Best Practices in Operational Excellence 2025
23rd Annual
Best Practices in Operational Excellence
Conference
6 - 8 August 2025 | Columbus, OH
The 23nd Annual Best Practices in Operational Excellence Conference will be held in-person at The Dave Thomas Conference Center in Columbus, Ohio. Join us on August 6-8, 2025 to discuss all things process improvement. Best practices will be shared in keynote presentations, workshops, and peer-to-peer discussions. This is a great opportunity to learn from others and network in a casual setting. Don't miss it!
The conference opens at 8:00 AM ET on Wednesday, August 6, 2025 and will adjourn at noon on Friday, August 8, 2025.
This Year's Featured Speakers
Stephanie Chen
Director of Continuous Improvement
The Wendy's Company
Tom Paider
Vice President, Technology Infrastructure and Computing
Nationwide
Hebe Alexander
Director, Continuous Improvement
McLane
Ryan Magnuson
Director of Global Operational Excellence
Medtronic
Kim Scibelli
Executive Director of Supply Chain and Operations
AVS Bio
Jessica Williams
Sr. Director, Business Process
McKesson
Jeremy Dunham
Director, Business Process
McKesson
Meredith Brody
Manager, Commercial Business Solutions
Constellation Energy
Ebony Basset
Principal Project Manager, Business Process Innovation
Constellation Energy
John Gray
Dean’s Distinguished Professor of Operations and Business Analytics
Fisher College of Business, The Ohio State University
Nick Turk
Executive Director of Bridgestone West Quality Integration
Bridgestone Americas
Erin Heuser
Manager of Process Improvement
The James Cancer Hospital
Best Practices in Operational Excellence 2025 Agenda
Wednesday, August 6, 2025
| 7:30 AM - 8:00 AM | Breakfast & Registration |
| 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM | Welcome / Introductions |
| 9:00 AM - 9:30 AM | Break |
| 9:30 AM - 10:15 AM | Decision-Making in Different Information Environments John Gray - The Ohio State University, Fisher College of Business |
| 10:15 AM - 10:45 AM | Break |
| 10:45 AM - 12:00 PM | Round Table Discussions: AI in CI, Recession-Proofing CI, and Evolving CI across Functional Boundaries Stephanie Chen - The Wendy's Company |
| 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM | Lunch |
| 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM | Delivering on the Intangibles Ebony Bassett & Meredith Brody - Constellation Energy |
| 2:00 PM - 2:15 PM | Afternoon Break |
| 2:15 PM - 3:15 PM | There's Always a Book! Let's Talk About Change Management Kim Scibelli - AVS Bio |
| 3:15 PM - 3:45 PM | Afternoon Break |
| 3:45 PM - 4:00 PM | Bringing Hope & Healing; A Message From MercyShips Stacey Jeannette - MercyShips |
| 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM | Cool New Stuff from the MoreSteam Labs |
| 5:30 PM | Prep for dinner |
| 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM | Social Hour & Casual Dinner at The Columbus Zoo & Aquarium 4850 W. Powell Road, Powell, Ohio 43065 • The Heart of Africa Event Center |
Thursday, August 7, 2025
| 7:30 AM - 8:00 AM | Breakfast & Registration |
| 8:00 AM - 8:30 AM | Day 2 Opening |
| 8:30 AM - 9:30 AM | Lean Leadership: The Key to Creating Flourishing Organizations and Sustaining Your Transformation Tom Paider & Kevin Owsley - Nationwide |
| 9:30 AM - 9:45 AM | Break |
| 9:45 AM - 10:45 AM | What I’d Do Differently: Launching LSS From Scratch Hebe Alexander - McLane |
| 10:45 AM - 11:00 AM | Break |
| 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM | The Role of Kaizen in Organizational Lean Culture Ryan Magnuson - Medtronic |
| 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM | Lunch |
| 1:00 PM - 1:45 PM | If I Knew Then What I Know Now John Stancin - Lockheed Martin |
| 1:45 PM - 2:00 PM | Break |
| 2:00 PM - 2:45 PM | From Intent to Impact: Enculturating a Continuous Improvement Mindset Erin Heuser - The James |
| 2:45 PM - 3:00 PM | Break |
| 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM | The Relevance Revolution: Rethinking Value for Modern Business Jessica Williams & Jeremy Dunham - McKesson |
| 4:00 PM - 4:15 PM | Break |
| 4:15 PM - 5:15 PM | Making Problem-Solving Skills Accessible Across the Organization Nick Turk - Bridgestone |
| 5:15 PM | Closing Remarks |
| 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM | Happy Hour at North High Brewing 56 N High St. | Dublin, Ohio |
Friday, August 8, 2025
| 8:00 AM - 8:30 AM | Breakfast & Registration |
| 8:30 AM - 9:30 AM | Track 1: EngineRoom Walkthrough for Beginners Track 2: The 411 on Process Modeling Track 3: Executing an Effective Blended Learning Model Track 4: Inspiring Lean Thinking with Gamification Track 5: Using Classification and Regression Trees for RCA Track 6: Translating Business Speak into Stat Speak (and Vice Versa) Track 7: Lean Management Systems |
| 9:30 AM - 9:45 AM | Break |
| 9:45 AM - 10:45 AM | Track 1: EngineRoom Walkthrough for Beginners Track 2: The 411 on Process Modeling Track 3: Drury Lane DMAIC Project Sim Track 4: EngineRoom Tips & Tricks for Power Users Track 5: Using Classification and Regression Trees for RCA Track 6: Project Tracking with TRACtion Track 7: Lean Management Systems |
| 10:45 AM - 11:00 AM | Break |
| 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM | Track 1: Project Tracking with TRACtion Track 2: The 411 on Process Modeling Track 3: Drury Lane DMAIC Project Sim Track 4: EngineRoom Tips & Tricks for Power Users Track 5: Inspiring Lean Thinking with Gamification Track 6: Translating Business Speak into Stat Speak (and Vice Versa) Track 7: Executing an Effective Blended Learning Model |
| 12:00 PM | Adjourn |
Why BP4OPX?
This three day event brings together a gathering of executive leaders involved in Lean Six Sigma, product and service design, and process improvement training. Designed to foster conversations and encourage networking in the field of Operational Excellence.
Keynote Presentations
Keynote Presentations from fellow OpEx leaders in the field. Focused on practical application and knowledge that you can take back to improve your program.
Workshops
Discover and learn about process improvement software, simulations, and coaching tools and see how others are leveraging them as part of their operational excellence initiatives.
Peer-to-Peer Discussions
Open round-table discussions about all things process improvement. Attendees come from multiple industries and have continuous improvement programs that range from long-standing to brand new.
Connecting Senior Leaders in Operational Excellence
BP4OPX aims to build meaningful connections and engage with the OpEx community through networking opportunities and collaborations.
Previous Years Attendees
- Abbott
- Airbnb
- Amazon
- American Society of Quality (ASQ)
- Ardagh Glass
- Arizona Department of Revenue
- Aurorium
- Avery Dennison
- Baptist Health South Florida
- Bath & Body Works
- Berry Global
- BPMI
- Bridgestone Firestone
- Cardinal Health
- Caterpillar
- Cencora
- City of Detroit
- Constellation Energy
- Eli Lilly
- GBQ Partners
- General Motors
- Greif
- Indiana University Health
- Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI)
- Linde
- Lockheed Martin
- McKesson
- McLane
- Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC)
- Nationwide Children's Hospital
- Naval Nuclear Laboratory
- OhioHealth
- The James Cancer Hospital
- Phoenix Closures
- PPG Industries
- Quanterix
- Rolls-Royce
- Safelite
- Simpson Strong-Tie
- Stripe
- The Ohio State University
- TJX
- The Wendy's Company
- Thomas Jefferson University
- United States Postal Service
- University of Dayton
- Upstart
- Wesco
- Worthington Steel
