Speakers sought for National Manufacturing Week

CHICAGO Organizers of the National Manufacturing Week 2004 conference program announced a call for speakers for the next conference, slated for Feb. 23 through Feb. 26, 2004, in Chicago. Speakers are sought for the five events that make up the conference: plant engineering and facilities management, design engineering, enterprise IT (including supply chain and logistics), industrial automation and technology transfer. Conference sessions will focus on topics such as collaborative manufacturing, contingency planning, design engineering and collaborative product design, lean manufacturing and more.

Presentations should relate to the manufacturing community, be noncommercial and focus on practical, application-oriented information. Quality of papers and relevance to current industry issues are among the determining factors for acceptance, said the show's organizers.

Proposal submission forms are available at www.nmwreg.com/conference/CFP.asp. They can be filled out online or mailed to Mike Critser, Director, Industry Development, 383 Main Ave., Norwalk, CT 06851; e-mail: mcritser@reedexpo.com. The deadline is June 27, 2003.

POWAY, Calif. TISCOR, a manufacturer of mobile work force automation software systems, has taken over responsibility for BackTrack, an asset-tracking software application developed by Strandware and marketed by Teklynx International, Eau Claire, Wis.

TISCOR, a Poway, Calif.-based subsidiary of Brady Corp., will develop, market and provide technical support for BackTrack. TISCOR will absorb the BackTrack client base of 800 users and will share its resources with BackTrack customers.These resources will be used to expand BackTrack's capabilities, including integration of the latest in mobile hand-held computing technology.

"The BackTrack software aligns closely with our family of products and allows us to extend our offering of total facility management solutions into areas of the facility that we traditionally have not focused on," said Chip Rumis, TISCOR's vice president and general manager.

TULSA, Okla. Noria Corp. said it would hold Lubrication Excellence 2004 March 23 through March 25, 2004, at the Nashville Convention Center in Nashville, Tenn. The event is geared toward experienced lubrication and maintenance professionals, as well as industry newcomers.