National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-0001

A -- CONFERENCE SOL Q- POC Merrill Hessell (301)975-975-3986 The 3rd Annual National Manufacturing Technology Conference, to be held at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Md. on April 16-17, will look ahead to the 21st century enterprise. Executives from leading U.S. companies will present their views on what individual firms and industries must do to achieve and sustain world-class manufacturing capabilities. They also will highlight ''lessons learned'' in implementing key technologies and processes designed to help their firms succeed in the global markets of the next century. Addressing the conference on the first day, keynote speakers will be Dana G. Mead, chief executive officer of Tenneco, Inc., and chairman of the National Association of Manufacturers, and Mary L. Good, Commerce Department under secretary for technology. The remainder of the first day will be devoted to individual company and industry perspectives. Executives from the two 1995 winners of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality--Armstrong World Industries Building Products Organization and Corning Telecommunication Products Division--will be joined by counterparts from Adept Technologies, Boeing Commercial Airplane Group, Ford Motor Co., Fort Wayne Foundry, Lockheed Martin, Oracle, and Texas Instruments. On the second day, the focus will broaden to include collaborative responses to common technical obstacles and shared infrastructural needs. Participants will be updated on the industry-led Next Generation Manufacturing Project. This cooperative effort aims to develop a broadly accepted, industry-driven model for Next Generation Manufacturing Enterprises, as well as action plans that individual companies can use as they map and carry out the steps needed to attain and sustain the position of world class manufacturer. Afternoon sessions will be devoted to presentations on various other industrial consortia and government-sponsored partnerships. Through question-and-answer sessions and a survey, participants will have ample opportunity to comment on priorities, content, and direction of ongoing and planned collaborative efforts. This input will be summarized for distribution to conference participants and leaders of national manufacturing efforts. The agenda, registration materials, list of conference sponsors, and other information are available on the Web home page for the 3rd Annual National Manufacturing Technology Conference (http://www.nist.gov/mel/divs/omp/index.htm). You can also request registration information by phone or e-mail. Contact Lori Phillips at (301) 975-4513, or lori.phillips@nist.gov. For technical information, contact Merrill Hessel at (301) 975-3986, or merrill.hessel@nist.gov. (0066)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0005 19960307\A-0005.SOL)