Powering the Future of Electronics: A Recap of the American Electronics Manufacturing Summit 2026

The 2026 American Electronics Manufacturing Summit brought industry leaders together for two days of forward-looking discussions, peer learning, and valuable networking. With speakers representing manufacturing, supply chain, quality, engineering, operations, and technology, the program examined the ideas and capabilities needed to compete in an increasingly fast-moving electronics sector.

Sessions explored how organizations are applying AI, automation, and connected systems to improve production, strengthen quality, and make faster decisions. Speakers also addressed supply chain resilience, operational scalability, workforce development, and the challenge of turning innovation into reliable, repeatable manufacturing performance.

Guiding the conversations throughout the summit were Amit Sinha, Senior Director, Cloud Supply Chain Operations and Systems at Microsoft, and Leyla Sudbury, Chief Executive Officer at BSU Electronics, who served as the event chairs.

Read on for a closer look at the sessions, speakers, and conversations that defined this year's American Electronics Manufacturing Summit.

A few themes stood out across both days:

• AI and automation are moving from pilot projects to real, scalable production tools
• Supply chain resilience remains top of mind amid ongoing geopolitical uncertainty
• Quality leadership is becoming a bigger driver of long-term competitive advantage
• Developing the next generation of leaders is essential to sustaining growth
• Turning innovation into repeatable, predictable manufacturing performance is the ultimate goal

Table of Contents

Day 1: Setting The Pace

Day 2: Building on the Momentum

Conclusion

Testimonials

Day 1: Setting The Pace

The morning kicked off with a warm welcome from our chairs, Amit Sinha of Microsoft, who set an energetic tone for the next two days.

Jeff Place, Chief Supply Chain Officer at Coherent Corporation, opened with a keynote on empowering high-tech innovation through world-class operations and supply chain leadership. He shared how unifying operations and quality, and building a supply chain built for speed, helps companies keep pace with fast-growing markets like photonics.

From there, Claudeliah Roze, VP, Program Management, and John Janak, Senior Director, Supply Chain, Integrated Electronics, both of TTM Technologies, sat down for an engaging fireside chat on scaling global operations. They shared a great case study on expanding from Penang, Malaysia to Syracuse, New York, showing how greenfield investment and strong execution can accelerate growth.

Chris Ebeling, Chief Commercial Officer at Arcwood, wrapped up the opening block with a plenary on a topic many hadn't considered before: how hazardous materials can quietly break down electronics manufacturing if resilience planning stops at raw materials and labor. His message was clear: design for failure points before they happen.

Morning highlights:

• Jeff Place (Coherent Corporation) on building a supply chain model engineered for speed and flexibility
• Claudeliah Roze and John Janak (TTM Technologies) on scaling global operations, featuring a Penang-to-Syracuse case study
• Chris Ebeling (Arcwood) on designing for hazardous-materials failure points before they break

With ideas already flowing, delegates headed into the first networking break, filled with refreshments and pre-arranged 1-2-1 meetings that sparked plenty of new connections.

Breakout Sessions and Workshops

The breakout sessions gave delegates room to dig deeper. Marcelo Varrerira, Director, Manufacturing Engineering North America at Electrolux, walked through how to industrialize new products efficiently using automation and lean systems. Meanwhile, Leticia Ambriz, Head, Product Operations at Ring, an Amazon Company, shared how trust, AI adoption, and high-performing teams come together to scale global product operations.

The workshop rooms kept the momentum going. Aaron King, Director, Research and Development, National Instruments Test and Measurement at Emerson, and Carrie Nauyalis, Executive in Residence, Innovation and Product Development at Planview, teamed up to explore how to build delivery predictability across the product development lifecycle. Next door, Sankar Natarajan, Global Head, Smart Manufacturing Operations and Digital Product Lifecycle Management at Hitachi Digital Services, introduced the Industry 5.0 blueprint for human-centric, AI-enabled manufacturing. This session had everyone thinking about what comes after Industry 4.0.

Over lunch, roundtable conversations kept the energy high. Chris Ebeling of Arcwood led a discussion on building sustainable manufacturing operations through smarter waste management and compliance, while Chris Peters, Senior Manager, Business Development at Arcwide, helped attendees think through what to know before committing to an ERP replacement.

Breakout and workshop highlights:

• Marcelo Varrerira (Electrolux) on industrializing new products with automation and lean systems
• Leticia Ambriz (Ring, an Amazon Company) on scaling global product operations through AI adoption
• Aaron King (Emerson) and Carrie Nauyalis (Planview) on building delivery predictability
• Sankar Natarajan (Hitachi Digital Services) on the Industry 5.0 blueprint for human-centric manufacturing

The Afternoon Push

The afternoon sessions brought fresh energy and practical takeaways. Barrett Hopper, Director, Operations, Americas at MKS Instruments, shared how to maintain predictable manufacturing outcomes while driving culture change, and Josh Suelflow, Director, Supply Chain at Panasonic, showed how to build agile, resilient planning engines for high-volume operations.

Sridhar Chatradhi, Senior Director at WD Corp, followed with a session on digital transformation through data and practical execution, while Abhijit Supekar, Senior Director, Global Supply Chain at Aeva, led a compelling fireside chat on building unshaken supply chains in a time of geopolitical uncertainty.

After a lively happy hour packed with networking and more 1-2-1 meetings, the day's streams looked at where AI is headed next. Nick Desimone, VP, Operations, Aerospace, Defense and Marine at TE Connectivity, spoke to AI-enabled digital integration and operational standardization, and John Behnke, General Manager, Smart Manufacturing at INFICON, painted a picture of the autonomous factory and what it means for manufacturing in uncertain times.

Afternoon highlights:

• Barrett Hopper (MKS Instruments) on predictable outcomes through culture and performance transformation
• Josh Suelflow (Panasonic) on agile, resilient supply chain planning engines
• Sridhar Chatradhi (WD Corp) on digital transformation through data and practical execution
• Abhijit Supekar (Aeva) on building unshaken supply chains amid geopolitical uncertainty
• Nick Desimone (TE Connectivity) and John Behnke (INFICON) on AI and the rise of the autonomous factory

Panels That Sparked Conversation

Day one closed with two standout panels. The first, "Building the Next Generation of Electronics Manufacturing Industry Leaders," brought together Leyla Sudbury of BSU Electronics, Vinnie Marini, Director, Manufacturing Engineering at CPI, Nick Desimone of TE Connectivity, Claudeliah Roze of TTM Technologies, and Luke O'Brien, Director of Sales at Viaduct AI. The group shared practical ways to grow future leaders without pulling critical teams away from daily execution.

The second panel, "Harnessing Industry 4.0 Technologies to Drive Automation and Operational Excellence," featured Andrew Scheuermann, Chief Executive Officer at Arch Systems, Marcelo Varrerira of Electrolux, Keith Lapinski, VP, Global Mechanical Procurement at Jabil, Jonathan Phillippe, VP Engineering at Phoenix Semiconductor Corporation, Leticia Ambriz of Ring, an Amazon Company, and Joel Drewes, VP and Head, Strategy at Seagate Technology. Together, they unpacked how to turn Industry 4.0 pilots into scalable, repeatable results.

Amit Sinha and Leyla Sudbury closed out the day, and delegates carried the momentum into a well-deserved networking drinks reception.

Day 2: Building on the Momentum

Day two opened with the same warm energy from Amit Sinha and Leyla Sudbury, who welcomed everyone back for a second round of learning and connection.

Pavel Freundlich, SVP, Research and Development at Vishay Intertechnology, kicked things off with a keynote on turning advanced innovation into scalable, predictable manufacturing. His focus on tighter collaboration between R&D and operations struck a chord with the room.

Ayla Tezcan, VP, Global Quality, Product Compliance and Safety at Peloton Interactive, followed with an inspiring plenary on empowering quality leadership, encouraging attendees to build confident, accountable quality teams. Michael Nitz, Head, Mason Plant at Festo, then shared what it takes to lead high-performance manufacturing sites through strong leadership and clear execution.

Morning highlights:

• Pavel Freundlich (Vishay Intertechnology) on aligning innovation roadmaps with factory readiness
• Ayla Tezcan (Peloton Interactive) on building confident, accountable quality leaders
• Michael Nitz (Festo) on leading high-performance sites through strong execution

Fresh Ideas After the Break

Following another round of refreshments and 1-2-1 meetings, the sessions turned toward quality and digital transformation. Vincent Tong, Head, Global Operations and Quality at Altera, led a fireside chat on driving quality outcomes through digital transformation, while Spandan Nai, Senior Manager, Product Quality Engineering at Amazon, and Kris Kelly, President and CEO of Velocity Electronics, discussed how to improve product quality from launch all the way through to scale.

Amit Sinha returned to the stage to talk through architecting AI-driven, end-to-end supply chain operations, and Alok Sharan, Director, Quality Assurance at Micro Systems Engineering, joined Joseph Defeo, Chief Quality and Advocacy Officer at ComplianceQuest, for a fireside chat on advanced process engineering and continuous improvement.

Midday highlights:

• Vincent Tong (Altera) on driving quality outcomes through digital transformation
• Spandan Nai (Amazon) and Kris Kelly (Velocity Electronics) on quality from launch to scale
• Amit Sinha (Microsoft) on architecting AI-driven, end-to-end supply chain operations
• Alok Sharan (Micro Systems Engineering) and Joseph Defeo (ComplianceQuest) on process engineering and continuous improvement

The lunch and learn roundtables offered something for everyone. Glenn Hafer of Skyworks Solutions covered automation strategies, Michael Zylla of nVent Electric explored predictable manufacturing outcomes, Neda Parnian, Ph.D. of MATT3R dug into AI transformation for scalable growth, Vadim Shakhno of Jabil shared lessons on team leadership, Amit Sinha of Microsoft revisited AI-driven operations, and Jonathan Leitner of Astemo unpacked how IT, OT, and AI unlock new performance gains together. 

Closing with Impact

The summit wrapped up with two powerful panels. "Women in Leadership" brought together Mariana Luna, Director, Quality at Eaton, Liming Wang, VP, Manufacturing Finance at onsemi, Ayla Tezcan of Peloton Interactive, Christa Kerlin, Chief Quality Officer at Jabil, Claudeliah Roze of TTM Technologies, and Cristina Farris, Director, Industry Marketing, Electronics and High Tech at PTC. The panel offered honest, energizing insight into mentorship, authentic leadership, and building inclusive teams.

The final panel, "Scaling Quality Excellence Across Manufacturing Operations," featured Spandan Nai of Amazon, Mariana Luna, Aaron Scroggin, Senior Director, Quality and Reliability at Intel, Christa Kerlin of Jabil, Ayla Tezcan of Peloton Interactive, and Chris Telford, Enterprise Account Executive at Source Intelligence. Their conversation tied the summit together, highlighting how proactive quality systems and strong supplier partnerships drive long-term success.

Amit Sinha and Leyla Sudbury closed the summit with final remarks and a survey prize giveaway, sending delegates off with new ideas, new connections, and plenty of momentum heading into the rest of 2026.

Powered Up and Ready for What's Next!

The 2026 American Electronics Manufacturing Summit united manufacturing, supply chain, quality, and engineering leaders for two days packed with hands-on insight and real connection. Conversations ranged from AI-powered production and autonomous factories to building resilient supply chains, empowering quality leaders, and growing the next generation of manufacturing talent, offering a clear look at where the industry is headed.

Thank you to everyone who made this year's summit such a success. We're already looking ahead to next year and can't wait to bring this community back together for another round of big ideas and new connections. Mark your calendar, tell a colleague, and get ready to join us at the next American Electronics Manufacturing Summit happening June 16-17, 2027 in Dallas, TX.

Testimonials

"The quality of the presentations was better than many larger conferences I have participated in."

- Christa Kerlin, Chief Quality Officer @ Jabil

“Very nicely organized and loved the size to have meaningful discussions and conversations. Time management throughout the conference was pristine, and duration of presentations was also perfect to keep the audience engaged.”

- Kamal Malhotra, Senior Director of Supply Chain @ Brewer Science Inc.

“I loved the format of having the networking events with sponsors pre-arranged, and in between the presentations. It made it so much easier.”

Leticia Ambriz, Head of Product Operations @ Amazon - Ring

"As a first-time attendee, I found this event really impactful, and it was really great hearing from manufacturing leaders across the spectrum about their challenges and the solutions that can help solve their immediate needs. I'm looking forward to the follow-up from this event."

Jonathan Shafer, Head of Marketing @ Viaduct AI

"We were able to conduct a lot of core meetings in order to create value not only for ourselves but also for our potential clients. The engaging speakers have been wonderful. The overall event was set up very well."

Shalin Sharma, Client Portfolio Leader @ Genpact

"We had the opportunity to connect with some pretty qualified leads over the course of the past couple of days. It's allowed us to get our foot in the door in terms of starting conversations with organizations that we see as really good potential customers to onboard. Overall, we'd say it was a huge success."

Chris Teldford, Account Executive @ Source Intelligence

"The most valuable thing is the networking with industry leaders. We get face-to-face discussions to understand their needs, so that is really valuable for us."

Edgar Cardenas, Vice President of Engineering @ Alfra Group 

Learn more about our upcoming 2026 North American events, and secure your spot today:

• American Automotive Summit | September 15-16, 2026
  
• American Medical Device Summit | October 26-27, 2026
• American Food Manufacturing Summit | November 2-3, 2026
• American Pharma Manufacturing & Outsourcing Summit | November 19-20, 2026
• American Aerospace & Defense Summit | December 3-4, 2026
• American Chemical Manufacturing Summit | December 9-10, 2026
• ...and more 2027 events!

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