Automotive News Manufacturing Conference

Speakers

Bo I. Andersson
GM Group Vice President, Global Purchasing and Supply Chain
General Motors

Bo I. Andersson was promoted to GM group vice president of global purchasing and supply chain on April 1, 2007. Prior to this assignment, Mr. Andersson was vice president of global purchasing and supply chain from 2001-2007. He oversees GM's global purchasing, supplier quality, logistics, order fulfillment, and supply operations. In addition, Mr. Andersson is a member of GM's Automotive Strategy Board, Automotive Product Board, and North America Strategy Board.

Mr. Andersson began his career with GM in 1987 as a manager with Saab. After holding various leadership positions, he was appointed vice president of purchasing for Saab in 1990. In August 1993, Mr. Andersson transitioned from Saab to GM as the executive director of the worldwide purchasing electrical commodity group. In October 1994, he was appointed executive director for the chemical commodity group. After two senior management assignments, Mr. Andersson was promoted to vice president of purchasing for General Motors Europe in March 1997. In 1999, he returned to GM as the executive in charge for worldwide purchasing.

Before joining GM, Mr. Andersson served as an officer in the Swedish army after graduating from Sweden's Military Academy. He holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Stockholm University and completed the senior management program at Harvard University in 1999.

Douglas H. Bartow
Vice President Paint
BMW Manufacturing Company LLC

Doug Bartow is vice president for the Paint Shop at BMW Manufacturing Co. He joined BMW in 1993 as manager of the Paint Shop and introduced a waterborne paint shop system that he patented internationally. He has worked in the automotive industry for 26 years.

William G. Diehl
President, CEO & Global Automotive Practice Lead
BBK

Bill Diehl helps advance the progress of solid companies by improving performance, enhancing enterprise value and maximizing returns, and helps troubled companies develop strategies, negotiate settlements and implement plans of action.

Mr. Diehl has helped BBK become a leading provider of supply base management services. He manages strategic partnerships with the world's leading automotive OEMs and Tier One suppliers, encouraging them to be both creative and proactive.

Bill Diehl has nearly three decades of experience in direct management of manufacturing firms, including acquisitions, mergers, divestitures, labor negotiations, crisis management and turnarounds. As VP/Finance, CFO/COO of Mica Resources, he implemented a corporate restructuring plan, reduced property taxes by more than 75 percent and saved $250,000 in the liquidation of a subsidiary. As VP/Finance, CFO of Edwards Industries, Inc., he negotiated the liquidation and sale of two entities resulting in more than $1,000,000 in savings and succeeded in reducing employee benefits costs by $500,000 annually. As VP/Finance, CFO of The Dollar Corporation, he restructured the organization at both entity and departmental levels, developed and implemented acquisition strategies, negotiated contracts with the United Auto Workers, and reduced benefit plan costs (while improving benefit levels).

Mr. Diehl is a member of the American Institute of CPAs and the Turnaround Management Association.

He has a master of business administration from Central Michigan University and a bachelor's degree in accounting from Wayne State University.

John Felice
Vice President - Manufacturing, Technology & Global Enterprise
Chrysler Corporation, LLC

Ron Harbour
President
Harbour Consulting

Ron Harbour, president of Harbour Consulting, has been a key member of the Harbour team since 1983. In addition to directing the company's day-to-day activities, Ron also leverages strategic alliances with outside consulting firms and other business partners in order to better meet customer requirements.

Over the years, Mr. Harbour has successfully led a wide variety of assignments in both automotive and non-automotive industries. He has directed projects for nearly every major automotive manufacturer worldwide, including DaimlerChrysler, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, KIA, Samsung, Isuzu, BMW, Land Rover and Saab.

Mr. Harbour’s work with both automotive and non-automotive clients has included factory operation improvements, new product development, investment and product cost reductions, product teardowns, strategic planning, competitive analysis, and plant assessments. He also has provided key input in the development of new vehicle programs, common processes, plant layout, long-term manufacturing strategy, supplier improvement and labor strategy.

Mr. Harbour, who personally tours more than 50 automotive manufacturing operations each year, also is one of the principal authors of The Harbour Report, an annual study of automotive manufacturing performance. In addition, he is a regular contributor to a number of industry publications.

Mr. Harbour is a member of the board of directors for the Society of Automotive Analysts and two Tier One automotive suppliers.

John G. Kalson
Vice President Production
Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama

John Kalson is vice president production for Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama (HMMA). His responsibilities include all manufacturing, maintenance, production control and quality functions for HMMA. Mr. Kalson has been with Hyundai since 2003 and was an integral part of the facilities launch and successful ramp-up. HMMA produces the award winning Sonata and Santa Fe in Montgomery Alabama.

Mr. Kalson has vast experience with multi-cultural operations. Prior to joining Hyundai, Mr. Kalson held various positions during his 14 year tenure at Ford Motor Company. His previous positions included; general manager of manufacturing at Auto-Alliance Inc, a Ford/Mazda joint venture; body area manager at Ohio Assembly, a Ford/Nissan joint venture; and director of quality for a division of Visteon where he had global quality responsibility.

Mr. Kalson received his Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Detroit and holds a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Detroit.

Peter Koudal
Director, Deloitte Research
Deloitte Services LP

Bill Krueger
Senior Vice President, Manufacturing, Purchasing and Supply Chain Management for the Americas
Nissan North America, Inc.

Bill Krueger is Senior Vice President, Manufacturing, Purchasing and Supply Chain Management for the Americas. He oversees all manufacturing and supply chain management functions for Nissan's three manufacturing plants in the United States (Smyrna and Decherd, Tennessee, and Canton, Mississippi.) and its two plants in Mexico (Cuernavaca and Aguascalientes).

Prior to joining Nissan, Krueger held various management positions at Toyota's manufacturing plants and most recently served as general manager at the Georgetown, Kentucky. plant. In addition, Krueger held several management roles at GM's Janesville assembly plant and was also appointed as manufacturing manager at Harley Davidson's Utilimaster Corp.

Krueger earned his B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Marquette University and an MBA from The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He also holds a Master's degree in Engineering Management from the Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science at Northwestern University.

John G. Miller
Vice President, Purchasing
Nissan North America, Inc.

John Miller is vice president, purchasing, for Nissan North America, Inc. (NNA). In this position, he oversees purchasing functions for Nissan's manufacturing operations in the United States and Mexico.

Mr. Miller joined Nissan in May 2004 as vice president of purchasing strategy. He spent about a year as general manager of purchasing strategy for Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. He returned to the Smyrna, Tennessee, manufacturing facility in June 2005 as vice president of purchasing.

Prior to joining Nissan, Mr. Miller worked in purchasing at Motorola Inc. and at American Honda Motor Co. He was also a plant manager for Honda.

He earned his bachelor's degree in marketing from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio.

Chris Nielsen
Vice President - Purchasing, Vehicle Parts & Materials
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.

Mr. Nielsen joined Toyota in 1987 as a Buyer at the Georgetown, Kentucky plant and progressed through a series of positions in purchasing. At the timing of the centralization of Toyota purchasing in North America in 1996, Mr. Nielsen was named Assistant General Manager of the new Supplier Preparation and Development department in the Purchasing division.

He was the first American to participate in the Management Expatriation Program, a year-long management development assignment with Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan in 1999.

From 2003 to 2006, Mr. Nielsen served as Chief Production Manager for the Tundra and Sequoia vehicles, leading the overall manufacturing preparation, including the establishment of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas in San Antonio.

Mr. Nielsen is a native of Warren, Michigan. He received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Industrial Engineering from Kettering University in Flint, Michigan.

Vicki O'Meara
President, U.S. Supply Chain Solutions
Ryder System, Inc.

Vicki A. O'Meara is President of U.S. Supply Chain Solutions (SCS) for Ryder System, Inc., a Fortune 500 global transportation and supply chain management solutions company. In this position, she is responsible for the leadership and development of Ryder's Supply Chain Solutions (SCS) business segment in the United States. The SCS business segment provides supply chain management and logistics design, engineering, planning and implementation, as well as Dedicated Contract Carriage (DCC), a turnkey transportation package that includes vehicles, provision of drivers, and routing and scheduling services. Ms. O'Meara serves on Ryder's Executive Leadership and Strategy Teams.

Most recently, Ms. O'Meara served as Executive Vice President and Chief of Corporate Operations of Ryder, where she was responsible for the following areas: Corporate Strategy and Development, Technology, Law, Compliance, Human Resources, Government Relations, Safety, Security, Environmental, Communications, Public Affairs, Facilities, Corporate Secretary and Board functions. In this capacity, she worked closely with the CEO and business leaders in developing Ryder's global business strategy. Additionally, Ms. O'Meara was the business leader of Ryder Fuel Compliance Services, an operating subsidiary based in Houston, Texas.

Ms. O'Meara joined Ryder as Executive Vice President and General Counsel in June 1997 from the Chicago office of the law firm of Jones Day Reavis & Pogue, where she was a partner and chair of the firm's global Environmental, Health and Safety Group. Ms. O'Meara has also served in a variety of federal government positions in Washington, D.C., including Assistant Attorney General (nominated by the first President Bush to head the Environmental and Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Department of Justice); Deputy General Counsel of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; and Assistant to the General Counsel in the Office of the Secretary of the Army. Ms. O'Meara was a 1986-87 White House Fellow and, in that capacity, served as Special Assistant to the White House Counsel and as Deputy Secretary of the Cabinet Domestic Policy Council.

Ms. O'Meara received a bachelor of arts degree in Political Science from Cornell University, where she graduated cum laude and was selected as Outstanding Senior of her class; a law degree from Northwestern University Law School, where she was Executive Editor of the Law Review and a member of the National Moot Court team; and a master of arts degree in Environmental Science and Resource Policy from George Washington University.

Sanjiv Sidhu
Founder & Chairman
i2 Technologies, Inc.

Sanjiv Sidhu founded i2 Technologies, Inc. in 1988 with the vision of helping businesses make more intelligent decisions by using information resources. Today he serves i2 as chairman of its board of directors. He also works in a customer advisory role, and is the company's primary evangelist for the "Seven Principles of an Agile Enterprise," and the i2 Agile Business Process Platform.

Under his leadership, i2 grew to become a market leader, serving such powerhouse clients as Texas Instruments, 3M, DaimlerChrysler, IBM, Ford Motor Company, Dell, Caterpillar, Toshiba, and VF Corporation. His multinational team of employees is one of the most experienced and highly educated workforces in the business.

Before founding i2, Mr. Sidhu was an engineer working in the world-renowned artificial intelligence laboratory at Texas Instruments in Dallas. Based on his observation that even the smartest people can juggle no more than nine variables when making decisions, he proposed a design for computer software based on artificial intelligence and advanced simulation techniques. The software he proposed enabled planners at Texas Instruments to dramatically improve the management of the production process by taking real-life constraints and variables into account when making planning decisions.

Mr. Sidhu holds an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from Osmania University in Hyderabad, India, and a graduate degree in chemical engineering from Oklahoma State University. In addition, Mr. Sidhu has done graduate work in systems and control engineering at Case Western University in Cleveland.

Frederiek Toney
Executive Director, Material Planning & Logistics
Ford Motor Company

Frederiek Toney attended the University of Alabama in Huntsville where he earned a bachelor's degree in business. Upon graduation, he worked for Caterpillar in Peoria, Illinois. Relocation took Mr. Toney to Southern California and during a two-year lay off from Caterpillar, he worked for American Honda. He returned to Caterpillar, working another 10 years while attending the University of La Verne, La Verne, Calif., to earn a master's degree in business administration. Eventually, he returned to Honda where he became assistant vice president, Parts Division.

In February 2000, Mr. Toney joined Ford Motor Company as director, North American Logistics, Ford Customer Service Division, marketing sales and service and helped achieve best-in-class parts availability and service parts delivery. In October 2003, he became director, North American Operations, Manufacturing. This assignment was brief. In January 2004, he returned to marketing, sales and service as the director, global parts supply & logistics, Ford Customer Service Division, responsible for parts purchasing, parts warehousing, parts availability and parts delivery.

He was named executive director, material planning & logistics in November 2005. In this position, Mr. Toney is responsible for maintaining a lean supply chain from raw materials to distribution of finished vehicles, managing a $10 billion budget. He also participates with the Sales Division in vehicle and powertrain programming processes and in managing vehicle order banks and fulfillment processes.

In August 2006, Mr.Toney was named by World Trade Magazine as a Global Top 50 Supply Chain Decision Maker. He also received the Alumni of Achievement Award from his fellow Alumni, University of Alabama-Huntsville.

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