CorrExpo Offers New Workshops on Key Management and Manufacturing Topics

CorrExpo 2013 attendees will be able to learn about cutting edge trends in employee relations, retail packaging, and lean manufacturing via three new, concurrent, 60-min. workshops. In addition to paid conference attendees, these workshops are also open to all exhibit visitors at no extra charge.The workshops will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013, immediately prior to the exhibit opening that day.  CorrExpo will be held October 7-9, 2013 at the JW Marriott in Indianapolis, Ind., USA.

"The workshops touch on key areas critical to the successful operation of any box plant or board mill--employee management and relations, retail packaging, and improving manufacturing efficiency," notes Larry N. Montague, TAPPI president and CEO. "They will provide 2013 CorrExpo attendees an invaluable learning opportunity on top of what is already the industry's best technical program and an exhibit featuring the latest in technology."

Workshop 1: Racing Toward Employee Engagement - Jill Kopanis, corporate director, Human Resources, Dynamic Dies Inc., will demonstrate why Employee Engagement requires a committed team and ongoing preventative maintenance. Attendees will walk through the important four "tune-ups" and learn about the nine key "pit crew positions" that help to make employee engagement happen. "Any business, particularly manufacturing, will find increased employee engagement valuable," Kopanis says. "For truly engaged companies, the average return on investment is 27% higher. Whether you're in a service industry, packaging, or other manufacturing – if you don't want to see 27% higher profits, you're in the wrong business."

Workshop 2: Why Hasn't Lean Worked in the Corrugated Industry? - Baskar Kotte, president and CEO, Quality Systems Enhancement, will discuss why efforts to enact lean manufacturing didn't work as well as anticipated. "Lean Manufacturing has been around for a while, but not many practitioners are getting the results they want," Kotte says. "They're missing things –and the first mistake is that the initiative often ends up being about 80% training, and 20% implementation. We have to flip it. A better ratio is to spend 20% of the time and effort on training, and 80% on implementation." According to Kotte, another mistake plants make is lack of follow-up on results. "If they know what the impact is – through financial analysis, and other tools – plants will be more successful," he says.

Workshop 3: Retail Ready Packaging - Drew Gilchrist, owner, Gilchrist Packaging and Principle Associate, CHAINalytics LLC, and Rick Putch, managing director, Dicar Consulting Services Worldwide, developed the presentation. Retail Ready Packaging has gained a foothold in North America as retailers discover benefits including reduced operational costs and improved in-stock rates.

"RRP is an initiative that began in Europe, and it's very well penetrated in Western Europe, where they're basically using corrugated or secondary packaging, to help products load onto the store shelves more efficiently," Gilchrist says. "Think of it as Lean Manufacturing principles applied to retail stores."

The workshop will focus on Shelf Ready Packaging, one of four types of RRP, which allows a case containing more than one consumer selling unit to be placed on the store shelf in one motion. Studies have shown a 48% improvement in shelf stocking time by using SRP.

CorrExpo 2013
is TAPPI's annual world-class event dedicated to the corrugated packaging industry. It will feature educational programs as well as exhibits highlighting supplier innovations. CorrExpo's Exhibit will highlight suppliers' innovations and provide ample opportunities for you to learn about their products and services.

TAPPI
http://www.tappi.org/