Ben Allen
Speaker at SOUTHWEST: Ben Allen, Chief Executive Officer, Manufacturing ROI, LLC
Speaker at SOUTHWEST: Ben Allen, Chief Executive Officer, Manufacturing ROI, LLC
SOUTHWEST Session: Many manufacturers are stuck in “CMMC hell,” overspending, missing deadlines, and relying on providers who have never taken a company through a successful Level 2 audit. The result is frustration, wasted budgets, and failed assessments. In this session, Manufacturing ROI founder Ben Allen shares how to identify the warning signs of a failing CMMC plan and the steps to rescue it. Attendees will learn how to realign leadership and IT around a realistic roadmap, find funding to offset compliance costs, and select the right partner to ensure audit success. Manufacturing ROI is the nation’s only CMMC compliance brokerage, focused on helping manufacturers achieve compliance faster and more economically. This presentation offers a clear, practical path to avoid audit failure and turn CMMC from a costly burden into a strategic advantage.
Speaker at SOUTHWEST: Denis Larscheid, Sr Applications Engineer, Hawk Ridge Systems
SOUTHWEST Session: Manufacturing success relies on visibility—the ability to monitor production, quality, and financial metrics in real time. However, many manufacturers still struggle with disconnected systems that slow decision-making and hide the true state of operations. This session will demonstrate how a unified ERP solution enables manufacturers to gain operational insights, reveal performance data, and make informed, data-driven decisions. Through practical examples, we will show how the platform leverages data across CRM, shop floor, quality, and accounting workflows. Attendees will learn how teams use Odoo to forecast staffing and material needs, monitor productivity at each work center, track the cost of goods sold, and ensure quality consistency for every order. With clear metrics and user-friendly dashboards, manufacturers can transition from reactive reporting to proactive optimization. This presentation will also discuss how this integrated approach enhances financial visibility — connecting every transaction, production run, and quality checkpoint into a single source of truth. By connecting operational and financial data, leadership teams can identify inefficiencies, drive profitable growth, and gain clarity to prioritize investments. Whether your goal is to reduce downtime, improve first-pass yield, or strengthen margins, this session will show how visibility, powered by Odoo and Novobi, transforms manufacturing performance from the shop floor to the CFO’s office.
Speaker at SOUTHWEST: Morgan Conque, Vice President of GTM Strategy, Ashling
SOUTHWEST Session: Sponsored by: UiPath Moderated by: Paul Boris
SOUTHWEST Session: Most manufacturers begin their AI journey with high expectations, yet research shows that 95 percent of GenAI projects fail to create real business value. A common trap is the shiny object syndrome, where leaders and empowered employees chase trendy tools that look impressive but do little to address core operational challenges. This is why only 5 percent of enterprise-built AI tools ever make it into production. The companies that succeed take a different path. They delve into the business itself, uncovering where AI can make the most significant difference. Predictive maintenance that prevents costly downtime, quality control that reduces waste, and supply chain optimization that improves resilience are just a few areas where measurable impact becomes possible. What often separates success from failure is expertise. Internal teams, no matter how skilled, can be limited by organizational bias, resource gaps, and familiar ways of thinking. That is why internal builds succeed only a third of the time. Third-party AI experts, on the other hand, bring fresh perspectives that identify blind spots, challenge assumptions, and apply proven frameworks that raise the success rate to nearly 70 percent. With the proper guidance, AI stops being an expensive experiment and becomes a powerful, revenue-generating asset. For manufacturers, this shift marks the difference between falling behind and building a sustainable competitive edge.
Speaker at SOUTHWEST: Veena Sriram, Vice President, Supply Chain Transformation, Sutherland Global
SOUTHWEST Session:
SOUTHWEST Session: