10:00 Health & Safety: The H&S SIG was privileged to have EMC WSIB Safety Group H&S and Environmental Specialist Laura Rourke on hand to discuss Managing WSIB Claims.

Members were encouraged to bring their NEER statements to the meeting. This resulted in some rich discussion on what the statements mean and how manufacturers can impact them in their operations. Also, Laura shared with the group some strategies in dealing with the WSIB.

To view slides from Laura's presentation, please see the Owen Sound consortium page.

12:00 noon- Continuous Improvement: Ken Williams and Mike Foster of St. Clair technologies provided an overview of their business with a focus on their core competencies, best practices, and current business challenges. This was followed by a tour, and a feedback discussion session. Some themes of this discussion included:

• WIP value reduction as a strategic operational metric
• Visual strategies
• Supplier lead time strategies
• Culture development
• 5S
• Communication strategies
• Value stream mapping opportunities

Many thanks to all of the folks at St. Clair Technologies for hosting two great networking events for the local manufacturing community!

Yours in Networking,

Mike Baker