Thermoforming Executives Benefit from Education and Networking at Fall Conference

Attendees at SPI's Thermoforming Institute (Ti) Fall meeting in Chicago, October 3-5 heard practical and thought-provoking messages from their guest speakers including: marketing as a competitive advantage, organizational learning and an economic update.

Professors Robert Dewar and Tim Calkins, from the highly regarded Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, led attendees through stimulating discussions and interactive presentations.

Dewar stated that the most successful organizations are the ones who empower their employees to experiment, make “smart mistakes,” and do it quickly. Companies who experiment, fail frequently and learn more quickly have an advantage over their competitors. Dewar had attendees examines how their organizations approach the concept of learning and showed them how as customers, technology and competitors change – the organizations that survive and thrive are the ones who innovate and learn – and do it quickly.

Calkins discussed the power of differentiation in the marketplace, and stressed the importance of being either cheap or different in order to survive. Attendees agreed that cost leadership and focus on the lowest price was not always the way to succeed and that focusing on product benefits and branding and positioning a product or organization correctly is one of the keys to success. Calkins stated that by understanding positioning and bringing the positioning to life across the organization, executives can help their employees achieve success in a growing sea of competition.

Economist Ken Mayland, President of ClearView Economics, shared his forecast for 2008 with a focus on topics ranging from consumer spending and inventory cycles, to manufacturing trends and energy prices. Additionally, he shared his findings on economic impacts on election year outcomes going back to Harry Truman. Mayland has won numerous awards for his forecasting prowess and in the first half of 2006 USA Today has once again identified Dr. Ken as one of the nation's top ten forecasters for 2005! Also, in December 2006, BusinessWeek determined that Dr. Ken was THE #1 most accurate forecaster for 2006 (12/25/06 issue.)

Dates are already set for the Ti Spring Conference which will be held March 9-12 at the Ritz Carlton Lake Las Vegas.