More business offerings at fall meeting.

Managers of marketing, purchasing, operations and products, as well as executive management, owners and principals, will not want to miss the Business Summit at the upcoming Rubber Division meeting in Cincinnati, OH Oct. 10-13. Attendees will be able to explore solutions and strategies for protection against counterfeiting, as well as specific strategies that will impact corporate profits and the job base of rubber manufacturers.

The Division's Business Affairs Committee has developed several new and fresh educational opportunities at the Mini Expo in Cincinnati. Based on the demand from last year's Business Summit, the Division has expanded the offerings to include not only a business summit, but two business oriented workshops. The format has also been changed to offer the Business Summit as two morning sessions, allowing the attendees to visit the Mini Expo show floor in the afternoons, or add the workshops, "Product development--a portfolio approach," or "How to get better sales results from your marketing efforts," that will be held on Monday afternoon before the opening of the show.

The Business Summit will focus on two different areas this year. On Wednesday, Ron Wangerow (intellectual property counsel, Freudenburg-NOK General Partnership) will discuss the differences between patents and trade secrets, the applicability of each and how to establish them. Next, Peter Schrecker (executive vice president, Rhein Chemie Rheinau GmbH, Rubber Division) will discuss establishing and expanding business in foreign markets (Brazil, India, Japan, Eastern Europe and China) and the various strategies, challenges and opportunities that exist in this arena. Other topics on Wednesday may include strategies to control changes in product specifications (and the effects of such changes on purchase agreements and commitments), as well as a presentation on strategic supply chain management.

On Thursday, the program will center on strategies that create efficiencies and transform business processes leading to bottom line impacts for a company. Jeffrey Penkowski (principal consultant, Product Base LLC) will present information on the procure-to-pay (P2P) component of an operational excellence program. His presentation will highlight the inefficiencies in the traditional model of separate non-integrated processes for the procurement and payment cycle of materials. Attendees will explore an alternative model that focuses on best practices to integrate the procurement and management side through a rapid value delivery case study at an automotive supplier. Brian Halminiak (principal R&D Tax Credit Consultants) will discuss the applicability of research and development tax credits to many business opportunities where products are developed or enhanced, and how many small-and mid-size companies can take advantage of such credits. Finally, there will be a presentation on lean manufacturing/Six Sigma, dealing with quality control in the manufacturing process.