Suppliers Partnership for the Environment (SP) 1st Quarter Membership Board Meeting

January 30, 2003 MINUTES

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Suppliers Partnership for the Environment (SP)

1st Quarter Membership Board Meeting

January 30, 2003

Southfield, MI

Hosted by Lear Corporation

MINUTES

SP’s Chair, Ms. Rebecca Spearot, Lear Corporation, called the meeting to order at 8:00am EST with the following individuals present:

Members:
John / Harris / Ashland Inc.
Melissa / May / Delphi Corporation
Roger / Strelow / Federal-Mogul Corporation
Pat / Beattie / General Motors Corporation
Jerry / King / General Motors Corporation
Renee / Mietz / General Motors Corporation
John / Resslar / General Motors Corporation
Thad / Fortin / Haas TCM
Randy / Leslie / Johnson Controls Inc.
Joseph / McCarthy / Lear Corporation
Dale / Perrault / Lear Corporation
Rebecca / Spearot / Lear Corporation
Vijay / Tandel / Lear Corporation
Michael / Barto / Petoskey Plastics, Inc.
Gary / Mayo / Visteon Corporation
Liaisons:
Mike / Coast / MI Manufacturing Technology Center
Tom / Murray / U.S. EPA
Kristin / Pierre / U.S. EPA
SP:
Amy / Goldman / Suppliers Partnership for the Environment
Steve / Hellem / Suppliers Partnership for the Environment
Guests:
Mark / Doetsch / B.A.E.
Emley / Halibozek / B.A.E.
Diane / Pietrzyk / BASF Corp. Performance Polymers
John / Szymanski / Decoma International Inc.
Robert / Townsend / DENSO International America Inc.
Mike / Guthrie / Detroit Chassis LLC
Scott / Braspenninx / Eagle Ottawa LLC
John / Bohenick / The Gates Rubber Company
Jason / Matousek / Guardian Automotive
Scott / Stanley / Guardian Automotive
Ian / Jensen / IRMCO
Tien / Pham / L & L Products, Inc.
Kregg / Salvino / Motorola, Inc.
David / Jones / NSK Corporation
Ronnie / Alan / Plastic Omnium
Thomas / Phillips / Plastic Omnium
Dale / Majewski / Renosol
Randy / Smith / Renosol
Craig / Larson / Robert Bosch Corporation
Mike / Mastrino / ZF Industries, Inc.

Ms. Spearot welcomed and thanked everyone for attending the meeting. She reviewed SP’s anti-trust guidelines and recommended that each member indicate in their notes of the meeting that the guidelines were discussed.

Mr. Joseph McCarthy, Lear Corporation, welcomed the attendees and expressed Lear’s enthusiasm about the organization and the relationships being formed with customers, suppliers and EPA as well as the opportunity to host the first quarterly membership meeting.

Ms. Spearot provided a brief overview of SP. Ms. Pat Beattie, GM, provided an overview of SP’s history and the relationship with GM. Mr. Tom Murray, EPA, provided an overview of SP’s relationship with EPA as well as GM’s relationship with the Agency.

Mr. John Harris, Ashland Inc., led a discussion of the potential work group activities. The three primary activities below were identified during the October 31 organizational meeting:

•Senior Management Communication – was led by Pat Beattie, GM. She indicated that GM will: draft a letter in February 2003 from the VP of environmental and VP of worldwide purchasing and send the letter to its suppliers encouraging membership in SP; work to strengthen the environmental aspects in purchasing process in March 2003; host 2nd quarter SP meeting in GM’s Energy and Environmental Strategy Board (EESB) room to “walk the wall” in May 2003; and brief the EESB on SP’s activities in September 2003; provide information about the successes of SP activities and workshops through

  • The Team will include: Renee Mietz, GM, assist with getting the information on GMsupplypower; and, Mark Doetsch, BAE, Ian Jensen, IRMCO, and Mike Stoelton, Johnson Controls, will assist with writing the letter

•Internal and External Marketing of SP – was led by Roger Strelow, Federal Mogul. It was agreed that SP needs to create a website, and that the website should include: background information; contact information; executive summaries; activity information; membership information and benefits; success stories; a members only section; and links to other sites and tools – i.e., GMsupplypower, EPA, other OEM pages, members home pages, and ISO 14001 toolkits or other information that has been developed by SP members that can be made public and possibly special sections such as one that addresses the history of environmental information and the supply chain changes.

  • The Team will include: Mark Doetsch, BAE, Mike Guthrie, Detroit Spectra LLC, Renee Mietz, GM, Scott Stanley, Guardian Automotive, and Diana Young, EPA

•Tier II & III Technical Assistance – was led by John Resslar, GM, Kristin Pierre, EPA and Mike Coast, MI MMTC (please see attached PowerPoint file for more information). It was agreed that a workshop format should be developed to train SMEs on business value integrating environmental issues into business processes; implement workshops; develop learning’s and information for use within the overall SP efforts; and a standard contract needs to be developed for those participating in the workshop, which would include a confidentiality clause so that the participant will know what they can expect and what is expected of them.

The participants then discussed the secondary activities that were identified at the October 31 meeting as follows:

•Sustainability and DfE impacts – was led by John Resslar and Pat Beattie, GM. It was discussed that this activity can: examine the range of sustainability issues within the automotive industry, determine how those issues can be translated into business value beyond environmental initiatives, such as process improvements and systems integration; define tangible outcomes as to application of sustainability concepts and document case examples; and identify ways to address DfE packaging and shipping, chemical and materials use, and information technology compatibility capabilities.

  • The Team will include: Vijay Tandal, Lear Corporation, Kregg Salvino, Motorola, Mike Stoelton, Johnson Controls, Brad Strohm, Delphi, and John Sparks, EPA

•Chemical Use Optimization – was led by Thad Fortin, Haas TCM, and Kristin Pierre, EPA. The discussion addressed: green accounting/chemical management services; developing an understanding of the traditional methods for business transactions between suppliers and the automotive OEMs; examining where environmental issues relate to the different aspects of the value chain for both parties in these transactions; developing recommendations for enhancing existing business processes to better integrate environmental issues; providing business value for both parties; emphasizing the business case for using higher quality products for machine equipment, products and creating less waste; conducting virtual training with MEPs; conducting an initial survey of the needs of SMEs; relating to other trade associations; and working with Chemical Strategies Partnership on lessons learned/do’s and don’ts

  • Volunteers to assist with this activity include: Ian Jensen, IRMCO

•Product Take-Back/International Management Data Systems (IMDS) – was led by Gary Mayo, Visteon Corporation. It was agreed that SP should: coordinate with other industry forums, e.g. Original Equipment Manufacturers Association (OESA) and the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG); understand the impact of the European initiative and its affect on OEMs and their suppliers; create a summary of how OESA & AIAG are addressing this issues; and identify the most appropriate and effective way to work with and support the organizations that are already addressing the issue.

•Transactional Processes – was led by John Harris. The discussion included: developing an understanding of the traditional methods for business transactions between suppliers and the automotive OEMs; examining where environmental issues relate to the different aspects of the value chain for both parties in these transactions; developing recommendations for enhancing existing business processes to better integrate environmental issues; providing business value for both parties; demonstrating the value chain of the supply chain as well as the potential risks and business drivers for procurement, discussing the “balanced scorecard” mapping communications tool.

  • Volunteers to assist with this activity include: Pat Beattie and Roger Strelow

Mr. Harris will contact the volunteers and leaders of the activities to coordinate conference calls to commence work on the issues.

Ms. Spearot then called to order the first quarter Board of Directors meeting for the Suppliers Partnership for the Environment asking the attendees to review and approve the minutes from the October 31, 2002 organizational meeting. On a motion duly made and seconded, the minutes were approved. On a motion duly made and seconded, Gary Mayo, Visteon Corporation, was approved to serve on the interim executive committee as the membership development chair of the organization. On a motion duly made and seconded, Detroit Chassis was approved as a member of the organization.

SP’s finance chair, Randy Leslie, Johnson Controls, Inc., provided a financial update. Mr. Leslie reported that the dues received to date are $52,000 and efforts are now underway to expand the membership base so the organization can reach its targeted budget of $ 267,000 for 2003 He requested that those companies who have not paid their dues to do so.

SP’s membership development chair, Gary Mayo, Visteon Corporation, provided a membership development update and welcomed the sixteen guest companies to the meeting. All guests will receive a follow-up call to solicit membership and receive feedback from the first meeting. In addition, a membership development plan will be created, which will include a membership information application pack as well as a new membership information pack. A PowerPoint presentation will also be created for internal use as well as for use at conferences when speaking on behalf of SP.

The upcoming membership meetings are as follows:

•2nd Quarter Meeting: May 7-8 ~ hosted by GM in Michigan (exact location TBD)

•3rd Quarter Meeting: July 23-24 ~ hosted by Ashland Inc. in Dublin, OH (exact location TBD)

•4th Quarter Meeting: October 29-30 ~ hosted by EPA & NIST in Washington, DC (exact location TBD).

On a motion duly made and seconded, the meeting was adjourned at 1:45pm EST.

Respectfully Submitted,

Steve Hellem

Executive Director