World Opex Conference 2027: Research and Practice in Operational Excellence
Evidence, not opinion: cases, research and new developments in operational excellence
Purpose
The first World Opex Conference exists to put evidence, not opinion, at the center of the conversation about operational excellence. One program in three segments, run one after the other, with one standard: every session shows something real, with a baseline, a period and a measured change, and the questions matter more than the slides.
It is separate from the World Opex Awards. Award winners and entrants are invited to present their cases, and their work is expected to fill much of the practice segment; what a rating does not do is guarantee a slot, and nothing on the program affects a rating. No sponsor influences the program committee or the research review. The audience is anyone who runs, studies or improves operations: plant and service heads, continuous improvement leaders, SME owners, researchers and students.
The first edition is virtual and a single half-day, so that practitioners in India, the Gulf, Europe and the Americas can attend in working hours and every presenter can join from their own site.
Who should attend
Plant, site and operations heads
People accountable for output, quality, cost and safety in manufacturing, process, energy and logistics, who want to see how peers run their sites.
Continuous improvement, quality and opex leaders
Program owners, Lean and Six Sigma leads, Black Belts and quality managers who need cases, methods and a network beyond their own company.
Service operations leaders
Shared services, GBS and BPO centers, hospitals, banks and public services, where the same disciplines apply and the cases are rarer.
SME owners and managing directors
Small and mid-size companies improving without a corporate program, and the people who run those programs for them.
Academics and doctoral students
Researchers in operations management, quality and industrial engineering, presenting in the research segment and taking cases back to the classroom.
Consultants, trainers and solution providers
Welcome in the audience; present only with a client or a user on screen, under the showcase rules.
Program segments
Practice
Case studies from industry in the five-part World Opex format: context, approach, results, evidence, what held.
Research
Extended abstracts of about a thousand words, peer reviewed by the research chairs. Full papers are invited after the conference.
New developments
Short sessions on what is changing the field where the evidence is still early: AI in the quality system, digital operations, sustainability measurement. Solution providers present under the showcase rules, with a user on screen.
Agenda
Times in UTC. Speakers are named here as they confirm; every slot below is real and will be filled by invitation and the open call.
| 12:005 min | OpeningWelcome and how the half-day runsWorld Opex |
| 12:0520 min | KeynoteKeynote: operational excellence that holds, what the evidence saysKeynote speaker, to be confirmed |
| 12:2510 min | OpeningWhat the first season's entries taught the jury: patterns by criterionWorld Opex jury observations |
| 12:3520 min | PracticePractice case 1By invitation and open call, to be confirmed |
| 12:5520 min | PracticePractice case 2To be confirmed |
| 13:1520 min | PracticePractice case 3To be confirmed |
| 13:3515 min | ResearchResearch paper 1Peer reviewed, to be confirmed |
| 13:5015 min | ResearchResearch paper 2Peer reviewed, to be confirmed |
| 14:0510 min | BreakBreak |
| 14:1515 min | New developmentsNew development 1To be confirmed |
| 14:3015 min | New developmentsSolution showcase: a product inside a real deployment, with the user on screenSession partner, to be confirmed |
| 14:4520 min | Presenting partnerPresenting partner session: a real case, with the client on screenPresenting partner, to be confirmed |
| 15:0520 min | PanelWhat separates operations that hold their gains at twelve months from those that slipTwo council members, one practice presenter, one research presenter; moderated by a council member |
| 15:255 min | ClosingThe 2027 awards season opens, the Academy and the free assessmentWorld Opex |
Key dates
- Sep 28, 2026Call for practice cases, research abstracts and new-developments proposals open now. Sponsorship open now.
- Jan 15, 2027Research chairs and program committee announced
- Feb 15, 2027Research abstracts due (about 1,000 words)
- Feb 28, 2027Practice cases and new-developments proposals due
- Mar 12, 2027Acceptances sent to presenters
- Mar 25, 2027Sponsorship closes
- Mar 29, 2027Full program with speakers published
- Apr 8, 2027World Opex Conference 2027, 12:00 to 15:30 UTC, online
- Apr 15, 2027Recordings and slides released; full papers invited from research presenters
Speakers
Speakers are named here once they have confirmed. Registrants are told by email as the program fills.
Call for cases, abstracts and new developments
One form for all three segments. Research abstracts of about a thousand words are due by February 15, 2027; practice cases and new developments by February 28; acceptances go out by March 12. Every submission is read by the program committee, and research abstracts are peer reviewed by the research chairs.
Submit a case or paperResearch abstracts
Sponsorship
Conference sponsorship is sold separately from the awards season. Current World Opex Awards sponsors keep their awards package unchanged, have first refusal and may add a conference package at a 20 percent bundle rate until March 25, 2027. No sponsor influences the program committee or the research review.
Presenting partner
1 availableUSD 7,500 or INR 6 lakh
Session partner
2 availableUSD 3,000 or INR 2.5 lakh
Supporting partner
4 availableUSD 1,500 or INR 1.25 lakh
Knowledge partner
By invitationIn kind
What each package includes, the side-by-side comparison and the enquiry form are on the conference sponsorship page.