Webinar: The Herman Miller Performance System Journey: Overcoming the Challenges of Implementing a People Focused Production System.

On October 26, Raymond Muscat was the keynote speaker to the audience of the ASSEMBLY Show. His presentation and others are available to view by registering here: http://bit.ly/2f1YnB4

After the broadcast ends, questions will be answered as they come in, time permitting. This is a great way to engage with the speaker!

Furniture, aerospace, automotive and military—Raymond Muscat’s career has been a tour of some of manufacturing’s biggest sectors. He’s worked for GM, Ford, Raytheon, Ball Aerospace, and Knoll.

He’s had a variety of titles, too. He started his working life on a Ford assembly line to pay his way through college. He then worked his way up the engineering and leadership ranks to head of engineering and operations at award-winning furniture manufacturer Herman Miller. There, he led a team that developed and implemented the company’s lean manufacturing program. Through Muscat’s leadership, Herman Miller cut average product lead times in half.

To sustain a lean manufacturing system over 20 years requires significant employee engagement. Ray will tell the story of the Herman Miller production system, the lessons learned and changes made along the way.

Muscat’s broad experience translates well to his new position as co-director of the Tauber Institute for Global Operations at the University of Michigan. The multidisciplinary graduate program brings in aspiring operations managers from around the world to work on cost-saving projects for companies, including Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing, Borg Warner, Tesla and General Motors.

No matter what sort of product you make, you’ll benefit from Muscat’s 40 years of manufacturing wisdom.

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY

Raymond Muscat is the Industry Director for the Tauber Institute for Global Operations at the University of Michigan.

Mr. Muscat’s corporate career has spanned 37 years with a variety of global experiences in the Automotive, Defense Electronics, Aerospace and Office Furniture industries. His experience includes engineering, manufacturing, program management, mergers and acquisitions, global manufacturing strategy development and execution, and the implementation of the Toyota Production System/Lean Manufacturing principles.

Mr. Muscat’s career began in 1978 at Ford Motor Company in Dearborn MI in their Automotive Assembly Division which included projects at Ford’s assembly plants in Louisville KY, Wayne MI, Wixom MI, and Metuchen NJ. In 1980, he joined Raytheon Company’s Submarine Signal Division where he held a variety of manufacturing engineering and program management positions working on surface ship sonar programs. From 1984 – 1986 he worked at Ball Aerospace in Boulder CO developing manufacturing operations for military aircraft antennas. He joined Knoll-Shaw/Walker in Muskegon MI in 1986 and held the positions of Project Engineer, Product Engineering Manager and Director of Engineering – Midwest Operations. Mr. Muscat joined Herman Miller in 1991. He was responsible for engineering, new product development, operations management, corporate quality, mergers and acquisitions, and global facility strategy. He led a core team that developed and implemented the Herman Miller Performance System, Herman Miller’s adaptation of the Toyota Production System/Lean Manufacturing, worldwide. Mr. Muscat has overseen all new North American product launches in Operations since 2001, and was researching the development of new materials and manufacturing processes for the factory of the future. His responsibilities included all North American facilities along with numerous facility construction projects, consolidations and upgrades internationally. He currently serves as Principal, Muscat Consulting, LLC, a Lean Manufacturing, Engineering and Operations consulting firm.

Born in Detroit, Michigan Ray has a BSE in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the University of Rhode Island. He is the Chairman of the University of Michigan IOE Academic Advisory Board, and has served on the College of Engineering Alumni Society Board among others. Additionally, he has lectured and consulted on the application of Lean principles at the University of Michigan, Michigan Lean Consortium, American Manufacturing Strategies Summit and for State of Michigan employees.