Solectron's Beth McKone to Keynote 11th Annual Electronics Supply Chain Association Conference

Business Wire, Sept 10, 2007

Senior Executive to Discuss Opportunities to Develop Differentiation with Lean Supply Chain

SAN DIEGO -- The Electronic Supply Chain Association (ESCA), the preeminent networking and knowledge platform for busy supply chain executives in the electronics industry, today announced that Beth McKone will keynote the 11th Annual ESCA Conference & Expo, to be held in Santa Clara in October.

McKone, who serves as vice president of worldwide program management at Solectron Corporation, will give a presentation, titled "Supply Chain Orchestration -- Changing the Game by Changing the Rules."

"For most companies, supply chain performance engenders both hope and fear," said McKone. "Hope that everything goes right and fear that it won't. It is widely agreed that opportunity exists for companies to collaborate with partners across the extended supply chain, from suppliers to end users, to create a truly Lean, demand-driven supply chain to improve overall performance."

At the ESCA conference, McKone will discuss the challenges companies within the electronics supply chain face in today's dynamic, fast-moving high tech industry and describe some of the creative approaches some companies are adopting with their supply chain partners to improve the speed and performance of the supply chain for competitive advantage.

Lean manufacturing has demonstrated tremendous value in helping companies improve performance on the shop floor. McKone will address the critical need to move toward an end-to-end "lean supply chain." She will discuss the real-world value that this approach can achieve through case study examples.

"With her experience in leading supply chain transformation for customers, Beth promises to raise awareness of the next frontier in Lean -- the end-to-end Lean supply chain -- and generate some very thoughtful discussion among the industry peers in attendance," said ESCA Executive Director Dean Strausl.

Unlike other industry associations, ESCA is dedicated to helping its members improve time to market and product margins by better managing the entire supply chain. ESCA member companies represent the full spectrum of the electronics supply chain including fabless semiconductor companies, assembly houses, foundries, contract manufacturers, distributors, logistics services providers, hardware and software solutions providers and consultants.

The 11th Annual ESCA conference, themed "Optimizing Electronics Supply Chain Performance," will be held October 29-31 at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara, Calif. For more information and to register, visit www.electronicssupplychain.org.

About ESCA

Since 1997, the Electronics Supply Chain Association (ESCA) has been dedicated to facilitating a robust electronics industry supply chain through thought leadership, best practices and collaboration. ESCA also plays a key role in facilitating information exchange and collaboration efforts within the electronics supply chain through its many educational forums, symposiums, benchmarking, progressive research, industry news, and market intelligence. ESCA is a member of a global network of associations that includes the Association for Services Management International (AFSMI), the Service & Support Professionals Association (SSPA) and the Technology Professional Services Associations (TPSA). More information on ESCA can be found at www.electronicssupplychain.org.