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| REGIONAL REPORTS
March 2006
In this report . . . . . .
NPE 2006 will be the largest international plastics exposition in 2006, with some 2,000 exhibitors introducing new materials, processing machinery, equipment and technologies and over 70,000 attendees exploring nearly 1,000,000 square feet of exhibitor space. In past years, the incredible size of NPE has posed challenges for exhibitors and attendees. For the exhibitor the question is "How do I qualify 70,000 attendees and connect with them in just 5 days?" Meanwhile, attendees wonder how they are going to see everything they need to in that same limited time frame. NPE SmartBooth™ and myNPE™ Connection Two new web-based tools, NPE SmartBooth (for exhibitors) and myNPE (for attendees), will revolutionize how business gets done at NPE this June. Combined, these two automated tools will connect exhibitors and attendees in a way that will drastically improve both groups return on investment.
The myNPE system can even create a personalized agenda or Event Plan that will help attendees meet their specific needs before the show, and suggests things that they want to see as updates are added. Additionally, myNPE lays out a You-Based Map which lists an attendee's preferred exhibitors and corresponding booth numbers along with a map indicating the most efficient path to those destinations.
It works in conjunction with myNPE to match exhibitors to the attendees. Exhibitors interested in how this program works should visit www.npe.org/smartbooth or contact Evan Shubin at (301) 983-1200; e-mail smartbooth@npe.org. NPE SmartBooth also provides a quantitative analysis to exhibitors that demonstrates the ROI value of their participation at NPE. With the ROI Performance Report exhibitors will be able to see current attendee usage statistics such as how many searches the company appeared in and the number of people who received its outbound requests and invitations. Exhibiting companies will know those who committed to visit their booth and who has your company on their Event Plans, as well as how many viewed your company's profile and linked to its web site. With a click of a mouse exhibitors can view a listing of leads and attendees looking for their company. The NPE 2006 Free Conference, open to all NPE 2006 registrants, offers an innovative education agenda produced by leaders in the plastics industry to encourage industry growth and development, present cutting-edge technology, provide business management tools, open doors to international markets and promote careers in plastics. Your attendee name badge will permit access to all sessions presented in the NPE 2006 Free Conference program. Free conference sessions will be held in the afternoon on Monday, in the mornings and afternoons on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and on Friday morning. Each day's conference sessions tie into a central theme for the day.
For more information on the NPE Conference or any of the other educational opportunities during NPE week, visit www.npe.org/education. Three Reasons to Participate in SPI's Safety Statistics and Awards Program In reviewing SPI South's Goals and Objectives for 2005 and determining new ones for 2006, the Southern Region Board of Directors reiterated the importance of plastics companies maintaining a safe environment for their workers. SPI South will continue to strive to be the region with the highest percentage of member company facilities participating in SPI's Safety Statistics and Awards Program. All SPI members are eligible to participate in the program and to submit safety statistics for each of their plant locations. Recognition - As part of the collection of safety data, SPI South recognizes plant locations that achieve Excellence in Safety with the Roll of Honor award for having no OSHA recordable injuries or illnesses for the year. Facilities are also recognized for the greatest improvement in Total Recordable Injury Rate, Severity Rate/Lost Time Injuries and more. Exclusive Benchmarking Report - While it is important to recognize companies committed to worker safety, the compilation of reliable industry specific data has other benefits. All SPI members who participate in the SPI Safety Statistics and Awards Program receive a free benchmarking safety report that lets them evaluate their plants' safety record compared to the safety performance of other plastics companies in the same industry segment. The report includes total recordable cases incidence rates, days of restricted work activity or job transfer (DART) rates and severity rates for the plastics industry. Safety rates are broken down by process, such as extrusion, thermoforming or injection molding and by general category, such as processor, material supplier, and machinery/auxiliary equipment. This unique report is available only to SPI member plants that participate in SPI's Safety Statistics and Awards Program. Regulatory Fairness - Because industry-specific safety statistics are not available from OSHA or the Bureau of Labor Statistics, SPI's data has been invaluable to the industry in leveraging fair government regulation. SPI's data was used as the basis of establishing the SPI/OSHA Alliance goals and objectives for promoting a safe and healthy work environment in plastics facilities. To date, Machine Safety Train-the-Trainer courses have been developed for injection molding, extrusion and thermoforming operations. A course on blow molding is currently being developed and will be available at NPE 2006. For more information on these machine safety training courses, click here: http://www.plasticsindustry.org/public/worksafe/alliance.htm. How to Participate in SPI's Safety Statistics and Awards Program To be eligible for the SPI Southern Region Excellence in Safety Awards, members must participate in SPI's annual Safety Statistics and Awards Program conducted in February and March. The requested data is the annual summary of your OSHA 300 log that is posted in the workplace during February. The OSHA 300A form lists the hours/employees data. For more information, contact Susan Howe at (202) 974-5223; email showe@socplas.org.
Your Vote Is Their Job Security The nation's fourth largest manufacturing industry has the power to get the attention of lawmakers. It begins by applying the strength in numbers theory to millions of informed plastics employees who vote and communicate their concerns about how U.S. trade and energy policies are affecting their job security. While SPI does not make contributions to political campaigns, it represents an industry that provides 1.3 million jobs and $345 billion in shipments to the U.S. economy. If another 735,000 jobs from upstream industries that supply the plastics industry are added, the total employment impact comes to 2.1 million with an additional $93 billion in the value of industrial shipments. That's a lot of plastics industry voters making a big contribution to the economy. With the help of many in the plastics industry, SPI leveraged the size and economic impact of plastics throughout 2005. Your response to our grassroots letter writing campaign helped secure several meetings with Administration officials and members of Congress. SPI was able to educate policymakers on how current policies are affecting the competitiveness of U.S. plastics companies. At the February 2006 SPI South Board meeting, SPI President William Carteaux gave a briefing on the critical energy and trade issues facing the U.S. plastics industry and the struggle to convince Congress that opening the nation's vast natural gas reserves is safe, prudent and necessary. He emphasized that the industry must keep the pressure on lawmakers until they effectively act on these issues. Realizing that so much more must be done, the SPI Southern Board of Directors committed SPI South to a goal of being the region with the greatest number of plastics workers participating in SPI grassroots initiatives. Educate, Motivate, Communicate and Vote! All plastics industry employers and employees are encouraged to get politically involved. SPI's online Political Action Center makes it easy for everyone to stay informed, communicate with lawmakers, review official's voting records, and most importantly, register to vote. Since the distribution list for the SPI South Regional Report is limited, please tell colleagues, co-workers, and employees about SPI's Political Action Center. Thousands of Plastics Workers Are Not Registered to Vote! Because millions of eligible workers are not registered to vote, this is an area where you can have a major impact. Start by mobilizing a team at your company to help register employees and their family members to vote. This effort might include having voter registration drives as part of company events, putting registration materials in employee information packets, sending out voice mail or email reminders on registration deadlines in your state, and emailing web links to SPI's Political Action Center. Free "Get Out the Vote" Resource Kit SPI is developing a "Get Out the Vote" resource kit to be sent to company Human Resource staff for internal dissemination. If your company is interested in receiving this free resource, please email your contact information, including phone, to prastatt@socplas.org. Employers Can Provide Non-Partisan Voter Education Businesses are uniquely positioned (and legally allowed) to provide voter education to employees, shareholders, retirees and their families. Research indicates that four out of five workers want information from their employers about candidates, issues and elections. In fact, employees cite their employer as the single most trusted source of this information. Click here for a listing of ideas and tips on how employers can become involved in the election process. Getting Plastics Workers Politically Involved SPI's Political Action Center easily enables all plastics workers to get involved with just a few clicks of a mouse. Click the links below to: Contact Lawmakers -- Contact your elected officials and let them know your opinion on issues important to the plastics industry. Find Elected Officials -- Find your elected officials and see how they voted on issues important to the plastics industry. Register to Vote -- Retrieve your state's voter registration form, in English and Spanish, and obtain absentee ballot information. SPI Membership & Retention - A Southern Board Priority At its last meeting, the SPI South Board of Directors decided to become more involved in SPI's membership and retention efforts. The Board will be more active in referring potential new members to SPI's Director of Southern Regional Operations and Membership, Richard Sturgis. The Board also plans to call existing members and encourage them to participate in association activities and programs. Since it is critical to understand why members chose not to renew their membership, the Board of Directors has also volunteered to contact companies that have resigned from SPI to find out how the association can better serve their needs. Three members recently joined the SPI Southern Regional Board of Directors for a 3-year term that expires December 31, 2008: Bob Leonard of LMR Plastics in Greeneville, TN is president of this family owned business that manufactures injection-molded products. Rafael Hernandez is the distribution division's Southeast district manager for PolyOne. He has been with PolyOne for 13 years - including when it was named M.A. Hanna. Rick Weismantel is the southern region sales representative for Milacron, Inc. Although Milacron is based in Ohio, Weismantel works and resides in North Carolina. South Region Members Invited to SPI South Board Meetings The next SPI South Board of Directors meeting will be on Tuesday, April 25, 2006 from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Carl House in Auburn, GA. Bill Durden, Board member and President of Durden Enterprises, will be hosting the meeting and a plant tour. Representatives of SPI member companies and non-members who are considering membership in SPI are welcome to attend SPI South's Board meetings. If you are interested in attending, contact Pamela Rastatter at (864) 239-2939 ext. 3; email prastatt@socplas.org. John Deere™ Supplier of the Year LMR Plastics of Greeneville, TN has earned top recognition as a John Deere supplier through the OEM's Achieving Excellence Program. The company was named Commercial and Consumer Equipment Division Supplier of the Year and a Partner-level Supplier for 2005. The Partner-level status is Deere & Company's highest supplier rating. LMR Plastics received the honor in recognition of its dedication to providing products and service of outstanding quality, and for its commitment to continuous improvement. According to Bob Leonard, president of LMR Plastics, "John Deere challenges us with their Achieving Excellence Program in many different performance categories. One of our proudest accomplishments is that over the last two years we have shipped 22 million parts with 100 percent on-time delivery." LMR is a manufacturer and supplier of custom plastic injection molded products to a variety of industries. Welcome To Southern Companies Joining SPI
Avalon Vision Solutions, LLC
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What is myNPE? It's the official NPE 2006 attendee web portal that automatically identifies the exhibitors, products and sessions that interest individual registered attendees. Access is FREE -- attendees simply enter in keywords that identify their areas of interest at NPE. The myNPE system then matches attendees up with exhibitors that offer products and services of interest, provides a listing of the matches, and helps attendees set up and confirm appointments with the exhibitors they want to meet.
What is NPE SmartBooth? It is the official NPE 2006 web-based marketing tool for exhibitors that automatically finds registered attendees that are interested in the exhibitor's products and services. SmartBooth identifies an exhibitor's best prospects prior to the show, places the company on the prospect's Event Plan and Event Map, and sends them a message or invitation. Exhibitors can increase their qualified booth visits by 100% to 200%.