This two-day, is designed for professionals who manage supplier relationships, resolve recurring issues, and want to gain control over cost and performance using structured methods and data-backed approaches.
Participants will leave with practical tools to reduce supplier-related waste, negotiate more effectively, and implement ongoing supplier management strategies.
Day One: Problem Solving & Indices Training
Thursday, June 12, 2025 | 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM (4-Hour Session)
Participants will be introduced to simple, effective root cause analysis methods tailored for manufacturing environments, including 5 Whys, Fishbone Diagrams, and Pareto analysis. Then, they’ll explore how to apply material indices to track cost trends and support data-driven supplier negotiations.
Day Two: Real-World Problem Solving & Negotiation Strategy
Thursday, June 26, 2025 | 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM (4-Hour Session)
The second day focuses on guided application. Participants will:
Walk through the solution to their chosen supplier problem
Apply real index data to validate the root cause and support cost discussions
Build a negotiation strategy using facts, root cause data, and supplier history
Draft a plan for ongoing supplier monitoring and cost accountability
Who Should Attend:
Plant managers
Purchasing and supply chain professionals
Quality and process engineers
Anyone responsible for supplier performance and cost
Takeaways:
A ready-to-use toolkit for solving recurring supplier issues
A fully developed negotiation plan backed by data
A practical approach to managing supplier cost increases and quality breakdowns
Confidence in using material indices to drive results
Presenter
Jeanne Perron
Technical Specialist | IMEC
My passion is seeing manufacturing happen successfully. After over 35 years in materials in industrial manufacturing, I have been privileged to improve supply chains associated with chillers, temperature control units, paint dispensing and mixing equipment, gear boxes, machined & fabricated parts, and conveyors for power plants, candy, and pellets. This involved countless on-site visits and audits of suppliers of every kind of product to support these finished goods.
The processes I have worked with included machining & fabrication (plastics, steel, stainless, aluminum), injection molding, thermo-molding, pressure molding, vacuum/pressure molding, rotational molding, textiles, wood processing, outside processes that included chrome, oxide, heat treat, and finally, assembly of BOM’s that had from 1 to 2,000 parts.
Each of the organizations I worked for not only had supply chain issues but ERP & lean challenges to be solved. After all of this, I’ve learned that continuous improvement is a team sport, and it becomes exponentially more difficult to work within multi-business unit projects. Bringing people together and getting them to work together is a critical skill that I have mastered while conducting multi business unit negotiations and project implementations. Patience, reinforcement, sustainment, cooperation, and collaboration were some of the more difficult challenges that I have learned to overcome.
Lastly, maximizing supplier resources to make improvements within the companies that I worked for included bringing suppliers under roof to improve quality, pricing, and product flow. These included powder paint and tooling suppliers.
Matt Paison
Technical Specialist | IMEC
Based in Chicago’s Western Suburbs, I bring over 25 years of experience in leadership, engineering, and operational excellence, specializing in Lean Manufacturing and continuous improvement strategies. Throughout my career, I have focused on optimizing people, processes, and products to deliver sustainable business results. With a career starting as a machine operator with ascension to senior leadership roles, I have successfully led transformation initiatives that drive operational efficiency, enhance business growth, and foster employee development.
In my current role, I lead operations with a strong emphasis on Lean methodologies, delivering cost savings, improving quality, and empowering teams to meet organizational goals. I work closely with cross-functional teams to implement process improvements, enhance productivity, and build a culture of continuous improvement. By leveraging my extensive experience in Lean Manufacturing and team leadership, I help organizations maximize their potential and achieve long-term success.
