AKRON, OHIO (July 26, 1:15 p.m. EDT) — The topics of globalization, industry consolidation and e-business will share the stage with the usual forward-looking analyses of economic prospects for key raw materials and end markets on the agenda at Executive Forum 2001, to be held deep in the heart of Texas this fall.
The event, Plastics News' annual conference for senior plastics industry executives, will take place Oct. 15-18 at the Westin La Cantera Resort in San Antonio.
The meeting will kick off Sunday afternoon with a look at plastics industry mergers and trends, by Thomas Blaige, managing director of Minneapolis-based private equity firm Goldsmith Agio Helms.
Kevin Y. Painter, former chairman and managing director of IBM Corp.'s China operations, will deliver Wednesday's keynote address, offering insights into building a supply chain and doing business in that massive market. Painter directed IBM in China for four years until he stepped down May 31 from Shenzhen-based IBM Technology Products Co. Ltd. He founded and now directs Valence Group, comprising several Hong Kong-based businesses aimed at helping companies with supply-chain issues in the People's Republic.
A panel discussion on globalization and strategic alliances will follow, with confirmed participants including Chuck Schiele, president of multinational injection molder Moll Industries Inc. of Knoxville, Tenn.; Hubert Hecker, chairman of Sendenhorst, Germany-based profiles extrusion giant Veka AG; Donald Duncan, the former chief executive officer of DuPont Dow Elastomers who now is president of the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. of Washington; and Richard Wambold, chairman/CEO of packaging thermoformer/extruder Pactiv Corp. The panel's moderator will be Jim Meinert, globe-trotting international sales director at Mequon, Wis.-based Snider Mold Co. Inc.
Michael Paslawskyj, CIT Group's vice president of economic research, plans to assess industry economic conditions, and Lori Anderson, SPI's director of economic and international trade issues, will demonstrate the updated, detailed industry data available in the recently issued SPI Economic Report, known as SPIER.
On the materials side, three analysts from Chemical Market Associates Inc. — Alex Lidback, Howard Rappaport and Dave Witte — along with Austin Peppin of Peppin & Associates will be among the resin industry experts providing their candid views on market conditions for PET, polypropylene, PVC, polyethylene, styrenics, nylon and polycarbonate.
Other confirmed speakers include Bill Maclean, president of Textron Automotive's Trim Division; Tim Hamashuk, product line director for Delphi Automotive's interior systems business; Bruce Claxton, director of design integration for Motorola Inc.'s Communications Enterprise; and Ken Brooks, a senior associate with Ernst & Young in Montreal who focuses on the packaging markets.
Various senior executives from other processor firms and original-equipment makers will analyze the following end markets: automotive, computers and telecommunications, medical, packaging, and building and construction.
In a Tuesday morning speech Peter F. Bemis, executive vice president of Sheyboygan Falls, Wis.-based injection molder Bemis Manufacturing Co., will challenge attendees to manage more creatively to maximize the contributions from their employees.
Wednesday's entire half-day program — co-sponsored by Advertising Age's BtoB, a Crain Communications Inc. sister publication — will be devoted to e-business topics. David Caruso, vice president and general manager of AMR Research Inc.'s Manufacturing E-Business Strategies Group, will provide his bare-knuckled assessment of prospects for the burgeoning number of e-marketplaces and online exchanges.
Additionally, Plastics News will unveil its annual North American Processor of the Year winner at an awards banquet the evening of Oct. 17.
For further Executive Forum details, see the "PN Events" section, or contact Nancy Parks in Akron at (330) 865-6134 or [email protected].