About this session

What if the real barrier to operational excellence in manufacturing is not technology, but people?

Across Europe, too many digital initiatives launch with promise only to stall at the “pilot” stage, draining resources and eroding confidence. CIOs, CTOs, and CFOs know the story, investments in AI, automation, or digital twins fail to scale because adoption does not stick. The hard truth? Operational excellence cannot be engineered from systems alone. It has to be built through people.

In this session, a former Global Transformation Director at Takeda and current Harvard Industrial Psychologist challenges conventional thinking on transformation. You will discover why putting people at the center is the only way to move from adoption to true advantage. By applying an “inside-out” model of change, manufacturers can escape the cycle of stalled pilots, shift from siloed Excel-based operations to real-time, collaborative systems, and create fast wins that actually last.

Expect to walk away with a new lens on operational excellence, one where feedback loops, learning communities, and co-creation don’t just support technology, they accelerate it. The payoff? Resilient factories, engaged workforces, and transformation initiatives that deliver measurable competitive edge.

Discussion points:

• Why most digital manufacturing initiatives stall and how to turn adoption into measurable operational and financial gains on the shop floor?
• People as the key lever: Identifying what drives engagement, productivity, and performance across manufacturing plants
• Moving from manual, siloed production and scheduling processes to AI-enabled, real-time manufacturing and supply chain collaboration.
• Linking workforce engagement, learning systems, and feedback loops to measurable improvements in throughput, quality, and operational resilience.
• Designing fast wins on the production floor that deliver lasting impact across factories, teams, and regions.
• Embedding co-creation and cross-functional collaboration into daily manufacturing operations for sustainable transformation.
• Preparing factories for 2026: human-first, data-driven strategies to achieve operational excellence and secure competitive advantage.