Ronald Graves
Speaker at SOUTHEAST: Ronald Graves, President, Poiema Corporation
Speaker at SOUTHEAST: Ronald Graves, President, Poiema Corporation
SOUTHEAST Session: "The Manufacturing Leader's Playbook for Surviving Tariffs, Taxes, and Tech Turm," explores strategies for mitigating the effects of taxes and tariffs on manufacturing businesses through the use of modern business software. It covers key financial and operational factors such as OBBA, tariffs, and technology, highlighting how these elements impact R&D credits, clean energy credits, bonus depreciation, and potential savings. The presentation also delves into the benefits of ERP software, emphasizing the need for high-quality data ingestion, cost accounting, supplier diversification, customer prioritization, and predictive analytics to enhance profitability and market share. Additionally, it provides an example of a modern ERP platform and discusses the integration of Acumatica Manufacturing ERP, which combines financials, planning, and scheduling to support diverse manufacturing strategies and deliver real-time insights.
Speaker at SOUTHEAST: Sarah DePeri, South Carolina APEX Manager, South Carolina APEX Accelerator
Speaker at SOUTHEAST: Jasmine Kennedy, Procurement Counselor, South Carolina APEX Accelerator
SOUTHEAST Session: Sponsored by: UiPath Moderated by: Paul Boris
SOUTHEAST Session: Digital twins are rapidly becoming a cornerstone of advanced manufacturing, enabling companies to simulate, optimize, and validate their production processes in a virtual environment before committing to physical execution. This presentation explores the value of digital twins specifically in the domains of CNC machining, robotic automation, and the broader virtual factory. In CNC machining, digital twins replicate the behavior of machines, tools, and part geometries, allowing for precise simulation of toolpaths and real-time detection of potential collisions, over-travel, and inefficiencies. By simulating the exact machine kinematics, spindle dynamics, and tool libraries, manufacturers can reduce setup times, improve part quality, and significantly lower the risk of costly rework or downtime. In robotic work cells, digital twins mirror robotic behavior, motion, and task sequences. This enables manufacturers to program, test, and optimize robot trajectories and tool interactions virtually - ensuring safety, cycle time optimization, and maximum utilization of expensive automation assets. Collision detection, reach analysis, and process synchronization can all be handled digitally before deployment on the shop floor. At the virtual factory level, digital twins provide a holistic view of the entire manufacturing environment - integrating machines, robotics, material flow, operators, and logistics into a unified simulation. This enables strategic decision-making, accurate capacity planning, and the ability to test process changes in a risk-free virtual environment. The result is greater agility, resilience, and efficiency across the entire production lifecycle. Attendees will gain insight into how digital twins reduce risk, increase productivity, and enable smarter planning across manufacturing operations. By harnessing digital twins in CNC machining, robotic systems, and factory-wide simulations, companies can accelerate their journey toward digital transformation and fully realize the promise of Industry 4.0.
Speaker at SOUTHEAST: Susan Carlock, Co-Owner & Executive Vice President, Mursix Corporation & Murray Mentor, Inc.
SOUTHEAST Session: Manufacturers performing visual inspections on their products have historically had two options: perform the inspection manually, or program a rule-based vision system. Both of these options are slow, inflexible, and costly to maintain. However, as Graphical Processing Units (GPUs) have become more powerful, a third approach has become available: deep learning. Deep learning-based vision systems learn directly from annotated images to perform inference on images. They offer numerous advantages including rapid deployment, greater detection flexibility, and lower development and acquisition costs. They are also easily retrained and reconfigured with minimal to no programming. As such, they represent a massive opportunity to automate quality inspection for small to medium sized manufacturers. In this presentation, we will discuss the technology that enables AI-based computer vision, the advantages they provide, use cases, and how to best implement them. Attendees will walk away with a clear understanding of where deep learning fits into their operation and how to get started with the right tools and strategy.
SOUTHEAST Session: Job shops, mid-size machine shops, and contract manufacturers power much of the world’s production, yet they face persistent constraints: skilled labor shortages, rising complexity, and pressure to deliver faster at lower cost. While AI adoption has taken root in large enterprises, the greatest untapped potential lies with small and mid-sized manufacturers. This session will cover how practical AI solutions can compress programming time, improve productivity and reskill existing and onboard new employees and attract a new generation of talent.
SOUTHEAST Session: Understand the essential steps for achieving CMMC compliance in this essential session. Colin Gilchrist will provide a comprehensive guide for organizations looking to bridge the gap between cybersecurity requirements and business growth, ensuring a strong compliance foundation.