PI Technical Conference Set for June

The 1997 Process Industries Technical Conference will be held June 25-27 at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, in Erie, Pa. Sponsored by the Process Industries SIG and Penn State's Center for Process Manufacturing, the three-day program will focus on the needs of process industry professionals and address issues associated with changing demand patterns and limited capacity constraints.


Keynote speakers include:

• Donald F. Biggs, director of corporate logistics, Welch's, Inc., will discuss how reliable metrics — measuring the performance of the entire supply chain — must be designed to promote a high return on invested capital.
• Byron J. Finch, Ph.D., CPIM, professor of management, School of Business Administration, Miami University, Ohio, will show attendees how the Internet provides a great opportunity to gather valuable information about products and customers. Finch will discuss how to effectively organize and analyze information gleaned from the Internet to expand profit-making ventures.
• Robert Carbone, Ph.D., president, Futurion Associates, Inc., will discuss the vital importance of forecasting in the process industries. He will also demonstrate advanced forecasting software that uses artificial intelligence technology. Carbone is a recognized expert in teaching and forecast software development.

"This conference will take practitioners with some knowledge of mathematics and communicate to them how to apply math to solve production and inventory management problems," said Ed Schuster, CPIM, CIRM, manager of logistics planning at Welch's, Inc., who is chair of the conference and associate director of the Center for Process Manufacturing.

Attendance is limited, so APICS encourages anyone interested to register soon. For more details, call APICS Customer Service at (800) 444-2742 or (703) 237-8344 and ask for the 1997 Process Industries Technical Conference registration brochure (item #04071).

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Additions to the APICS Web Site

The APICS Web site is constantly being upgraded to better serve APICS' customers. By the time this issue of the magazine goes to print, the following changes will be underway: the addition of photos to the searchable catalog, a searchable "Chapters Near You" section, and a page to download APICS' most popular brochures and forms in Acrobat files, which retain the formatting features.

APICS is working toward making it easier than ever for its customers to obtain the information. Consequently, plans are being made for a searchable database of the conference speakers, session topics, dates and times, and other important information pertaining to the APICS International Conference and Exhibition. This database will make it easy for attendees to plan a conference agenda ahead of time.

Any comments or suggestions for changes or improvements to the APICS web site should be sent by e-mail to [email protected]