The Manufacturing Leadership Council (MLC), the digital transformation arm of the National Association of Manufacturers, has announced the election of six leading figures from industry and academia to the MLC’s Board of Governors. The MLC is the nation’s foremost executive leadership organization dedicated to helping manufacturing companies transition to the digital model of manufacturing by focusing on the technological, organizational, and leadership dimensions of change.

The six new MLC Board members include:

•    Denise DeLaune, Global Director of Operational Excellence and Leveraged Services at Dow Inc. She is also responsible for Dow’s Strategic Project “Operations 2025”, designing and driving the implementation of an updated future Operations organizational model meeting the needs of digital, sustainability, and other expected market changes. 

•    Will Bonifant, Vice President, U.S. and Canada Supply Chain at The Hershey Company. He is responsible for leading Hershey’s supply chain planning, distribution, transportation, commercialization, packaging development, continuous improvement, and manufacturing alliance functions supporting the U.S. and Canada businesses. 

•    Jai Sundararaman, Vice President of Business Transformation at Intertape Polymer Group. He is responsible for building capabilities to deliver strategic growth outcomes. He leads capital planning, acquisition integration, operational excellence, digital transformation & innovation. He has successfully scaled multiple Digital Transformation M4.0 initiatives across IPG which have won IndustryWeek Best Plants Awards for digital transformation. 

•    Dr. Jill O’Sullivan, Professor and Chair of the Computer Systems Department at Farmingdale State College in Long Island, New York, where she has taught for more than 20 years. She is also a former President of APICS NYC/LI and Regional Industry Council Aerospace Manufacturing.

•    Dr. Thomas R. Kurfess, HUSCO Ramirez Distinguished Chair in Fluid Power and Motion Control at the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He has also recently concluded a three-year term as Chief Manufacturing Officer and Senior Distinguished Staff Member at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

•    Dr. Julie Shah, Professor, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and Lead, Interactive Robotics Group, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, at MIT. She is also Associate Dean for Social and Ethical Responsibility of Computing in the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing.

“We at MLC are proud to welcome to our Board such a notable group of industrial and academic leaders in the advancement of digital manufacturing,” said Mike Packer, chairman of the MLC Board of Governors. 

“The MLC's goal has always been to bring great minds and rich expertise to the Board to reflect the depth, scope, and diversity of the manufacturing industry," added David R. Brousell, MLC Co-Founder and Board member. "These six new Board members advance those goals immeasurably.”

As an advisory body, the MLC Board of Governors provides guidance to the MLC on its “Critical Issues” agenda, research studies and its programs and services for the MLC membership.

With these appointments, the MLC Board of Governors now consists of 21 industry thought leaders who represent the full ecosystem of the manufacturing industry, including large global enterprises, small and medium-sized manufacturers, leading academic institutions and influential industry analysts.

For more information, visit www.manufacturingleadershipcouncil.com or www.nam.org.