Dear Colleagues:
In January I stated, I like to think of 2009 as the “perfect storm” that will accelerate the reuse of materials throughout the supply chain across all industries. The recession is driving all businesses to reduce costs wherever possible. At the beginning of the year I called 2009 “The Year of Reuse” and it certainly was!
First, let me say I am honored to have been your Chairman this past year and wish you and your families all the best for the holidays and for 2010. In one of the toughest years since the Great Depression of the 1930s we have a lot to be grateful for as an association.
Thank you to the Board of Directors and our Committee Chairmen for all their hard work and support throughout the year. Thank you to my Executive Steering Team who guided our path in 2009. Thank you to all the volunteers in our organization for their commitment to making our industry stronger. Thank you to all of our members whose belief in reusable packaging and our work as an association continues to drive our future and what we can become. Thank you to our newest members our End Users whose insight helps drive greater value for reusable packaging. I would like to especially thank Jerry Welcome for his first year as President of the RPA. I recognize the difficulty of coming into an association with little knowledge of reusable packaging and Jerry learned and grew as a true leader for the industry and developed a framework from which to grow our association in years to come!
Our RPA Strategy
It is important to constantly come back to our strategy that we developed in 2008.
Mission Statement: The Reusable Packaging Association promotes the expansion and
value of reusable packaging systems.
Vision Statement: The Reusable Packaging Association is the catalyst for making
reusables the dominant supply chain packaging solution.
Core Strategies: Value of Reusables ….leveraging the economic, environmental
and social impact to foster market penetration
Recognized Expert…..providing industry knowledge to promote
reusable supply chain packaging solutions
Collective Voice…….representing the interests of members from
the entire reusable supply chain
Core Competency: The Reusable Packaging Association (RPA) is a trade association
of experts in reusable packaging systems.”
Value Proposition: The Reusable Packaging Association (RPA) creates business
opportunities for its members by providing a forum to address industry issues and by advancing the adoption of reusable systems.
Our Progress in 2009
Membership - We started off the year with a lot of goals and energy. I’m proud to say together we have accomplished a great deal. We’ve added 15 new members this year, a testament to the growing strength of the industry and the stature of the organization. Chris MacGrory, Phil Davis and the Membership Team were instrumental in bringing more end users into the organization and developing the marketing materials we are using for new member recruitment.
Communications - We’ve been very successful this year at increasing the visibility of the reusable industry and the association in the trade press. This positive press is the hard work of our Communications Team lead by Pete Budney. Pete and his group have been very instrumental in reaching out to the media and building better working relations with our trade press. They’ve strengthen our web site, published columns in important magazines, and developed and published this quarterly newsletter to spread the news about the work of the association and to engage those interested in reusables to become more actively involved. All of this positive press is invaluable in raising the level of awareness about our industry, product and services and it is helping to make a positive impact in the marketplace.
Industry Relations - Tim Debus and his Industry Relations group has been working hard to promote the industry through our StopWaste Workshop program and by developing strong working relationships with organizations such as the California Resource Recovery Association, EPA, Sustainable Packaging Coalition and the Wal-Mart Supplier Value Network. All of these efforts bring us closer to our customers, policy-makers and those who seek to shape the marketplace. Through our work with each of these organizations RPA helps to build a stronger case for the value of reusables in the marketplace.
Education/Technical - Our Education Team put on the first Reusables Conference at PACK EXPO a very successful event that raised the awareness of the RPA and reusable packaging at one of the world’s largest packaging events. This conference not only brought our message to a much wider audience, but it was very important in helping us attract a number of new member companies. The relationship we forged with the Packaging Machinery Manufactures Institute (PMMI) the host and sponsor of the show was very beneficial to the RPA and will lead to hosting a Reusable Packaging Pavilion at the PACK EXPO show in Chicago in 2010. With an audience of more than 80,000 attendees this will be an excellent platform to spread the word about our industry to very important audience. The Team was also responsible for publishing the RFID study and Reusable Sustainability White Paper. Many RPA volunteers participate in these efforts and I want to thank them for their service.
Our Projects for 2010
I am excited to reveal three new projects that the Board of Directors approved last week to propel us into 2010. These are briefly listed below. I will be organizing the committees for 2010 prior to the year’s end so if you want to get involved in any of these please contact me directly at bob.klimko@orbiscorporation.com.
1. A project to develop guidelines for re-processors to avoid or minimize the impact of theft of reusable assets for material recovery
2. A project to evaluate and develop best practices to determine the viability of use of reusable packaging in less than truck-load supply chains
3. A project to develop a comprehensive database to determine the size of the reusable industry and to gather industry data that will enable the EPA to determine the environmental impacts of reusables used in its WARM model
These projects potentially will have a significant impact on our industry and were evaluated using our Project Criteria matrix that was developed to filter projects relative to our strategy.
Curriculum Development
At our meeting in Las Vegas during Pack Expo I announced a major initiative for the RPA built on creating curriculum for users of reusable packaging. We have been meeting since October to develop this material and this work will continue into 2010.
The curriculum is being developed based on the four stages of RPA adoption. These stages include:
· Stage 1 – Awareness
· Stage 2 – Acceptance
· Stage 3 – Implementation
· Stage 4 – Refinement
Again, I will continue to spearhead this effort well into 2010 so if you are interested in being involved.
2010 New Leadership Being Finalized
While the votes are being finalized I wanted to remind you of the slate of candidates for 2010 listed below. If you haven’t done so please vote prior to the holidays so we can start off the 2010 year with a lot of momentum. As you can see from this slate of candidates there is a tremendous amount of experience for our association in the years to come.
2010 RPA Executive Committee Candidates
Jon Kalin, Sales and Marketing Manager, Rehrig Pacific - Chairman of the Board
Drew Merrill, VP Business Development, Container & Pooling Systems - Vice Chairman
John Frey, President, Tosca Ltd. - Secretary/Treasurer
Bob Klimko, Director of Marketing & Sustainability, Orbis Corporation - Immediate Past Chairman (ex officio)
Jerry Welcome, President RPA (ex officio)
2010 RPA Board Member Candidates
Lewis Taffer, Chief Marketing Officer, iGPS (to fill the unexpired term of Gary Garkowski)
Tim Smith, VP Business Development, CHEP U.S.A.
Jim Vangelos, CEO, Polymer Logistics
Robert Zachrich, VP Sales & Marketing, Fabri-Form
Pete Budney, VP Marketing, Orbis Corporation
Phil Davis, Sr. Perishables Supply Chain Manager, The Kroger Company
Chris MacGrory, Marketing Manager-Reusable Packaging, IPL, Inc.
Sustainability White Paper – How Reusables Impact Sustainability
Ok admittedly this white paper has been a long time coming but before the end of the year please expect our work on “How Reusable Packaging Impacts Sustainability” to be rolled out to the press! Special thanks to our team members for their dedication to this very important area for the RPA.
Candice Herndon, CHEP
Rob Zachrich, Fabri-Form
Drew Merrill, CAPS
Final Request
It’s been a great year, and I have been very proud to serve as your Chairman in 2009. Now that my term is coming to an end, I want you to know I’m not leaving in fact this will give me even more time to work on projects that will increase the value of being a member of this organization. As I leave office I want to make one last observation. Over the course of the year I have met many of you at shows, conferences, meetings, on conference calls and though the work of the committee. I am struck by your commitment to the organization and recognize that because of your efforts the RPA and the reusable industry is in great hands.
For those of you who I haven’t met let me leave you with one thought – get involved. I think you will find that the time you spend working with the RPA it will bring you a great deal of personal satisfaction, it will help in your professional development, it will lead to important new business relationships and contacts, and over time it will return even more than what you put into it.
Well folks with every beginning there can be an end or a new beginning! Thank you for all your support in 2009. Mr. Kalin the floor is yours.
Best regards,
Bob Klimko
|