creating the World’s Best Play Experiences. From toys and games to television, movies, digital gaming, and consumer products, Hasbro is famous for some of the world’s most known and loved brands, such as NERF, My Little Pony, Transformers, Play-Doh, Monopoly, Baby Alive, Magic: The Gathering, and many others. But did you know they are also a leader in sustainability in the toy industry? Hasbro ranked No.3 on Newsweek’s 2017 Green Rankings, No.1 on the 100 Best Corporate Citizens list for 2017 by CRMagazine, and was recognized as a 2018 World’sMost Ethical Company® by Ethisphere Institute. Earlier this year, Hasbro announced plans to begin using plant-based packaging materials as a way to further solidify their continued commitment to sustainability.

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Understanding the Critical Needs of Today’s Modern Consumer to Create Innovate Products and Packaging

In CPG, innovation, interview, packaging, product design by Cressida MurrayLeave a Comment

Today’s consumer is more likely to snack throughout the day rather than eat three set meals. They value low-prep, buy-on-the-go products and demand new retail and vending formats that meet their wellness agenda of freshness, nutrition, and sustainability. Snacking companies are therefore spending more on product and packaging innovation to bring their brands to life and appeal to these consumers. In addition to overseeing Campbell’s R&D for soup, sauce, and beverages in its international markets, Craig Stephen Slavtcheff leads research and development for some of the world’s best-known snack brands, including Pepperidge Farm, Arnott’s, Royal Dansk, Kjeldsens, Snyder-Lance, Kettle Brand and Cape Cod, among others. To better understand what’s on the horizon in the snack market, we spoke with Slavtcheff about the critical needs of today’s modern consumer, packaging and product innovation, and how to improve the shopping experience.

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Leading the Pack: Jane Chase, Institute of Packaging Professionals

In interview, leadership, packaging by Cressida Murray1 Comment

For many leaders, networking, coaching and mentoring have been powerful forces that have shaped their careers and transitions to leadership roles. The Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP) is an organization dedicated to creating these networking and educational opportunities that help packaging professionals succeed. Jane Chase’s support of IoPP spans more than 20 years, during which time she served both at the local level as President of the Minnesota Chapter and at the national level since 2002. She is a national Past President and currently serves as the Institute’s Executive Director. In addition to her work with IoPP, Jane’s professional career includes a breadth and depth of experience involving ever-expanding roles in Quality Assurance, Operations, Processing and Packaging within multiple large CPG organizations known for innovation including The Schwan Food Company, SC Johnson, General Mills, Conagra Brands, Ecolab, and US Foodservice. We spoke with Jane about how networking, coaching, and mentoring have shaped her own career, how she would define a great leader, and what is unique about being a leader in the packaging industry.

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Selecting Packaging Line Technology for Better Production Flexibility: Q&A with Gavin Millar, Senior Director, Global Packaging and Warehouse Design, Molson Coors

In interview, leadership, packaging, Plant Optimization by Cressida MurrayLeave a Comment

When operating at full capacity, the newest canning lines available to beer brewers are capable of producing over 2,000 cans per minute or about 2.5 to 3 million cans a day. Warehouses can also be fitted with cloud-based systems, which help ensure product is stored and accessible for distribution with extreme ease. Packagers know that having fast bottling equipment and more automated warehouses are all part of what drives down operating costs while increasing efficiency. However, beer markets are much more complex than 5-10 years ago when more volume was the norm. Today’s beer brewers are dealing with 10x the amount of product SKUs, less volume, and more diversity of products, not to mention a crowded marketplace with both large and craft brewers competing for attention on the shelf. The greater selection and small batches of craft beer appeal to today’s consumer and are challenging traditional ways of thinking about packaging lines. The need to improve flexibility and accuracy is key. Gavin Millar, Senior Director, Global Packaging and Warehouse Design at Molson Coors, is constantly reviewing production line costs, suppliers, and performance for areas of improvement. This role fits into a much larger World Class Supply Chain continuous improvement program at Molson Coors, in which one of the key pillars is the adoption of best-available technology and measurement and tracking of energy use. We spoke with Gavin Millar to understand how to select best-available technology and achieve packaging production and …

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How to Make a Number-One Brand Bigger and Better: Q&A with Chobani’s Chief Creative Officer, Leland Maschmeyer

In branding, interview, leadership, packaging, product design by Cressida MurrayLeave a Comment

Chobani, the number-one-selling brand of Greek yogurt in America, recently underwent a bold re-brand led by Leland Maschmeyer. As Chief Creative Officer of Chobani, Maschmeyer is responsible for guiding brand and product strategy, packaging, innovation pipeline, online channels, advertising, shopper marketing, and total customer experience design.His goal – to fulfill Chobani’s vision to be a food-focused wellness company. How do you make the number-one selling brand of Greek yogurt bigger and better? To assert further yogurt-market-dominance, Chobani and Maschmeyer have focused their attention on a new logo, identity, and packaging to sharpen the brand’s personality and allow more room for product line extensions. We spoke to Leland Maschmeyer about the rebrand and how investing in creativity is key to making a bigger and better brand.

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Leadership Spotlight: Dan Key, SVP, Chief Supply Chain Officer, Axalta Coating Systems

In interview, leadership, manufacturing, supply chain by Cressida MurrayLeave a Comment

Dan Key is an accomplished senior executive with a 30-year track record in leading operations, supply chain, distribution, procurement, product management, and general management of global businesses. He is an expert in transforming, acquiring, growing, divesting, and repositioning assets throughout the world within both public and privately-owned companies. Dan is known for his approachable and inclusive style of leadership and he excels at rallying cross-functional teams around a unified vision. Over the course of his career, he has repeatedly contributed to EBITDA growth year-after-year through rigorous cost control and throughput improvements, leveraging deep experience in leading end-to-end supply chain and operations across 31 countries. Dan is currently the Senior Vice President, Chief Supply Chain Officer, at Axalta Coating Systems. Axalta is a $4B paint and coating company serving the transportation, refinish, and industrial markets. Dan manages 50 global sites with over 6,000 employees in 19 countries with an annual COGS spend of over $2B.

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Leadership Spotlight: Randy Kesterson, SVP, Operations & Supply Chain, Cobham

In business, interview, leadership, operational excellence, supply chain by Cressida MurrayLeave a Comment

We are thrilled to have Randy Kesterson join us at the American Supply Chain Summit, on April 9-10 in Dallas, TX. He will be delivering a plenary session on “How to Change an Organization: Addressing Failures and the Key to Lead Real Change,” in which he will explore why most supply chain transformations fail and what you can do about it, using examples from both failures and successes in his own career.

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