JUNE 1998  VOL. 8, NO. 2  Spring Operations Managers Meeting By Ron Ceselli, Walker Wire Held in Kansas City, on May 12-13, the Spring Operations Managers Meeting began with an excellent tour of the Chilicothe plant of Wire Rope Corporation Of America. The tour of this new, modern facility included discussions with committed employees and was very informative. Upon arrival at WRCA, Bill Avise, the Operations Steering Committee chairman, was presented with a key to the city of Chillicothe, Missouri by the Mayor. A reception followed, hosted by GST and a great dinner was sponsored by FEC Energy Services. FEC also had a Hospitality Suite for relaxation and a big screen TV to watch the Lakers game. (However, some were more interested in watching the RED WINGS win another one.) The next day started with committee reports which updated attendees on subjects pertinent to operations and environmental issues. The main program addressed topics related to Unions; Managing Union Organization Efforts, Managing Union Strikes and the Collective Bargaining Process. The presentations were based upon actual past experiences, which made the discussions and questions extremely pertinent to what managers are facing in their own workplaces. Last, but not least, two tours were scheduled at GST rod mill and Kuhar Metallizing. Both tours were very well presented and well worth attending. Was it worth the time? The session attended by 94 participants, more than 20 of whom attended for the first time, felt it was. In fact, two thirds of the people were so interested they decided to leave later in the second day or the next day. This is a good indicator of the success of the meeting. Seeing the alpha to the omega of our industry - steel making, rodmill practice, wire drawing, equipment, operational function improvement program, and the presentations made this a most worthwhile meeting. In addition, being treated like royalty in Kansas City, MO for two days�to quote 'it don't get much better than that!' If you missed it, you really missed a lot. Back to Wireline Contents American Wire Producers Association 801 North Fairfax Street, Suite 211 Alexandria, VA 22314-1757 Tel (703) 299-4434 | Fax (703) 299-9233 | E-mail info@awpa.org | Web: www.awpa.org