Insight on Manufacturing

March 2014

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w w w.in s i g h t o n m f g . c o m March 2014 • /insight on manufacturing | 7 EDITOR'S NOTE | NIKKI KALLIO n k a l l i o @ i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m What do you think about When you think about "planning?" It's a word that makes some people shudder, overwhelmed by the idea of endless checklists and deadlines and rigidity. And even if you love to organize, there are always events that defy planning, such as the weather (go away, cold), market fluctuations or freak happenings such as sinkholes that swallow showrooms full of classic cars. But in our March issue, planning plays an important role. In our cover story, representatives of companies such as Plexus and Schreiber Foods discuss how important it is to ensure every detail, every contingency and every risk is planned for when undertaking a major move such as the consolidation of several facilities into one. "I think our project plan is probably well over 200 to 250 pages long," says Scott Kettler, general manager of Plexus Fox Cities. Plexus consolidated three production facilities into a new building in Neenah, moving in the last department group in February. e company's plan took into mind what its clients needed and it built products ahead of time to ensure a buffer in case anything went wrong with the move (it didn't). One of its clients had an urgent request at an inopportune moment, however. Go to the story on Page 8 to see how it turned out. Planning comes into play for our individual careers, too. When NBA player Jonathan Patton (brother of former Green Bay Packer Charles Woodson) was draed by the Dallas Mavericks, he knew eventually that his It's all about the plan career as an athlete would end. He kept an eye out for opportunities in manufacturing, planning for an eventual career shi. While watching his brother play at Lambeau Field, he met Greg Santaga, president and CEO of Green Bay Converting and Hattiesburg Paper Corporation. at started Patton down a journey into flexographic printing. Read more on Page 18. Also, check out our Back Office story on Page 20. If you're a small manufacturer planning to add an extra shi to your operation and you're concerned about your human resources needs, HR outsourcing can oen be incorporated into your plan. (Incidentally, Insight Publications, which publishes IOM, this spring took on the production and advertising sales for the twice-annual Society for Human Resource Management's statewide association magazine, forwardHR. While content is provided by SHRM, we at Insight see synergies between the two publications for human resource professionals who work with manufacturers in our region.) Be sure to mark your calendars for May 20 – Insight's third annual THINC! event (Technology & Human Innovation Networking Conference) will be held at the James W. Perry Hall at UW-Fox Valley in Menasha. Come to see our keynote, Microso vice president for the U.S. Central Region, Efrem Z. Stringfellow. We're excited about the number of submitted applications we have already received for Insight's first THINC! Innovation Awards. Winners will be announced at the conference. Learn more about the event at www.insightonbusiness.com/2014-thinc. We hope to see you there! F

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