Lanner's Witness User Conference Americas Features Industry Leading Speakers
Simulation Modeling Sepcialist Lanner confirms speaker line up prior to exclusive two-day customer event, WITNESS User Conference Americas 2011, this August 22 - 23, 2011 at Lake Elmo, MN

HOUSTON, TX, August 09, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The nation's economy has forced radical changes in business practices since the start of the recession, and leading firms have sought new and innovative ways to conserve budgets through the adoption of the manufacturing industry's simulation model to reduce waste and improve performance. Business leaders attending WITNESS User Conference Americas - presented by Lanner lead partner 3M - may pick up sage advice on process optimization in a turbulent economy this coming August 22 and 23.

Held at lead sponsor 3M's Tartan Park, Lake Elmo, MN conference facility, the event's first day will begin with Dan Nottestad, 3M Supply Chain Specialist. He'll discuss 'Automation simulation for a continuous process that feeds multiple production lines,' which will examine the importance of input data collection, cleansing, and manipulation to efficiently and accurately model system behavior.

Nottestad provides manufacturing and business systems analysis for 3M Divisions and 3M Corporate Quality initiatives. He is a mechanical engineering graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, gaining his master's degree in manufacturing systems engineering at University of St. Thomas, St. Paul in 2002, where he continues to guest lecture. In addition to supply chain analysis, his 20-year 3M career spans engineering analysis, design, project, and plant engineering.

D'Artis Jones, integrated logistics design manager at Exel follows Nottestad, presenting 'Introducing simulation-based decision support tools into daily warehouse operations.' He will discuss the strategy and modeling designed to improve the throughput at an already highly effective distribution center.

An Ohio Northern University engineering graduate, Jones' career has encompassed aerospace heat transfer design, fuel cell development, value analysis, and logistics design. After completing his master's degree in manufacturing engineering at University of Michigan in 2002, he went on to Colorado State where he engaged in Ph.D. studies in industrial engineering / operations research (OR).

Launching the afternoon session is Erin Murphy, 3M Engineering Specialist, offering an insight into the evolution of simulation modeling usage at the manufacturing conglomerate over the last decade, highlighting the diversity of nontraditional problem types addressed using simulation modeling tools, and showcasing a current project. Since graduating Purdue University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Murphy has spent the last 17 years at 3M working first in the field of machine design and currently in manufacturing simulation.

Claire Krupp, owner and principal consultant at Simulation Analysis, LLC will present 'The Challenges of Large Model Simulation', a discussion of technical aspects of WITNESS software in the development and ongoing use of simulation models for steel production at The Timken Company. She will describe the overall process flow of one of Timken's steel plants, and some of the challenges faced as the model became larger and more complex.

A mathematics and statistics graduate of the University of Leeds, UK; Ms Krupp also gained her master's degree in management science and operational research at the University of Warwick, before a stint at Cadbury Schweppes, then seven years with AT&T Istel (now Lanner) on both sides of the Atlantic. She then started the consulting company Strategic Analysis, LLC and was principal consultant / owner for five years, before taking a break from simulation to raise her three daughters (now teenagers). She currently lives near Cleveland, OH and re-opened her business under the new name four years ago.

The afternoon's final specialist presenter is Dr. Jesus Jimenez of Texas State University-San Marco, Ingram School of Engineering. Texas State University is one of Lanner's academic partner institutions which use WITNESS software in taught courses and research projects. Dr. Jimenez will outline the simulation teaching and research interests of the Ingram School of Engineering at Texas State University, including innovative balancing of resources in the energy industry.

An assistant professor at the Ingram School of Engineering Jimenez holds undergraduate and master's degrees from the University of Texas at El Paso, and completed his Ph.D. in industrial engineering from Arizona State University.

WITNESS User Conference Americas 2011, presented by Lanner in partnership with 3M, features educational, networking, and plenary sessions focusing on WITNESS simulation modeling best practice, and forthcoming technological advances for the process improvement industry's leading simulation software package, WITNESS. This exclusive customer event welcomes delegates from across the Americas and features speakers representing 3M, Exel, Texas State University, Timken, and Lanner. For more information about the conference, visit www.lanner.com/wuc11/us.

Press Release Contact Information:

Alexandra Brooks
Lanner Group, Inc.
Director
10777 Westheimer Road, Ste 1100
Houston, TX
USA 77042
Voice: +1 713 532 8008
Website: Visit Our Website