MESA North American Conference to Co-Locate with Penton's 2015 IndustryWeek Best Plants Conference & Expo

CLEVELAND, March 4, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Penton's IndustryWeek is pleased to announce that MESA International is co-locating their annual North American Conference within the 2015 Best Plants Conference & Expo. The IndustryWeek Conference & Expo is dedicated to helping manufacturing facilities continuously improve their operations, providing manufacturing professionals with actionable ideas they can implement in their facilities.  The event will be held at the Charlotte Convention Center (Charlotte, North Carolina, USA) from May 4-6, 2015 and is now accepting registrations.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150303/179372

Themed, "Advancing. Manufacturing. IT.", the co-located MESA conference will highlight the business value of solving plant and enterprise-level manufacturing challenges with IT-based solutions through a number of offerings:

• A newly added speaking track, entitled, "Manufacturing Meets IT" will feature presentations from General Mills, Dow Chemicals, John Deere, Saputo Dairies, Reynolds American and Keystone Foods.
• Multiple "unConference" sessions - which are open forum, participant-driven discussions where attendees can have their most pressing operational issues addressed.  Topics include: Smart Manufacturing, Digitizing the Supply Chain, Manufacturing Metrics that Matter, Asset Performance Management, Food Safety & Traceability and Manufacturing Operations Maturity.
• A dedicated "Manufacturing Meets IT Pavilion" within the IndustryWeek Expo, with industry-leading manufacturing enterprise solution providers, such as Dassault Systemes, Rockwell Automation, Savigent Software, Maverick Technologies, InfinityQS, Schneider Electric and ATS, exhibiting.

Mike Yost, President of MESA International said of the decision to co-locate with IndustryWeek, "Every company has a 'Manufacturing/IT' strategy.  It's just that far too few companies have a clear, actionable strategy that advances their business. We don't want the IndustryWeek audience to fall in that category any longer and know we can help them on their journey. That's why we're happy to work with IndustryWeek in this way."

"The co-location of these events gives attendees access to a complete package of tools, strategies, best practices, and IT solutions to improve operations- all in one event," said Pat Panchak, IndustryWeek Editor-in-Chief, commenting on the MESA/IndustryWeek collaboration.  "MESA's participation will deliver significant value to our traditional conference attendees."

In its 13^th consecutive year, the IndustryWeek Best Plants Conference & Expo will include Keynote presentations from Paul Gallagher, President of Supply for North America, Diageo; Bill Muir, Chief Operations Officer, Jabil; Avi Reichental, President and CEO, 3D Systems, and Todd Rytting, Chief Technology Officer, Panasonic Corporation of North America.   IndustryWeek expects over 700 attendees who will acquire new insights through plant tours, hands-on workshops, keynote presentations, numerous breakout sessions, networking events, and an exhibition hall.

The conference presents numerous networking opportunities, including a special event at the Charlotte Motor Speedway the evening of Tuesday, May 5.  Attendees will have the opportunity to experience real life racing thrills by riding shotgun in a 2-seat NASCAR race car driven by one of Richard Petty Driving Experience Professional drivers for a 3-lap qualifying run at speeds up to 160mph.  Attendees will also experience the Charlotte Motor Speedway's infield ad Champion's Pavilion while networking over dinner and drinks.  

Registration is currently open at www.iwbestplants.com.  Attendees can also visit the site to find additional information regarding conference agenda, session topics, and networking opportunities.

About IndustryWeek
IndustryWeek identifies and shares the trends, strategies, technologies and best practices that help manufacturers become more innovative, competitive, and profitable.  A Penton publication, IndustryWeek has been providing exclusive insights about the business of manufacturing for more than 100 years.  For more information on IndustryWeek, please visit http://www.industryweek.com and follow IW on Twitter and Facebook

About Penton
Penton drives performance for more than sixteen million professionals each and every day. They rely on us to deliver: Insights, information & workflow tools to inform critical business decisions; networking & community to engage them with industry peers & partners; and data & marketing services to advance their business performance & deliver ROI.

Penton is a growth company with a track-record of strong performance and success and is backed by its co-owners: MidOcean Partners and U.S. Equity Partners II, an investment fund sponsored by Wasserstein & Co., LP.

For additional information on the company and its businesses, visit www.penton.com

About MESA
MESA (Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association) International is a global, not-for-profit community of manufacturers, producers, industry leaders and solution providers who are focused on improving Operations Management capabilities through the effective application of Information Technologies, IT-based solutions and best practices.  To accomplish this, we:

• Enable members to connect, contribute, cultivate understanding, and exchange strategies to drive operations excellence.
• Collect, share, and publish best practices and guidance to drive greater productivity and the overall profitability of the manufacturing enterprise.
• Educate the marketplace on manufacturing operations best practices through the MESA Global Education Program.

For more information about MESA, visit www.mesa.org.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Jessica Chlopecki
Program Manager
IndustryWeek
216.931.9512
[email protected]

DeAnn Fedyski
Executive Director
MESA International
480.893.6883
[email protected]

SOURCE Penton

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