Chrysler exec, Cardinal CEO headline COE's Nov. 22 seminar

Time and time again, we see evidence that the companies most successful in driving real, lasting change throughout their organizations are the ones that don’t treat operational excellence as a project – they treat it as a large-scale culture change that’s always a work in progress. We’re thrilled to be featuring for our final quarterly seminar of the year two fascinating examples of this: Chrysler Group LLC and Cardinal Health, the latter a member of our center since 2013.Opening the seminar from Chrysler is Mauro Pino, who leads the NAFTA Manufacturing and World Class Manufacturing arms of the automaker. Since its 2009 alliance with Fiat, Chrysler has made huge strides in financial performance and industry market share – and part of the credit for that goes to its own renewed commitment to cutting waste while improving safety and quality. The operational excellence system it has deployed, dubbed World Class Manufacturing, focuses on giving workers hands-on experience in problem solving that they can take back to the company’s plants and apply immediately.

As it continues to roll out WCM, Chrysler means serious business. The company last year opened up a 25,000 WCM Academy in Michigan where more than 3,000 workers across North America were trained in 2012 alone.

Our featured afternoon presenter is George Barrett, chairman and CEO of Dublin-based pharmaceutical and medical supply distribution giant Cardinal, a more than $100 billion-a-year operation that ranks in the Fortune 20. Over the past four years, the company has increased its position in hospitals, clinics, surgery centers and specialty practices, doctor’s offices, and the home. Its journey to make health care more cost-effective and simultaneously drive balance and growth has included operational excellence as a key component of cultural transformation and a foundational capability of its go-to-market strategy.

Barrett will discuss the company’s approach to creating a culture of excellence and creative value across the health-care continuum in what is a rapidly changing landscape.

As always, the morning session of our seminar is open only to employees of our COE member companies, while the afternoon session is open to members and guests.

Join us!