N. American Toyota V.P. to speak at Anderson manufacturing summit
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The Purdue University Center for Advanced Manufacturing is sponsoring the summit. It will take place at the Anderson Flagship Enterprise Center, 2701 Enterprise Drive (a map is available online).
"Those attending the summit see manufacturing as a vital part of the economic future of both the state of Indiana and its citizens," said John Sullivan, director of Purdue's Center for Advanced Manufacturing. "But the attendees also understand that the global economy has changed many of the traditional rules of the game, and to be a winner today means manufacturers, higher education and government have to be on the same team."
Attendance is open to the public. Free online registration is available.
The summit starts at 8 a.m., and Cuneo will speak at 11 a.m. Chuck Staley, president and CEO of the Anderson Flagship Enterprise Center, will make welcoming remarks at 8:30 a.m. following registration, a continental breakfast and a poster session. There will be two panel discussions on regional collaborations moderated by Mary Starkey, executive director of the Madison County Corporation for Economic Development; and foundations of manufacturing, moderated by Terry Truitt, dean of Anderson University's Falls School of Business.
Lunch will be served at 12:15 p.m. at I Power Energy Systems LLC, located at 4640 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., and the company's president and CEO S. Michael Hudson, will provide welcoming remarks. Sullivan will make final summit comments, and the day will conclude with an I Power Energy Systems plant tour. The summit will wrap up at 2 p.m.
Other summit speakers and panelists include Sullivan; Anderson Mayor Kevin Smith; Terry Murphy, Muncie director of economic development; Ted Fiock, president of Anderson Tool & Engineering Co. Inc.; Al Malizia, vice president of operations and manager of Metaldyne in New Castle; Steve Akard, Indiana Economic Development Corp. international trade director; E. Roy Budd, Energize-ECI executive director; and others from Purdue, state agencies and area manufacturers. A complete agenda is available online.
Cuneo, an attorney and 22-year Toyota executive, is based in New York City. He was part of the management team that started up NUMMC, the Toyota-General Motors joint venture that was Toyota's first assembly plant in North America.
Cuneo serves on the executive committee of the National Association of Manufacturers and chairs the Human Resources Policy Group. In 2003-04, he chaired the Cincinnati branch of the Federal Reserve.
Toyota employs more than 35,000 workers in the United States and operates a truck manufacturing plant in Princeton, Ind., that produced 375,000 trucks, SUVs and minivans in 2004. Metaldyne in New Castle is a Toyota parts supplier.
In addition to the Center for Advanced Manufacturing, summit partners include the cities of Anderson and Muncie, Anderson Tool & Engineering Co. Inc., the Madison County Corporation for Economic Development, Anderson University and the Flagship Enterprise Center.
The Center for Advanced Manufacturing serves as the central point of contact at Purdue University on a wide range of manufacturing issues, linking existing and emerging businesses with researchers on campus. The center's mission is to bridge basic academic research with specific industrial needs to enhance both the understanding and application of manufacturing issues in Indiana. On May 23 the center is sponsoring the fifth annual statewide summit on advancing manufacturing in Indiana at Purdue.
Writer: Mike Lillich, (765) 494-2077, mlillich@purdue.edu
Source: John Sullivan, (765) 494-3344, sulivan@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
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