WEBINAR

Unlocking 125 Years of Manufacturing Data to Fuel Digital Transformation

Discover how a bold team at a Fortune 500 food manufacturer used the company’s largest-ever data set to revolutionize plant floor operations. Join John Baier as he shares a people-first Digital Transformation strategy in this GrayMatter + IndustryWeek/Smart Industry session.

June 26, 2025

4:00 PM UTC

1 hour

Sponsored by

This webinar was originally broadcast on June 26, 2025.

Now Available On Demand!

Sponsor: GrayMatter

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Summary

A small but determined team within a Fortune 500 food manufacturer knew they could help plant floor operators take the guesswork out of optimizing production with modern data analytics.

All they had to do was harness the largest data set in the company's 125+ year history and build a world-class Digital Transformation strategy. Join John Baier, who helped captain the food producer's data analytics team, for this interactive session from GrayMatter and IndustryWeek.

John will share a new vision for Digital Transformation that prioritizes the forward-thinking teams of people who make the technology and data work to bring about universal manufacturing optimizations.

Learning Objectives:

Align Digital Transformation strategy with executive & plant-level goals
Develop an internal plan that leaders can support to address specific challenges, increasing production in underutilized plants and preventing unplanned downtime
Create a scalable approach that can benefit new production facilities with security and efficiency built in from the start
Gather operator input to curate the best available technology solutions
Provide ongoing support to continuously improve and adapt strategy

Speaker

John Baier

Senior Vice President - Digital Transformation

GrayMatter

John Baier is an experienced manufacturing operations leader, change-management expert and skilled player-coach who is as comfortable on the plant floor as he is in an executive board room. A veteran of the industrial technology industry, John has worked in leadership roles at international consulting powerhouses and as a director and senior manager at leading, global manufacturers such as The Timken Company and The J.M. Smucker Company. At GrayMatter, John leads the Digital Transformation practice as senior vice president. In this role, John works with manufacturing clients to develop an ROI-driven approach to technology modernization that balances the cultural and technical changes required to transform operations and empower people. John earned an MBA in international operations from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University, and a bachelor’s degree in economics and math from Kenyon College.