Best Practices For Operational Excellence 2026
24th Annual
Best Practices For Operational Excellence
Conference
5 - 7 August 2026 | Columbus, OH
The 24th Annual Best Practices for Operational Excellence Conference will be held in-person at The Marriott and Residence Inn Columbus OSU in Columbus, Ohio. Join us on August 5-7, 2026 to discuss all things continuous 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!
Early bird pricing until June 1 – $595. (Limit 2–3 participants per company.)
The conference opens at 8:00 AM ET on Wednesday, August 5, 2026 and will adjourn at noon on Friday, August 7, 2026.
This Year's Featured Speakers
Dr. James Cole
Vice President of Medical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer
UW Health, Northern Illinois Region
Joseph Baker
Chief Operating Officer
Veritext Legal Solutions
Danielle Klein
Process Improvement Specialist
Nationwide Children's Hospital
Tim Malone
Director of Continuous Improvement
Ace Hardware
Anna Nguyen
Process Improvement Specialist
Nationwide Children's Hospital
Mark Reich
Senior Lean Coach and Author
Lean Enterprise Institute
Chad Cummings
Vice President of Lean Transformation and Improvement
Cleveland Clinic
Greg Poyet-Smith
Director, ACES Business Transformation Lead – Finance & Global Business Services
Amazon
Angus Fletcher
Professor of Story Science
The Ohio State University
Kim Scibelli
Executive Director of Supply Chain and Operations
AVS Bio
Lars Maaseidvaag
Founder and CEO of NordaVind Systems, LLC
MoreSteam Client Services
Xander Hathaway
VP of Product Development
MoreSteam
Kelly Greenbauer
Restaurant Ops Engineer, Engagement Lead
Service Physics
Dana Mclndoe
Engagement Lead
Service Physics
Best Practices For Operational Excellence 2026 Agenda
Wednesday, August 5, 2026
| 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 | Keynote: The Art of Storytelling Angus Fletcher - The Ohio State University, Fisher College of Business |
| 10:15 AM - 10:30 AM | Break |
| 10:30 AM - 11:45 AM | Topic: Agentic AI Xander Hathaway - MoreSteam |
| 10:45 AM - 12:00 PM | Round Tables on AI + CI + Storytelling |
| 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM | Lunch |
| 1:00 PM - 1:45 PM | Topic: Building Problem-Solving Capability at Scale Joe Baker - Veritext |
| 1:45 PM - 2:00 PM | Break |
| 2:00 PM - 2:45 PM | Driving Operational Excellence Through Data: A Framework for Reporting and Performance Tracking Greg Poyet-Smith - Amazon |
| 3:15 PM - 3:30 PM | Break |
| 3:30 PM - 4:15 PM | Turning Discovery into Direction with Process Modeling Lars Maaseidvaag, Kelly Greenbauer, Dana McIndoe - Service Physics |
| 4:15 PM - 5:15 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 Fives 550 Reach Blvd, Columbus, OH 43215 • The Fives |
Thursday, August 6, 2026
| 7:30 AM - 8:00 AM | Breakfast & Registration |
| 8:00 AM - 8:30 AM | Day 2 Opening |
| 8:30 AM - 9:15 AM | Managing on Purpose with Hoshin Kanri Mark Reich - LEI |
| 9:15 AM - 9:45 AM | Break |
| 9:45 AM - 10:30 AM | Deploying Strategy through Hoshin Kanri at Cleveland Clinic Chad Cummings - Cleveland Clinic |
| 10:30 AM - 10:45 AM | Joint Q&A |
| 10:45 AM - 11:15 AM | Break |
| 11:15 AM - 12:00 PM | Roundtable Discussion |
| 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM | Lunch |
| 1:00 PM - 1:45 PM | Lessons Learned Coaching & Mentoring CI Leaders Kim Scibelli, Brent Godwin, Ken Robinette - AVS Bio, Lubrizol, MoreSteam |
| 1:45 PM - 2:00 PM | Break |
| 2:00 PM - 2:45 PM | Topic: Process Simulation in Healthcare Anna Nguyen & Danielle Klein - Nationwide Children’s |
| 2:45 PM - 3:15 PM | Break |
| 3:15 PM - 4:00 PM | Topic: Engaging Middle Management Tim Malone - Ace Hardware |
| 4:00 PM - 4:15 PM | Break |
| 4:15 PM - 5:00 PM | Staying the Course: How Grit Goes a Long Way Dr. Jim Cole - Chief Medical Officer |
| 5:00 PM | Closing Remarks |
| 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM | Happy Hour at The Marriott Columbus OSU 3100 Olentangy River Road | Columbus, Ohio |
Friday, August 7, 2026
| 8:00 AM - 8:30 AM | Breakfast & Registration |
| 8:30 AM - 9:30 AM | Track 1: Moving from AI assistant to AI agent Track 2: Teaching Data Literacy Through Everyday Process Problems Track 3: Executing an Effective Blended Learning Model Track 4: Inspiring Lean Thinking with Gamification Track 5: EngineRoom Walkthrough for Beginners Track 6: Drury Lane DMAIC Project Sim Track 7: Building a Daily Management System That People Actually Use |
| 9:30 AM - 9:45 AM | Break |
| 9:45 AM - 10:45 AM | Track 1: Moving from AI assistant to AI agent Track 2: Using Process Modeling to Build Better Improvement Plans Track 3: Teaching Data Literacy Through Everyday Process Problems Track 4: EngineRoom Tips & Tricks for Power Users Track 5: EngineRoom Walkthrough for Beginners Track 6: Project Tracking with TRACtion Track 7: Building a Daily Management System That People Actually Use |
| 10:45 AM - 11:00 AM | Break |
| 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM | Track 1: Project Tracking with TRACtion Track 2: Using Process Modeling to Build Better Improvement Plans Track 3: Drury Lane DMAIC Project Sim Track 4: EngineRoom Tips & Tricks for Power Users Track 5: Inspiring Lean Thinking with Gamification Track 6: Moving from AI assistant to AI agent 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.
Networking
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.
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.
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 Group
- Arizona Department of Revenue
- Aurorium
- Avery Dennison
- Baptist Health South Florida
- Bath & Body Works
- Berry Global
- Bridgestone Firestone
- Cardinal Health
- Caterpillar
- Cencora
- City of Detroit
- Constellation Energy
- Eli Lilly
- General Motors
- Greif
- Indiana University Health
- Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI)
- Linde
- Lockheed Martin
- McKesson
- McLane
- Medtronic
- Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC)
- Nationwide Children's Hospital
- Nationwide Insurance
- Naval Nuclear Laboratory
- OhioHealth
- The James Cancer Hospital
- Phoenix Closures
- PPG Industries
- Quanterix
- Rolls-Royce
- Safelite
- Simpson Strong-Tie
- Stripe
- The Ohio State University
- The TJX Companies
- The Wendy's Company
- Thomas Jefferson University
- United States Postal Service
- University of Dayton
- Upstart
- Wesco
- Worthington Steel
Conference Details
Suggested Lodging:
Receive 15% off when you book with the Marriott and Residence Inn Columbus OSU
- The conference will be held at The Marriott and Residence Inn Columbus OSU Hotel in Columbus, OH.
- The registration fee of $595 includes two and a half days of sessions, breakfast and lunch both days, and a networking reception with dinner.
We get it—life happens. If you need to cancel your registration, here's how it works:
- Cancel 30 days or more before the conference? You'll get a full refund, minus a $50 processing fee.
- Cancel within 29 days of the conference? Unfortunately, we can't offer refunds that close to the event.
If the conference itself is canceled for any reason, don't worry—we'll refund your full registration fee.
