On-demand Webinar

How to Future-Proof Your Supply Chain with Pittsburgh Robotics Network

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The COVID-19 pandemic has been a major disruptive force for robotics companies of all sizes and sectors. With shelter-in-place regulations established first in China, then Europe, and now sweeping across North America, robotics manufacturers and OEMs alike are forced to navigate mandatory closures, material shortages, importation road blocks, and remote work scenarios. These roadblocks can quickly paralyze business-as-usual supply chain operations and leave companies with no clear path forward.

In this webinar hosted by the Pittsburgh Robotics Network (PRN) and sponsored by Fictiv, you’ll hear from supply chain and robotics manufacturing experts on specific strategies to help you “future-proof” your supply chain to increase resilience against future disruptions. These strategies will help you build a short term plan of action as well as a long term roadmap to adapt systems and processes for future risk mitigation.

This interactive webinar & panel discussion will cover how to:

Reduce reliance on a sole source or geography, especially for critical or hard to source components.
Build and maintain strong partnerships & visibility throughout your supply chain.
Stay prepared for the unexpected through proactive scenario planning.

Following this 25 min presentation, Andy Sherman will facilitate a 30 minute panel discussion with PRN leaders and experts, followed by an interactive Q&A which may last up to 30 minutes.

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Note: This event is hosted by the Pittsburgh Robotics Network (PRN) in partnership with its sponsor, Fictiv. Any registration information will only be used for PRN purposes, unless otherwise selected.

Hosted by

Andy Sherman

Director, Global Supply Chain, Fictiv

Andy Sherman, CSCP, CPIM, has spent his career positioned at the intersection of supply chain & technology to empower growing enterprises. Since 2016, Andy has led the supply chain function at Fictiv, a global manufacturing ecosystem backed by technology, that enables customers to access a fully optimized and managed supply chain through a digital platform, increasing predictability and agility and decreasing risk for new product introduction. Andy has optimized supply chains at growth-stage and enterprise companies alike, including experience leading supply chain and production operations at Orion Labs, a venture capital-backed wearable communication device company, and value chain planning consultation for Oracle. Andy received his B.S. and M.S. in Industrial & Systems engineering from the University of Southern California. In his spare time, Andy acts as a mentor for hardware startup accelerators Make, based in LA, and his alma mater’s Viterbi Startup Garage.

Ilana Diamond

Managing Director of Hardware, AlphaLab Gear & Riverfront Ventures

Illana is Managing Director of Hardware and AlphaLab Gear, Innovation Works’ accelerator for physical product companies. Ilana leads a team that helps startups make rapid progress through the early stages of product and customer development. When she’s not working directly with companies, Ilana is involved in community events or helping launch initiatives to put Pittsburgh on the world startup map. In 2015, Ilana helped launch the AlphaLab Gear International Hardware Cup — a competition for early stage hardware companies, which has since grown from a small U.S. event to a series of international competitions in six U.S. cities and five countries around the world.

Mike Formica

President, Neya Systems

Mike is President of Neya Systems, a division of ARA, a scientific research and engineering firm dedicated to providing innovative solutions to complex problems. Mike is a Serial Entrepreneur with multiple exits in 3D imaging, autonomous vehicles, and industrial automation. He is a hands-on executive and team builder creating collaborative environments to accelerate high velocity product development. He has specific expertise in product ideation, rapid product development, scaling to manufacturing, supply chain management, and launching agile products for a variety of applications and industries. Mike is also an adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University, focused on techniques to launch and build a hardware-centric engineered product startup. Mike has delivered thousands of hardware products in a variety of industries, building local supply chains and leveraging regional manufacturing to achieve cost-competitive and rapid delivery.

Akash Sah

Head of Manufacturing, Bossa Nova

Akash Sah is the head of manufacturing and supply chain at Bossa Nova. In his role, Akash manages the supply chain growth of Bossa Nova’s robotic fleet to support 5x more demand while reducing cost for its customers. Prior to Bossa Nova, Akash spent over 15 years in managing supply chain at Applied Materials, Align Technology and Primus Power. Additionally, he was a management consultant at EY and McKinsey, working directly with clients to improve supply chain performances globally. Akash holds a Masters in Mechancial Engineering from Cornell University and a MBA from Haas School of Business @ UC Berkeley