University of Tennessee Center for Industrial Services and ASSEMBLY Magazine to Offer Half Day Workshops on Tuesday, April 30th

NASHVILLE, TN, March 5, 2024 - Leifje Dighton, Executive Director and Plant Manager of GE Appliance's Refrigerator Assembly Plant in Decatur, AL, will discuss Transforming Productivity at GE Appliances Through AI: From Personal Effectiveness to Manufacturing Excellence during the keynote address at The ASSEMBLY Show South, taking place May 1-2, 2024 at the Music City Center in Nashville, TN. The 2nd Annual trade show and conference will also offer four half day pre-conference workshops on Tuesday, April 30th in conjunction with the Tennessee Manufacturing Extension Partnership housed within the University of Tennessee Center for Industrial Services and ASSEMBLY Magazine. Early bird rates for registration are available until March 15, 2024.

"Artificial Intelligence is such a huge topic in manufacturing, and we look forward to hearing from Leifje Dighton on how GE Appliances is using this new technology. With a sole focus on assembly technology, equipment, and products, in an ever-expanding southern market, this is the perfect platform for professionals to learn how to do their job better and improve their operations," said Bill DeYoe, Publisher, ASSEMBLY Magazine, producers of the event. "The editors of ASSEMBLY magazine, have developed a dynamic education program to help our attendees expand their skill set, develop the expertise to overcome challenges and seize opportunities in the ever-evolving assembly manufacturing landscape."

Leifje Dighton will discuss how she uses Artificial Intelligence to enable everything from her personal productivity to revolutionizing manufacturing processes: enhancing efficiency, quality, and innovation at GE Appliances. Leifje is currently the Executive Director and Plant Manager responsible for top- freezer refrigerator manufacturing in Decatur, Alabama, and a recent Manufacturing Institute Step Ahead Award recipient. Her responsibilities include protecting and developing employees; ensuring customers' product expectations are exceeded; delivering business results by driving profitability of manufacturing and sourcing strategies to optimize total product cost; supporting growth with factory master planning; and practicing continuous improvement to drive world-class safety, quality, efficiency, and cost. The keynote, sponsored by Promess, will take place on Wednesday, May 1 at 9:00 am.

The education program will kick off on Tuesday, April 30 with the four half day workshops followed by a Welcome Networking Reception. The Tennessee Manufacturing Extension Partnerships (TMEP) Tim Waldo, Workforce Consultant, and Danny Norman, Advanced Manufacturing Consultant,, will offer the following two Workshops.
• I4.0 and A Culture of Innovation - This session will help manufacturers integrate I4.0 and workforce initiatives by showing live demonstrations to help better understand the core principles of I4.0 and actionable tools to help the workforce begin the journey together. Hear a variety of use cases in management, quality, production and supply chain for artificial intelligence, sensor deployment and automation resources. (9:00 am - 12:00 pm)
• The Optimized People Development System - It is arguably the most important system in an organization, and the one that could benefit most from continuous improvement. However, an organization's people development system is difficult to see in operation and visibility is key to making improvements. The Tennessee Manufacturing Extension Partnership invites attendees to experience the Optimized People Development System. A leadership framework focused on continuous improvement for an organization's internal workforce processes that utilizes systems thinking, the application of lean concepts, and development of a learning organization. (1:30 - 4:30 pm.)

The editors of ASSEMBLY Magazine, producers of the show, will also offer two additional workshops on Tuesday, April 30th.
• Automated Assembly Workshop with panelists Ben Webster, Business Development Manager, ATC Automation; Brian Romano, Director of Technology Development, The Arthur G. Russell Co.; Pierre de Giorgio, President and Chief Technical Officer, BlueBay Automation; and James DeSmet, CEO, CRG Automation. These four speakers will provide information on How to Write a User Requirement Specification; How to go from Proof of Principal to Pilot Production to Full-Scale Automation; Applying and Justifying Cobots on the Assembly Line and How to Automate Disassembly of Deadly Weapons. (9:00 am - 12:00 pm)
• Jon Ness, PE, Principal Engineer, Matrix Engineering Consultants, will lead a workshop on Bolted Joints, Often Looser Than Expected. Bolted joints are often one of the least appreciated and understood mechanical systems. Not surprisingly, they are also frequently one of the largest causes of failure, warranty claims, and safety issues. Though they may have been assembled correctly, bolted joints are often looser than expected when the product is shipped to the customer. This workshop will explain the common reasons that bolted joints are often looser than what was planned. Students will be presented with brief technical explanations and demonstrations of bolt preload scatter, relaxation, and self-loosening. (1:30 - 4:30 pm.)

The ASSEMBLY Show South will be co-located with the Quality Show South and together will bring thousands of buyers and end users to see the latest equipment, products and technology with the most cutting-edge, top-of-the-line tools to streamline the manufacturing processes. Attendees will have the opportunity to connect face-to-face with like-minded peers, learn from business thought leaders, and uncover emerging trends that will provide endless resources on how to solve current challenges. Attendee registration is free until March 15th.

The two events will feature 250+ leading vendors with working machinery and live demonstrations for attendees to interact with. The ASSEMBLY Show South show floor will feature Gold Sponsor Promess; Silver Sponsors Atlas Copco and Desoutter Industrial Tools; and Bronze Sponsors Schmidt Technology, UJIGAMI by Tutelar Technologies, and Weiss North America. For exhibiting and sponsorship information, click here.

The ASSEMBLY Show South taking place on May 1-2, 2024 at the Music City Center in Nashville, TN and The ASSEMBLY Show taking place on October 22-24, 2024 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL are sponsored by ASSEMBLY (www.assemblymag.com) the leading brand covering the processes, technologies, and strategies for assembling discrete parts into finished products. ASSEMBLY offers an integrated portfolio of products including the industry's leading trade show. The trade show and conference are produced by BNP Media, one of the country's leading business-to-business media companies serving industry professionals across 60+ industries through magazines, custom media, e-newsletters, webinars, events, and market research. For more information, visit www.bnpmedia.com.