SP / TAMA 3rd Quarter Membership Meeting

On September 8, the Suppliers Partnership for the Environment (SP) and the Tennessee Automotive Manufacturers Association (TAMA) co-hosted their 3rd Quarter Membership Meeting at the Northfield Workforce Development and Conference Center in Spring Hill, Tennessee. Over 140 representatives of the automotive supply chain participated in the meeting including OEMs, suppliers, non-profit and government leaders.

The meeting opened with a panel on Greening the Automotive Supply Chain, featuring Kevin Butt, General Manager/Chief Environmental Officer of Environmental/Safety Engineering, Toyota North America (pictured left) and SP’s Chair, Randy Leslie, Vice President & General Manager, Johnson Controls Inc. Automotive Experiencet).

A panel of federal government representatives — including Tom Murray, US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Andre de Fontaine, Department of Energy (DOE) Industrial Technologies Program (ITP) and Ben Vickery, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Program — discussed tools and resources available for manufacturers, including the new E3: Economy, Energy, Environment initiative.

SP members John Bradburn, GM, Mark Werthman, Chrysler and Rahul Naik, ARCADIS discussed strengthening OEM and supplier relationships through SP. Mr. Bradburn presented several projects that GM has developed in partnership with SP member companies, including a project to turn oil-soaked booms from the Gulf of Mexico into Chevrolet Volt components. Mr. Werthman discussed the process of achieving zero waste to landfill status at Chrysler Group Headquarters and Technology Center, while Mr. Naik presented a case study on a green and sustainable remediation partnership project between Ford and ARCADIS.

The next panel featured representatives from six major Southern automotive associations to discuss their work with the automotive industry in their state, including the Alabama Automotive Manufacturers Association (AAMA), Georgia Automotive Manufacturers Association (GAMA), Mississippi Automotive Manufacturers Association (MAMA), South Carolina Automotive Council (SCAC), Southern Automotive Women’s Forum (SAWF) and Tennessee Automotive Manufacturers Association (TAMA).

The meeting concluded with a Panel on SP’s Signature Issues, featuring reports from SP’s Chemical Issues, Energy and Water, Materials Efficiency, and Technology & Networking Work Groups.