Well day two of this event was both very productive and interesting. It started with a continental breakfast of meeting that featured a panel discussion on the topic of Green Technology.
The panel consisted Ryan Williams of Eaton Corp., Janet,Jessen of Garlock Sealing Technologies, Justin Jacoby of SunSource, and Steve Luhrs of Mar-Kell Seals. Mr. Williams gave an overview of the size and scope of energy sources used in the U.S. and around the world. He spoke of energy overall and just renewable energy. It is not surprising that coal and fossil fuels are the biggest source of energy. What was surprising is that wind power is the second largest supplier of renewable energy in the U.S.
Ms Jessen gave a case history of her company, Garlock, and how they rebuilt their manufacturing facility in Palmyra, NY to be a very green building. Mr. Jacoby who represents a very large fluid power distributor spoke of finding many energy efficiencies at their lcoations and passing energy-efficient ideas on to their customers.
Finally, Mr. Luhrs spoke of the efficiencies they have been able to effect at his company on the west coast. It was interesting to note that their sales reps use ipads to present their line card to customers.
After a quick break, the day continue with three breakout sessions centered on green technology. One session asked members to reflect on sellng into the green markets. Another was about government regulation as it related to green technology. The third was about product innovation and offerings as they related to green markets.
The sessions of this day were full of good information exchanges on how energy efficiency and green technology are worked into the fluid power and sealing supply chain.
The afternoon consisted of a Supplier Showcase for companies that supplie to these two industries. It was an opportunity during and after lunch to network with potential partners. One of the real strengths of this year's summit was all of the networking arrangements making our time here very well spent.
