Sessions Schedule & Location

Track

Design

Manufacturing

Business

Meeting Room

Meeting Room 1

Meeting Room 2

Meeting Room 3

Morning Keynote - 8:00 – 8:50am

KEYNOTE: Oregon: The State of Manufacturing

Angela Wilhelms, OBI

9:00 - 9:50 am

Maximize Return on Investment with New Product Development

Doug Porter – designPORT

Manufacturing Capacity Forecasting

Leonard Weitman - Weitman Consulting

Accelerating the Market Adoption of an Innovation

Jerry Vieira, The QMP Group

10:00 – 10:50am

Does the Future of Electronics Manufacturing Lie in its Past?

Joe Fjelsted - Warrant Tech

Meet the New Boss; Same as the Old Boss – AI in the workplace.

Nolan Johnson - Managing Editor, IConnect007

Leveraging AI for Sales Growth: Real-World Business Applications

Jim Kaigh - Sales Xceleration

11:00 – 11:50am

BOM recommendations for Supply Chain Success

Gary DeGrave - Milwaukee Electronics

Future Trends in the Electronics Industry and Their Impact on Surface Mount Board Assembly

Jack Frost - Cascade Systems Tech

Getting started with patents

Laura Zager, Thermo Fisher Scientific

Lunch: 12:00pm

     

Afternoon keynote - 1:00 – 1:50pm

KEYNOTE PANEL: State of the Supply Chain 2024

Moderator: Mike Schindele; Panelists: Rob Rowland (Axiom), Alexis Canfield (TTI), Pat Duggan (Temco NW), Chris Pulone (A-Dec)

2:00 – 2:50pm

Global Electromagnetic Compatibility Standards and Regulations

Ryan Benitez - ElectroMagnetic Investigations Test Laboratory

Flex PCB Fabrication

Jerome Larez, NextGen PCBs

What Intelligence Will Improve Business

Paul Menig, Business Accelerants

3:00pm (End)

     

Sessions & Keynotes

Panel Discussion on AI in Electronics Design & Manufacturing

Our expert panelists talk about the present and future of electronics industries with the emergence of advanced artificial intelligence. Discussions will consider various perspectives, including:

  • Electronics design & manufacturing
  • IP law
  • Education
  • Business execution

Why 2025 is an Excellent Year to Sell or Buy a Manufacturing Company

A philosophical change in the approach to managing the United States economy will arrive in Washington DC in January 2025. New leadership is focused on enhancing the role of the American manufacturing sector in the world economy.

Made in America once stood for quality around the world.  It is time to return the nation to its rightful place as the globe’s best manufacturer of quality, innovative products.  Let’s start with owning our home marketplace with domestically made items.

A Mathematical Model for Perfect Supply Chain Management

This presentation covers a mathematical model of supply chain management and practical applications for this model in the real world. Fully applying the theory behind this research is not expected.

The presentation covers the following components:

  • Brief overview of key tenets of successful supply chain management
  • Brief overview of frequentist, propensity, and bayesian statistics and the foundational differences in arrival at a conclusion of ground truth
  • Overview for how a bayesian model seeks truth from observations and how this applies to supply chain management
  • How disaster recovery plans and failure cost predictions are created and how they factor into inventory levels
  • Applying these statistics to create a model that covers supply chain risk, forecasting, consumption variability, weather, geopolitical turmoil, etc.
  • An actual example of how this system is implemented, i.e. moving beyond concepts

Mastering the Administrative Duties for Running a Successful Business

Let’s face it, “Organized Chaos” in the workplace has its limitations. To truly thrive and grow, businesses need standardized and sustainable systems for data management, communication, business changes, and product inventory. Think of it as the “boring but important part” of running a business. The Efficiency Godmother supports clients by designing simplified systems which work for their very individual professional challenges. Objectives include:

  • Achieve more accurate and efficient contracts and bid proposals
  • Streamline business operations with effective documentation and communication
  • Optimize protocols for A/P, A/R and payroll
  • Develop clear plans for emergencies or missing key people
  • Increased customer satisfaction and retention

Patents and Other Intellectual Property Considerations for Engineers

Building solid intellectual property (IP) is a top priority for company leadership today, and for good reason: a well-defined and well-executed IP strategy is a critical foundation for a company’s growth and funding efforts. For engineering teams, this means developing, documenting, and protecting innovations in a way that aligns with the company’s technology roadmap, business goals, and available resources. An effective IP program doesn’t take a one-size-fits-all approach; rather, it strategically applies different forms of IP protection (such as patents, trade secrets, trademarks, or copyrights) based on what’s being built, how it’s being used, and when it matters most.

Winning Against the Big Ships: Differentiating Your Sales Approach from Price & Delivery to Value-based Premiums

Many component manufacturers find themselves falling into a bad-habit trap of competing based on price and delivery.

The pressure from customers’ procurement departments demanding price concessions is immense. The competitive disadvantage of size reduces negotiating power. The pressures of time to get as many quotes out the door as fast as possible is immense. And the reward systems for the salespeople, encourage them to pressure the quoting staff to “sharpen their pencils” and tighten profit margins.

This talk will show sales managers, salespeople and business owners how to mitigate all of these pressures and win more (and more profitable) business form large customers and well-established competitors without have to revert to pricing.

As one business owner/practitioner in the extremely price competitive automotive market said of these techniques in an unsolicited message:

“We just won a HUGE program that, alone, will increase our annual revenue by 20%. I wanted to thank you. We incorporated numerous techniques from the previous proposals that we worked on with you. This was a very competitive situation with 10 bidders and ultimately, “we knocked their socks off”. Not sure we would have won this had we submitted this proposal using the same approach we used prior.”

This presentation will share these techniques and disciplines.

Manufacturing & Innovation are Key to Economic Competitiveness

Discussion of the intersection of business and policy and why supporting a design, innovation and manufacturing ecosystem is critical to economic competitiveness. Will be flexible and work with NEDME heading into the event.

Digitizing Supply Chains through Blockchain, Machine Learning, AI, and Other Tools

Pulling together local supply chain leaders to discuss how they ate “digitizing” their supply chains through the uses of tools such as Blockchain, Machine Learning (ML), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other tools.

Unlocking AI’s Potential in Digital Fabrication: Smart Strategies for Industry Innovation

This presentation will explore how AI is transforming digital fabrication, from design optimization to real-time quality control. Attendees will gain insights into practical AI implementation strategies, data-driven decision-making, and best practices for enhancing manufacturing processes. Real-world case studies will illustrate how AI can improve efficiency, reduce costs, and drive innovation. Whether you’re a designer, engineer, or business leader, this session will provide actionable steps to integrate AI effectively within your workflows.

High Payoff Activities: Small Steps Toward Big Production Gains

Achieving production excellence doesn’t require massive overhauls — it’s about focusing on the small, high-impact actions that drive continuous improvement. This session introduces the concept of High Payoff Activities (HPAs) in manufacturing, covering five key areas: Safety, Quality, On-Time Delivery, Cost Reduction, and Continuous Improvement.

Attendees will learn how prioritizing these activities — in the right order — helps improve performance, reduce waste, and strengthen customer satisfaction. Join us to explore practical ways to build a culture of improvement and move your production team closer to excellence, one step at a time.

Counterfeit Parts Prevention

Counterfeit Parts is a highly lucrative market, and the criminals continue to improve their counterfeit parts and paperwork to pawn off to unsuspecting buyers. Keeping abreast of the methods necessary to prevent inadvertent purchasing of counterfeit parts requires a high level of vigilance and discipline. It requires collaboration between your customer, your buyers, the independent brokers, independent testing laboratories and your receiving inspection department.

From Hands to Innovation: The Workforce Driving PCB Progress

The printed circuit board (PCB) industry is a critical component of modern electronics, powering devices ranging from smartphones to medical equipment. While technological advancements continue to shape the evolution of PCB manufacturing, the role of human capital remains indispensable. This presentation explores the multifaceted value of people as an essential resource in the PCB industry. It examines the key roles played by skilled workers, engineers, designers, and technicians, emphasizing their contributions to innovation, quality control, and the adaptation of new technologies. Moreover, it highlights the importance of workforce development and the need for continuous training to keep pace with the industry’s rapid advancements. Ultimately, the study argues that despite the increasing automation and digitalization within the sector, human expertise and ingenuity continue to drive the success and sustainability of the PCB industry.

Design for Prototyping DFM

SMT Mounting of Mechanical Components

Installing mechanical components via Surface Mount processes is gaining in popularity due to the speed (to be read low-cost) and efficiency of SMT lines. What isn’t often considered are the myriad of variables that can affect thruput, the final position of components and the strength of solder or pad adhesion. The goal of this presentation is to forearm designers with the knowledge of process limitations, potential failure modes and the tricks and tools that can help reduce the number of iterative design changes required to deliver on their dream.

How Human Cognition Shapes Markets and Sparks Innovation

Engineering decisions are simultaneously a product and a driver of human behavior. Whether a mechanical system, user interface, circuit board, or large-scale infrastructure, the choices made by designers and engineers interact with human psychology in ways that drive adoption, influence safety, and can even shift cultural norms. This talk explores how principles from cognitive science, game theory, complex systems, and behavioral economics inform successful designs. Drawing from real-world examples we will uncover how assumptions about human nature shape the success or failure of products, how design choices set off cultural phase transitions, and why understanding the science of perception is critical for anyone working at the frontier of technology. Whether you’re an engineer, executive, or entrepreneur, this talk will challenge the way you think about design, decision-making, and the hidden forces driving technological evolution.

Manufacturing Capacity Forecasting

All manufacturers need to understand their overall line’s capacity, and each process’s capacity, to plan and keep up with growing customer product demand and changing product mix.  In addition to keeping up with product demand, it is important to understand future equipment needs for the purpose of forecasting required space, capital, and labor.

Many small to medium-sized companies do not have the enterprise resource planning tools, or in-house expertise, to readily develop these production capacity forecasts.  The methodology discussed in this presentation provides answers to the above business needs by considering the following attributes:

  • Products manufactured
  • Expected product demand for the foreseeable future
  • Process flow for each product
  • Equipment used for each process
  • Equipment used for each material movement
  • Processing rate at each process step
  • Process yield (scrap rate) at each process step
  • Equipment reliability (unplanned downtime) and preventive maintenance time
  • Labor required at each process step and material movement

Applying the above attributes, using a common spreadsheet, future needs for equipment, space, capital, and labor are forecasted.  Once equipment needs over time are understood, it is also possible to identify a floorplan designed for minimally disruptive growth, and opportunities for automation, more sophisticated equipment, and utility usage reduction.

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