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VIDEO

Strategies to Enhance the Smart Factory Ecosystem
MANUFACTURING, VIDEO, MANUFACTURING

Strategies to Enhance the Smart Factory Ecosystem

Lee has 25+ years of experience across manufacturing (Boeing/Corning), software technology (GE VERNOVA), and consulting (EY) that enables him to craft digital strategies that optimize manufacturing operations. A trusted advisor for manufacturing transformation, Lee works with clients to develop strategic roadmaps, navigate technology selection, and ensure financial viability for their smart factory initiatives.

GE Vernova, Proficy® Software & Services – Proficy® software empowers teams, illuminating the path to a greener, more profitable future. GE Vernova’s industrial software accelerates innovation, enables connected workers, and operationalizes Sustainability to drive measurable progress for over 20,000 diverse customers with cloud-based and on-premise HMI/SCADA, MES, historian, and analytics.

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Beyond the Single Site: How Novolex Optimized Manufacturing Resiliency & Costs at Scale
MANUFACTURING, VIDEO, MANUFACTURING

Beyond the Single Site: How Novolex Optimized Manufacturing Resiliency & Costs at Scale

Through partnership with Redaptive, Novolex has utilized EaaS to reduce costs, improve resiliency, and create consistent maintenance costs in facilities across their entire portfolio rather than looking at individual sites.

Redaptive is an Energy-as-a-Service provider that funds and installs energy-saving and energy-generating equipment. Redaptive’s programs help many of the world’s most sophisticated organizations reduce energy waste, save money, lower their carbon emissions, and meet their sustainability goals across their entire real estate portfolios. With Redaptive, customers can overcome capital and contractual barriers to achieve energy-saving benefits quickly, all with real-time data powered by Redaptive?s proprietary Data Solutions metering platform. Redaptive was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Denver, CO.

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A Speaker Roundtable from NAMES25 — A Conversation About Manufacturing Leadership with SAP, DESTACO, and Boeing
MANUFACTURING, VIDEO, MANUFACTURING, PODCAST, ROUNDTABLES

A Speaker Roundtable from NAMES25 — A Conversation About Manufacturing Leadership with SAP, DESTACO, and Boeing

At the 2025 edition of the long-running and successful North American Manufacturing Excellence Summit series we recorded a special episode of Executive Platforms’ BluEPrint Podcast series speaking to the challenges and opportunities submitted by attendees of the event as they filled out their delegate profiles, weighted by popularity.

In this wide-ranging, organic conversation, three manufacturing executives share their thoughts and experiences on the issues and ideas they care about. It is a fantastic deep dive into what is most relevant to manufacturing leaders today. Give it a listen!

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The Fundamentals, Wins, and Successes Manufacturers Can Focus On in Times of Disruption — A Conversation with AlixPartners
MANUFACTURING, VIDEO, MANUFACTURING, PODCAST, ROUNDTABLES

The Fundamentals, Wins, and Successes Manufacturers Can Focus On in Times of Disruption — A Conversation with AlixPartners

At the 2025 edition of the North American Manufacturing Excellence Summit series we sat down with some of the team from AlixPartners to talk about what manufacturing leaders can do to move their operations forward at a time when long-term planning is off the table for the time being.

The answer is surprisingly positive!

Making the mental shift from working on the strategic big picture to the tactical best practices that day-to-day operations depend upon opens up many opportunities to give time, attention, and resources to the issues and ideas that are sometimes forgotten about or put to one side as ‘good enough’ or ‘not a priority.’ The truth is there are many easy wins and low-hanging fruits that are not worked on in times of stability and certainty that can add up to substantial improvements in productivity, profitability, and employee job satisfaction when leaders concentrate within their own operations and teams to optimize what they can control while waiting for greater clarity on what is still up in the air in the future.

For an optimistic and impactful conversation about what manufacturers can do right now to make impactful positive changes in their organizations right now, give this episode a listen!

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How Data-Based Simulations Find the Fastest Wins and Best Options for Optimization — A Conversation with ChiAha
MANUFACTURING, VIDEO, PODCAST

How Data-Based Simulations Find the Fastest Wins and Best Options for Optimization — A Conversation with ChiAha

At the 2025 edition of the North American Manufacturing Excellence Summit series we sat down with Andrew Siprelle and Tom Lange to talk about something every manufacturing leader with shopfloor experience knows intuitively but has spent a career trying to prove: Sometimes fixing the little things even when everything else is working right pays bigger dividends than the ‘big wins’ that everyone understands but require time and resources to deliver an often temporary solution. Figuring out where to get the most ROI has too often been a thankless task done after the fact whose lessons learned may well be forgotten by the time the next time a proactive maintenance decision or process optimization strategy session comes around.

Recent advances in digital simulations unlocking plant data and demonstrating where the actual dollars and cents are waiting to be saved and earned are taking the pain out of how to prioritize how people spend their time and energy. For a fascinating conversation about making a difficult thing easy while looking for the best results the easiest way, give this episode a listen!

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The Speaker Roundtable from NAHRES25 — A Conversation About HR Issues and Ideas
HUMAN RESOURCES, VIDEO, HUMAN RESOURCES, PODCAST, ROUNDTABLES

The Speaker Roundtable from NAHRES25 — A Conversation About HR Issues and Ideas

For this special episode of Executive Platforms’ bluEPrint Podcast series we sat down with two of the top speakers from the 2025 edition of the long-running North American HR Executive Summit series for a wide-ranging discussion about the issues, ideas, challenges, and opportunities that are top of mind for human resources leaders today, as suggested by the attendees of the event. Give it a listen!

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Fireside Chat: People Operations at Google: Embracing Emerging Technologies in HR
HUMAN RESOURCES, VIDEO, HUMAN RESOURCES

Fireside Chat: People Operations at Google: Embracing Emerging Technologies in HR

Charlotte Taylor is the Vice President of People Experience Excellence at Google. In this role, Charlotte leads a global team responsible for end-to-end HR enablement. Her teams focus on delivering extraordinary experiences to employees, with a focus on transforming key operations and systems, enabling digital-first experiences, HR compliance, strategy execution, and more. Prior to joining People Operations, Charlotte held a variety of roles in Google’s Global Business Organization. Before joining Google, Charlotte was an Associate Partner with Monitor Group (now part of Deloitte). She lives in Seattle with her family. Her primary mode of transportation is bicycle and she is a reader of memoirs.

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The Increasing Importance of HR as a Driver of Transformation & Engagement
HUMAN RESOURCES, VIDEO, HUMAN RESOURCES

The Increasing Importance of HR as a Driver of Transformation & Engagement

With over 20 years of experience, Dr. Gerrit Spengler is known for his work as an expert in the fields of human resources, organization design, strategy & transformation, and general management. Gerrit has worked for 14 years within Volkswagen Group and presently serves as Chief Human Resources Officer for Volkswagen Group of America & Volkswagen North American Region. Over his career, his work has taken him across three countries (Germany, Russia, United States). Prior to his current role, he served as CEO and General Director for Volkswagen Group Russia. He has also held HR leadership positions at both Volkswagen Group Russia and Volkswagen AG. Before joining Volkswagen, he worked for BMW, Mercer, Oliver Wyman, and MAN Truck & Bus. Gerrit holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration – Organization & Strategy from Technische Universität Chemnitz and a M.S. in Business Administration from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.

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Culture Rules Everything Around Me (C.R.E.A.M.)
HUMAN RESOURCES, VIDEO, HUMAN RESOURCES

Culture Rules Everything Around Me (C.R.E.A.M.)

Liz joined Panasonic in 2019 with over 20 years of experience implementing high-value HR programs from organizational development, change management, workforce planning and mergers & acquisitions in global organizations – Toys R Us, Pearson and most recently NICE. As the Chief Human Resources (HR) Officer, Liz is responsible for leading the Company’s HR technology and employee experience strategy.

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Leveraging a Skills Strategy to Solve the Biggest Business Challenges
HUMAN RESOURCES, VIDEO, HUMAN RESOURCES

Leveraging a Skills Strategy to Solve the Biggest Business Challenges

With a business focus on addressing some of the most complex diseases of our time, Amanda Poole leads a global People team working together to foster a highly engaged workforce and inspirational culture at BMS. Made up of Talent and Culture, Total Rewards, Talent Acquisition, Business Partners, Leadership Development, People Services and Inclusion & Diversity, the BMS People Organization is focused on business evolution, growth, development and wellbeing.

Recognizing that people are at the heart of corporate success, Amanda is committed to creating exceptional experiences for our colleagues as they define what’s possible for the future of science and the patients BMS serves.

Amanda has deep pharmaceutical industry experience having joined BMS in 2004 in a career that spans both international and domestic assignments across varied business functions. She brings expertise in global talent management, change management, recruitment, M&A, labor relations and executive coaching. She previously worked for Raytheon, where she was an inaugural member of their HR Leadership Development Program.

Amanda is deeply passionate about the future of the pharmaceutical and People/HR sectors. She is dedicated to harnessing the power of rapidly advancing technologies, including AI, to create cutting edge, yet simple, experiences.

Amanda has a BS degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from The College of New Jersey. She serves as the executive sponsor of the Black Organization for Leadership and Development (BOLD) People and Business Resource Group at BMS and is a member of the Human Resources Policy Association (HRPA), Center for Executive Compensation.

She is an avid global traveler, enjoys playing tennis and spending family time with her husband and two teenage boys. At BMS, each colleague is asked “Who are you working for?” and keeps this person in mind each day as their purpose. Amanda works for her mom and brother-in-law.

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Leveraging Technology to Improve How Associates Engage with and Understand Their Pay and Benefits
HUMAN RESOURCES, VIDEO, HUMAN RESOURCES

Leveraging Technology to Improve How Associates Engage with and Understand Their Pay and Benefits

Karen Light has more than 20 years of experience as a senior HR executive responsible for People, Total Rewards, and Benefits Programs that drive talent retention and engagement, lead business transformations, and deploying solutions to decrease costs, reduce risk, and improve efficiency. At Walmart, she is responsible for supporting the well-being of more than 1.5 million associates.

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Fireside Chat: HR as a Business Driver
HUMAN RESOURCES, VIDEO, HUMAN RESOURCES

Fireside Chat: HR as a Business Driver

Betty Larson joined Merck in April 2024 as the executive vice president and chief human resources officer. She is responsible for global human resources and diversity, equity and inclusion for the company.

She has extensive domain expertise with more than two decades in the health care industry. She most recently served as chief people officer of GE HealthCare, a leading global medical technology, pharmaceutical diagnostics and digital solutions innovator. She provided strategy and leadership for GE HealthCare’s human resources and corporate marketing and communications teams.

Betty also served as executive vice president and chief human resources officer of BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) from 2018 to 2022, a global medical technology company, where work responsibilities also included strategy and leadership for communications and social investing. Betty joined BD through the acquisition of C.R. Bard Inc., a medtech company focused on vascular, urology and surgical specialty products. She served as C.R. Bard’s chief human resources officer responsible for human resources and communications from 2014 until the acquisition in 2017.

Betty spent the first 16 years of her career at Baxter International, a global medtech company. She was in human resources leadership roles of increasing responsibility in their pharmaceuticals, renal therapies, vaccines, bio pharmaceuticals and hospital products businesses.

She is on the board of directors for Baxter Credit Union. She has served on the board of Fortrea, contributing as a member of the nominating, corporate governance and compliance committee. Betty also served on the board for the Overlook Foundation, a non-profit organization that raises funds to support the New Jersey-based Overlook Medical Center in its mission to provide high-quality care to patients. She earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Illinois, and a master’s degree in business administration from Northwestern University.

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PepsiCo’s Approach to a Thriving Workplace
HUMAN RESOURCES, VIDEO, HUMAN RESOURCES

PepsiCo’s Approach to a Thriving Workplace

Michael Tuller is currently the SVP, Global Talent for PepsiCo. In this role he is part of PepsiCo’s global HR Leadership team and responsible for setting the strategic agenda across all Talent Management practices including assessment, employee engagement, succession, people analytics and learning & development.

Most recently, Michael spent 9 years in PepsiCo in as an HRBP across four different roles. He most recently served as the VP HR, United Kingdom and Ireland where he was responsible to lead the HR agenda for the total business. He previously served in various HR Leadership roles in the PepsiCo Beverages North America. Before joining the Beverage organization, Michael was the Senior HR Director for several Global Functions leading HR efforts across several critical global transformations and helped build PepsiCo’s eCommerce business.

Michael began his PepsiCo career as part of the Enterprise Organizational Development group where he was responsible for leading several global leadership development and assessment programs.

Michael holds a B.A. in Psychology from Lafayette College as well as a Masters Degree and PhD in I/O Psychology from UConn.

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HR Innovations to Empower People for a Thriving Workforce
HUMAN RESOURCES, VIDEO, HUMAN RESOURCES

HR Innovations to Empower People for a Thriving Workforce

As the senior vice president and chief people officer of The Kroger Co., Tim leads all areas of HR and Labor Relations including Total Rewards, Labor Relations, Diversity, Business Unit Human Resources, People Operations, Training and Development, Talent Hiring, Retention and Engagement, Corporate Affairs, Associate Communications, Shared Services and Aviation.

Tim joined Kroger in 2010 as vice president of Talent Development. He was promoted to group vice president of Human Resources and Labor Relations in 2014 and was appointed as Chief People Officer in 2015. He was promoted to Senior Vice President in 2018. Prior to joining the company, he served in several HR leadership positions over 21 years at Procter & Gamble. Tim has an extensive global HR generalist background in leadership development, performance management, strategy development and employee communications and engagement.

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Strategies for Cultivating Wellness and Growth
HUMAN RESOURCES, VIDEO, HUMAN RESOURCES

Strategies for Cultivating Wellness and Growth

D Crum, Vice President, Total Rewards, AbbVie, is responsible for Executive Compensation, Compensation, Benefits, Well-Being, Talent Deployment and HR Operations for the company.

Previously, D was AbbVie’s Vice President, Business Human Resources (BHR) for Corporate Staff Functions, where he led HR for several functions, including Finance, Business Technology Solutions, Legal, Office of Ethics & Compliance, Corporate Responsibility Brand & Communications, Government Affairs and Health Economics & Outcomes Research.

Prior to joining AbbVie in 2017, D held several HR roles of increased responsibility and scope across manufacturing and corporate for Kraft Foods and Pepsi. He is passionate about delivering strategic and executional leadership in the areas of well-being, employee engagement, organization design, capability building, policy and process development, talent and performance management, and employee/labor relations.

D holds a bachelor’s degree in labor relations from Michigan State University.

Outside of work, D enjoys spending time with family, running, and watching/playing sports. He currently serves on the AbbVie Foundation Board of Directors, proudly supporting philanthropy, employee giving and volunteerism for the company.

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Transforming into a Learning Organization
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Transforming into a Learning Organization

As the Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Coca-Cola Consolidated, the largest Coca-Cola bottler in the US, I lead the HR strategy and operations for over 17,000 associates across 14 states. I have over 20 years of experience in the Coca-Cola system, spanning sales, operations, and HR roles.

My core competencies include people management and development. strategic thinking, price package architecture, sales and operations. I am passionate about developing and empowering talent, fostering a culture of excellence and diversity, and delivering value to our customers and stakeholders. Some of my achievements include leading the HR integration of multiple acquisitions, creating and implementing a new performance management system, and winning the Top Women in Grocery award in 2016.

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Embedding Equity and Inclusion as a Core Competency: Moving from Values to Practice
HUMAN RESOURCES, VIDEO, HUMAN RESOURCES

Embedding Equity and Inclusion as a Core Competency: Moving from Values to Practice

With 25 years of experience in the petrochemical and refining industry, Kyle Pierce has built a distinguished career spanning engineering, strategy, consulting, and commercial leadership. Currently serving as the Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Officer at LyondellBasell (LYB), Kyle is responsible for shaping and executing a global DEI strategy that fosters a culture of belonging, trust, and business excellence.

Kyle’s tenure at LYB has included pivotal roles in finance and strategy, where he served as a business consultant before advancing to Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) Manager. In this role, he led transformative acquisitions and divestitures, including the acquisition of LYB’s India compounding businesses and the divestiture of key assets in France and Argentina—transactions that collectively generated over $500 million in value. He later transitioned to the refining sector, first as a Commercial Manager for feedstocks and then as Head of Crude Trading, where he played a strategic role in optimizing global supply chains.

As a business leader with a deep commitment to DEI, Kyle has been instrumental in integrating diversity and inclusion into core business strategies. Collaborating with global executives, People & Culture teams, and key stakeholders, he has successfully embedded DEI programs that drive workforce diversity, equitable opportunities, and inclusive leadership. His efforts in advancing DEI as a business imperative earned him the Outstanding Head of Diversity award from the Houston Business Journal in 2023.

Kyle holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering, a Master of Business Administration, and a DEI certification, equipping him with the technical acumen, strategic insight, and leadership expertise to drive meaningful change.

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