Quality Conference 1995 will provide furniture manufacturers with eight workshops on building self-directed employee teams, using raw materials efficiently and identifying paths to greater influence in domestic and international markets.
"Improving quality never ends and is essential to achieving and sustaining success, especially for our fast-growing greater Mississippi furniture industry," said Dr. Barbara Spencer, conference coordinator and professor of management at the College of Business and Industry.
"In one day, conference attendees can learn how to improve their operating techniques and how to tap into new markets awaiting this region's increasing furniture production."
Hosts for Quality Conference 1995 include the College of Business and Industry; Furniture Research Unit, Mississippi Forest Products Laboratory; the Food and Fiber Center, Mississippi Cooperative Extension Service; and BDO Seidman Accountants and Consultants of Tupelo.
Conference attendance is expected to be largely from Mississippi, "although we've been hearing from manufacturing executives in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina," Spencer said.
In addition to workshops, conference attendees will hear presentations from Joseph F. Carroll, publisher of Furniture Today, an industry trade newspaper; and John Nail, president of River Oaks, a fast-growing Tupelo-based manufacturer of upholstered furniture.
The more efficient our region's furniture manufacturers are, the more prosperous our state and regional economy becomes. That means more jobs in Mississippi from furniture manufacturers committed to improving their management and production skills," said Ron Ashby, office managing director of conference co-host BDO Seidman.
Scheduled workshops include "What Four Companies Have Learned About Building Effective Teams," "Skills For Facilitating Teams," "Getting Started in International Markets," "Structured Quality Management Systems," "Are Quality Hardwoods Vanishing?" and "Quality Issues With Wood, Foam and Fiber."
Achieving quality through better management skills will be addressed in workshops on "Quality Techniques For Upholstered Furniture Manufacturers" and a special session on "Statistical Process Control."
Spencer says a golf tournament and a get-acquainted dinner are scheduled to open the conference on May 17.
Conference attendance requires pre-registration and a fee of $125. Separate fees cover golf ($30); and, if desired, lodging ($15 a night in a campus residence hall).
All workshops take place in McCool Hall.
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Last modified: Thursday, 21-Aug-2003 10:32:21 CDT.
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