March 12, 2008

Technical Presentation:

The presenter for the evening was Mike Juras CEO Vertare LLC. His presentation was “UNLEASHING THE HIDDEN POWERS OF LEAN THROUGH VISUALIZATION.” Awards chairman, Viktor Astakhov presented a certificate of appreciation from Chapter 69 to Mike. Dinner followed the presentation. (technical presentation started a bit late at 6:15 as the parking situation caused quite a walk for those arriving near 6:00)

Chairman, Bob Petrach began the meeting at 7:40 p.m. with introductions.

Meeting Attendees:

Robert Petrach-Chairman, Larie Smith-Certifications Chair, Gary Shepperd - Treasurer, Doug Ruffley-Communication Chair, Viktor Astakhov-Awards Chair, Paul Drallos-Bulletin Editor. Phil Crockett - OCC student Chapter advisor, Chapter 69 members - Alex Kiwior, Leroy Seiber, and Chengyin Yuan. Guests - Lin R. Higley - Cobasys, Robert J. Axtman, PhD - Dassault Systemes – DELMIA, Michael DaMour and Ruth Fernandes - Global Auto Industry, Bill Tedesco and Mark Juras - Vertare LLC, Mark Juras- Vertare LLC, Mary Juras (Mike’s wife), Dolly Juras (Mike’s sister) and Dr. H. Fred Gallasch Jr.

Chapter Business

Secretary's Report

Alan had to miss the meeting due to a personal emergency. Bob Petrach asked if there were any additions or corrections to the February minutes. None were offered. Paul Drallos made a move to accept, seconded by Larie Smith, approved.

Treasurer's Report

Gary Shepperd gave report. Since the December meeting there were meeting expenses for February and March. Checking account balance after those expenses was $4227.99. It is important to keep the balance above $4000 to avoid service charges.

Nominations Committee

Bob Petrach mentioned need volunteers for the Nominating committee as well as the three open positions that need to be filled, Student Relations, Best Practice and Tech Community Network Coordinator. It was also noted that we will need a replacement for Alan next year.

Membership Committee:

Shelly Shattuck was not present. Membership was 359 as there were new members for March. It was not known if all the new member welcome letters had been sent. There were 5 new members from FACTON on one day.

Programs Report:

John Agapiou was out of town. Bob Petrach gave an update - April Technical Speaker will be Mike Juras with part 2. May is open as of now. KUKA Robotics, Clinton Township is scheduled for January 14, 2009. John has several leads for the rest of the year. Single Source Technologies(Makino) and a tour of Saleen Maple between Rochester and Stephenson in Troy are being investigated. John is working with Dino from Chapter One on hosting joint events.

Certification Report:

Larie Smith said that the test was given to Leroy Seiber, results were not in but he was confident that Leroy did well. There are no leads / candidates for the next review/test for May. Larie will have an article for the next bulletin. Larie suggested that some kind of award plaque be given to Michigan Production Machine for hosting the last couple certification reviews and exams at their 16700 23 Mile Rd Macomb MI location. Idea is a good one, we’ll have to work out some details and a presentation.

Communications Report:

Doug Ruffley indicated that some people again said that they did not receive the emails for the bulletin. Doug will look at adding a board member to each distribution list as a check for feedback.

Bulletin Report:

Paul Drallos needs the May program information as soon as possible. He is trying to publicize at least the next two programs in the bulletin.

Student Chapter Report:

Bob Petrach said there is no report since this job is open. Anyone interested in getting involved get with Bob.

Old Business:

Bob Petrach sent out the updated Chapter Calendar. Bob would like members to think about their positions for next year. Anyone interested in getting more involved please contact Bob Petrach.

We need people to step up and take on Board Positions. Also keep thinking about possibilities of electronic meetings, if anyone has experience, let us know about it. ) We need help from our Members to maintain chapter activities. Would a different start time for the meetings encourage you to attend more meetings? Please send us your choice of 1.) Keep meeting at 6:00 p.m. 2.) Change to 7:00 p.m. start for tech presentation 3.) Suggest a different time/day of week. (send comments/ suggestions to robert.v.petrach@delphi.com )

New Business:

It was suggested that photos from events be in the website. (similar to some of the past events)

Bob mentioned that the chapter was nominating Chengyin Yuan for OYME; Bijay Nayak was putting the package together.

A motion adjourned the meeting from Doug Ruffley, seconded by Gary Shepperd.

Respectfully submitted,

Bob Petrach for Alan Wolfe