AME Milwaukee 2026 International Conference
PRESENTATIONS
Presentation
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Building a case for automation
Using a current state analysis to justify our ROI
OVERVIEW
Don’t waste your money. Have you seen companies quickly adopt automation only for it to fail or go unused?
At Danner, one of the company’s biggest goals is to drive down the cost of manufacturing and boost efficiency. The company identified a need to have a clear process for understanding staffing and machine needs, product flow, bottlenecks and sources of quality problems. This provided a standardized way to build a case for automation through an ROI analysis.
Join Ashton Burrell with Danner as she shares Danner’s approach to justify continuous improvement through automation.
At Danner, one of the company’s biggest goals is to drive down the cost of manufacturing and boost efficiency. The company identified a need to have a clear process for understanding staffing and machine needs, product flow, bottlenecks and sources of quality problems. This provided a standardized way to build a case for automation through an ROI analysis.
Join Ashton Burrell with Danner as she shares Danner’s approach to justify continuous improvement through automation.
Key Learning Objectives
1. Understanding Product, Quantity and Routing (PQRs) to determine staffing and machine needs
2. Visualize cell staffing and flow through spaghetti diagrams
3. Investigating waste such as defects through Power BI
4. Building a case, based on current state analysis, for automation
5. Adoption by team members
2. Visualize cell staffing and flow through spaghetti diagrams
3. Investigating waste such as defects through Power BI
4. Building a case, based on current state analysis, for automation
5. Adoption by team members
Presenter
Ashton Burrell
Manufacturing Engineer II
DANNER
Ashton Burrell got her start in manufacturing as an intern in Boeing’s Tech Prep program, learning manual machining hands-on. While studying mechanical and manufacturing engineering at Oregon State University, Burrell completed two MECOP internships — first at Boeing in Everett, WA, working on the carbon fiber 777-X, then returning to Oregon State University to apply her knowledge on the Global Formula Racing Team.
Manufacturing Engineer II
DANNER
Ashton Burrell got her start in manufacturing as an intern in Boeing’s Tech Prep program, learning manual machining hands-on. While studying mechanical and manufacturing engineering at Oregon State University, Burrell completed two MECOP internships — first at Boeing in Everett, WA, working on the carbon fiber 777-X, then returning to Oregon State University to apply her knowledge on the Global Formula Racing Team.
Her second internship was at Danner, where Burrell discovered a passion for the dynamic world of footwear manufacturing. Burrell has spent 4.5 years as a manufacturing engineer at Danner, where she enjoys learning new things, working alongside teams and finding better ways to get work done.
She is known for driving alignment, execution and operational excellence across complex organizations. Keeley is also the author of "Faceplant: Free Yourself from Failure’s Funk," a practical guide to overcoming setbacks and turning failure into forward momentum.
View on LinkedIn
She is known for driving alignment, execution and operational excellence across complex organizations. Keeley is also the author of "Faceplant: Free Yourself from Failure’s Funk," a practical guide to overcoming setbacks and turning failure into forward momentum.
View on LinkedIn
TAGS
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Operations improvement
Level: Intermediate
