Attlanta (PRWEB) October 02, 2014 -- FABTECH, North America’s largest metal forming, fabricating, welding and finishing event, features an all-star lineup of speakers and panels this November. Keynote presentations by executives from Google Enterprise and Walmart, a special Veterans Day panel on how veterans can help bridge the skills gap, predictions for the coming year from top manufacturing executives, and a motivational speech by a U.S. veteran and football star are just a few of the special events at FABTECH 2014.
FABTECH will be held at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta on Nov. 11-13, 2014, and is expected to bring together 27,000 attendees and more than 1,400 exhibiting companies demonstrating the latest industry products and solutions.
Cindi Marsiglio, Walmart’s vice president for U.S. manufacturing, will kick off FABTECH with a keynote presentation at 9 a.m. on Nov. 11 on “Creating U.S. Jobs and Bringing Manufacturing Home.” Walmart has committed to spend $250 billion dollars over the next decade on U.S. made products in an effort to grow and expand U.S. manufacturing and encourage the creation of jobs. Marsiglio will discuss how Walmart is taking a leadership role in moving manufacturing back to the U.S. and working to find solutions to major barriers to on-shoring manufacturing.
In celebration of Veterans Day, FABTECH will hold a special panel on “Bridging the Manufacturing Skills Gap with Veterans” at 12:30 p.m. on Nov. 11. With high demand for people to fill skilled manufacturing jobs in the U.S., and thousands of veterans and National Guard members exiting military service looking for civilian careers, five leaders from organizations that connect veterans and manufacturers will discuss how veterans could be the key to bridging the skills gap.
Four-time Super Bowl champion and Vietnam War veteran Rocky Bleier will speak at 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 12. Bleier will discuss the parallels he sees between the struggles he faced in the past and the challenges all business people face in today’s crowded, competitive marketplace. Bleier will also make a special guest appearance at the FABTECH Industry Night reception from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. at the College Football Hall of Fame.
Mike Walton, head of enterprise manufacturing for Google, will give two presentations at FABTECH. Walton works with Fortune 500 manufacturers to introduce game-changing strategies and technologies into their manufacturing operations. He will give an in-depth demonstration of big data integration for manufacturing at 10 a.m. on Nov. 12. On Nov. 13, Walton will speak on “Transforming Your Manufacturing Business for the New Digital Age” at 8:30 a.m. In this presentation, FABTECH attendees will learn how to accelerate new product initiatives and time-to-profit using the latest digital technology and tools.
The “State of the Industry – Executive Outlook” panel will take place on Nov. 12 at 12:30 p.m. Todd Henry, operations manager at Caterpillar, Inc., Dave Whelan, senior vice president for supply chain at BlueBird Corp. and Raj Batra, president of the Industry Automation Division at Siemens, will discuss whether they believe the manufacturing sector might be experiencing a renaissance or just an up-tick. The panel is moderated by Edwin Stanley of GH Metal Solutions.
All of these special events are open to all registered FABTECH attendees. More information can be found on the special events page. You can also learn more about FABTECH or register to attend on the event website fabtechexpo.com.
The five FABTECH co-sponsors represent a wide variety of expertise and include: SME, the American Welding Society (AWS), the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association, International (FMA), the Precision Metalforming Association (PMA), and the Chemical Coaters Association International (CCAI). Together, these associations bring unmatched technical proficiency and industry insight to the 2014 FABTECH exposition and conference. Read more about FABTECH’s co-sponsors here.
Beth Oates, SME, +1 313-425-3190, [email protected]
Share this article