Indianapolis saw an influx of plastics processors on Oct. 11-12, with 380 attendees from 36 states attending the annual MAPP Benchmarking & Best Practices Conference. The conference was billed as a no-nonsense business exchange designed to provide profit-impacting information to senior executives in the plastics manufacturing industry, and this year’s jam-packed schedule was no exception.

Sessions for this year’s event included five-minute information exchanges from leaders at top plastics processors, sharing information on the strategies and tactics that have impacted their own companies (see Ignite Session summary). Jeff Mengel (Plante & Moran) and Laurie Harbour (Harbour Results) shared insights from industry benchmarking reports to help attendees navigate the current economic climate. Breakout sessions focused on recruiting and developing employee talent, applying US military combat leadership skills to manufacturing and performance gap analysis for both financials and operations.

Also on tap were functional area engagements, where individuals in similar roles came together to interact with their peers on topics that are unique to their job functions. These discussion groups included human resources, sales and marketing, operational and processing, presidents/owner leaders and financial/IT professionals.

MAPP Executive Director Troy Nix was enthusiastic about the continued growth of the event, saying, "Over the last 12 years, this event has gone from 25 people in a small meeting room to 380 industry professionals in one of the largest ballrooms in Indianapolis. MAPP’s continued focus on the processor and ensuring this event provides immense best practices benchmarks and networking opportunities is the key to its success."

Nix challenged each attendee to get out of his or her comfort zone and be relentless in the pursuit of excellence.