Arlington, VA, September 5, 2007 – PMMI announces the Packaging Industry Roundtable and Panel Discussion, hosted by PMMI’s Certified Trainer Program, for the Conference at PACK EXPO. The conference session will be at 11:00 a.m. on October 15, 2007 during PACK EXPO Las Vegas at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

During the conference session, panelists will discuss the vital importance of establishing best practices for training. Additionally, they will unveil a Request for Proposal (RFP) template that addresses training needs and communicates how training helps to reduce turn-over, downtime and inefficiency.

The panelists include Community of Practice members, composed of CPG and OEM companies:

• Kevin Grandey, Packaging Automation Engineer at Pactiv Corporation
• Justin Hawes, Reliability Training Manager at The Kroger Company
• Bruce Johnson, Training Manager at Doboy Inc.
• Peter Losching, Lead Technical Trainer at Langen Packaging Inc.

Nancy Cobb, PMMI Certified Trainer Program facilitator, will facilitate the roundtable discussion.

The RFP template was designed by members of the Community of Practice, including CPG and OEM packaging professionals, to facilitate effective communication between companies and manufacturers. The template will also help companies make the best use of their training dollar, receive the best return on their human capital investment and to improve the quality of training provided while setting expectations for training requirements during procurement. The resource will be available to the entire industry following the presentation.

“Proper training can significantly contribute to the lifetime of machinery and lower the total cost of ownership. However, because it is often unclear which training services are needed or currently available, this important step is often a second thought or completely disregarded during procurement,” says Kevin Grandey. Packaging Automation Engineer at Pactiv Corporation. “The RFP template will help companies know what to ask for and to demand higher-quality training in order to increase efficiency and profitability.”

The PMMI Certified Training program is built around a core set of training best practices, including performance, focus, documentation and competence. The best practices, created by the Community of Practice members, help packaging professionals develop focused training programs.

“High quality training is critical in an industry that is characterized by automation and suffers from such high turn-over rates,” says Maria Ferrante, Director, Workforce Development, PMMI. “Effective training helps improve employee safety and reduces machine downtime. It’s an investment every brand owner and OEM must make -- it’s important to make the right investment from the beginning.”

The PMMI Certified Trainer Community of Practice is a group of professionals from consumer product goods companies and packaging machinery companies that come together in a collaborative, constructive environment to discuss mutual challenges and propose solutions for the industry as a whole.

The PMMI Certified Trainer Program is the industry-leading train-the-trainer program. Specifically customized for manufacturing, the program is designed to help companies provide the best instruction possible to their constituents and customers by giving them the skills needed to create a valuable learning experience with accurate, useful documentation. Discover what over 80 companies already know, over 400 packaging professionals have received certification through PMMI. For information on the program, visit www.pmmi.org/certified or contact Maria Ferrante, director of workforce development, at (703) 243-8555 or e-mail maria@pmmi.org.

PMMI is a trade association whose more than 500 general members manufacture packaging and packaging-related converting machinery in the United States and Canada. PMMI’s thirty-two supplier members manufacture commercially available packaging machinery components. PMMI's vision is to be the leading global resource for packaging. Its mission is to improve and promote members' abilities to meet the needs of their customers. Visit www.pmmi.org for more information.

 PACK EXPO Las Vegas will be held October 15-17, 2007 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, NV. The show will be co-located with the PROCESS EXPO, the Converting & Package Printing EXPO and the International Bottled Water Association’s 2007 Convention and Tabletop Trade Show. PACK EXPO International will be held November 9-13, 2008 at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL.  PMMI also produces EXPO PACK México, the premier packaging show in Mexico serving the Latin American region. This show will be held June 24-27, 2008 at Centro Banamex, Mexico City, Mexico.

Visit www.packexpo.com for more information. 

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