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"This event was a well valued tool for innovative ideas, well organized, and allowed the processors to absorb new concepts to stay competitive."
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– Gary Millpointer, Plant Engineer
George Weston Bakeries
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| "If the processor has specific goals in mind this is an extremely effective use of time and resources. It is much like using a laser point to focus attention and effort as opposed to the floodlight approach." |
– Don Adams, Director Global Process Development Technology
Keystone Foods
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| "As a first time attendee, the PTX conference exceeded my expectations. It opened the door for better dialogue with many of the vendors that would never have happened through a sales call, trade show or advertising." |
– David Haase, VP Operations
WILD Flavors
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| “The big advantage to meeting suppliers at PTX is the initiatives are analyzed upfront and matched up to what product lines / solutions offered.” |
– Greg Lisso, VP Engineering & Environmental Affairs
Pilgrim’s Pride
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| “PTX is a way to compress a lot of investigation time and meet with a variety of suppliers in a short period of time to understand varying technologies.” |
– Bruce Wisnefske, Sr. Manufacturing Engineer
Sargento Foods
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| “Our experience has been absolutely wonderful. Meetings were tailored to our needs and were very productive.” |
– David Haase, VP Operations
WILD Flavors
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| “We had meetings with some existing suppliers, and even though we know them, there were aspects of their business that we did not know before and the opportunity presented itself to meet with a higher level in their company.” |
– Chris Santoriello, Facility Engineering Manager
Safeway Beverage & Grocery Division
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| “I can easily say that spending a couple of days at PTX I accomplished one month’s work by having meetings lined up for me, one after another.” |
– Albert Kohen, Research Fellow, Engineering
Pepsi Cola Company
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| “If you think you need to spend two days at a tradeshow, you really need to spend two days at PTX; very worthwhile time.” |
– Don Adams, Director Global Process Development Technology
Keystone Foods
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| “The PTX event is an extremely valuable forum for learning about new products and technology. The knowledge gained and contacts made far exceeded any initial expectations. The ability to communicate with the suppliers prior to the event provides for increased productivity during the one-on-one sessions, allowing you to discuss the issues and opportunities that are pertinent to your business needs. In addition, the PTX Staff is very professional and well organized – they keep the event moving and timely. I would recommend the PTX event to anyone in the food industry.” |
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– Sam Casey, Director of Engineering
H. J. Heinz
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“First time attendance exceeded my expectations. I will follow-up on initiatives identified”
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– Gary Dunn, Process Development Manager
Basic American Foods
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| “I greatly enjoyed the meetings. I was pleased with the setting and the format. The fact that the suppliers called me beforehand was very helpful. VerticalXchange is a great concept… the quality of the time spent with the suppliers yields a great value.” |
– Paul Garrett, Facility Engineer
Mountaire Farms of North Carolina
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| “PTX is a unique way to facilitate effective supplier-customer relationships. The whole event was organized very professionally, and gave me the opportunity to meet in 2 days a wide list of potential partners that I would have not been able to reach in ‘traditional’ events.” |
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– Fabio Pettenati, Vice President for Supply Chain
Barilla America
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“The event was well organized and managed. It provided a good forum to meet with new suppliers and industry peers.”
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– David Watson, Vice President Engineering
Pepperidge Farm
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| “The industry is moving so fast and there are constantly new players and new technologies out there. Technologies are always evolving and things that were not viable two year’s ago are now quite viable. Because we are trying to get faster time to market with flat staffing levels we are constantly looking for suppliers that can provide us turn-key performance based solutions on a real fast track. Technologies move so fast and the people that are on top of that technology are the suppliers who are constantly innovating. This program allows us to tap into that innovation in a format that is specific to our needs.” |
– John Eberle, Innovation Group Manager
Frito Lay
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| “PTX provided a terrific opportunity to discuss new innovations and solutions for the food industry. The one-on-one discussion format, between processors and suppliers, was an effective forum to share information to help shape strategic direction. PTX was also a nice setting to develop and build relationships with industry leaders”. |
– Dave Gemellaro, Director Sector Engineering
Kraft Foods
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| “It is so difficult in the fast paced environment we are in today to keep up with all the changes in technology. By sharing those ideas with suppliers and having them show us what they have done with other processors allows us to generate some new ideas on how we can re - apply that knowledge and use it on what we are trying to accomplish.” |
– Larry Beckman, Senior Engineering Manager
Quaker Oats
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| “If we had solutions we wouldn’t have the problems. We’re not looking for solutions to todays or yesterday’s problems, we are looking for solutions to tomorrow’s opportunities. We don’t have all the solutions and that is one good reason to come to this event.” |
– Peter Migchels, Director of Engineering, Fresh Bakeries
Maple Leaf Foods
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| “PTX ’04 exceeded my expectations and I highly recommend it to anyone who’s looking for efficient ways of identifying potential solutions for their processing issues. Bringing together the senior executives from both the supply side and the processor side not only enabled decisions to be made effectively and efficiently on-site but also allowed my issues to remain on top of the suppliers priority lists after the event.” |
– Weizhi Chen, Vice President of Research and Development
Barilla America, Inc.
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| “A casually relaxed atmosphere that allowed the participants to focus on specific initiatives and find new resources to work with.” |
– Terry Zeh, Director of Engineering
Birds Eye Foods
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“I would recommend this event to anyone who can be matched up with the appropriate vendors to satisfy their short term or long term initiatives.”
“The event was well planned and coordinated.”
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– Darrell Nelson, Engineering Manager
Blue Diamond Growers
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| “The intimate setting of the supplier meetings, as well as the quality of their representatives, greatly facilitated the discussions of new technologies and processes for our company.” |
– Carl Krueger, Senior Manager, Global Engineering Services
H. J. Heinz Company
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| “The PTX event format, organization, location, participants and overall management provides a significant concentrated positive potential for processors and suppliers.” |
– Anthony Buszk, Director of Engineering and Development
Knouse Foods
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“Maui Pineapple brought a vertically integrated project team to PTX, Line Mechanic to President. The entire team found the setting and information gained to be beneficial to our project. I felt that PTX was a very good forum.”
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– Brian Nishida, President
Maui Pineapple Company
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| “The suppliers that were present were knowledgeable…the event staff was courteous and I liked the way that they maintained the schedule.” |
– Joseph Benevides, Manager Project Engineering
Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc.
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Q: Was PTX a good source to meet new vendors?
A: “Absolutely. I was a little skeptical…who are they going to introduce us to?...one theme today, perhaps a trend…we’re not here to form a relationship for one project or one sale, we’re here to form a relationship for a lifetime. |
– Dan Plinski, Director Dairy Foods Engineering
Land O’ Lakes
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Q: What is your advice to vendors already calling on your company?
A: “I think there is still a benefit (attending PTX) because we focus on very specific needs here as opposed to a vendor calling on Maple Leaf; if they are not calling on the right person they may not be getting the opportunity to go to the next step.”
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– Peter Migchelsm, Director of Engineering, Fresh Bakeries
Maple Leaf Foods
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Q: Did this event and the expertise of the Food Engineering staff help you find solutions you may not have been aware of?
A: “Absolutely…of the 7 companies that I met with I would have not known to meet with 5 of them…I was unaware that they existed actually, so I think Food Engineering and PTX allowed me to find companies that I think are going to help me in the next 3-5 years build strategic relationships…which I am very excited about…I’m looking forward to the next couple of months as far as follow-up meetings. It’s a simple way to develop strategies…so simple it was scary…the dialog was rich…this is filling a huge void in the industry. If my peers don’t show up…that’s a competitive advantage for me.”
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– Joseph DeStephano, Director of Research and Development
H. J. Heinz Company
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“This was a much better experience than trade shows…had more one-on-one time…away from the office, away from the noise…very difficult to manage your time…at the office you’re too busy, with too many distractions…overall PTX is a great event. You did a great job of matching my needs with vendors who were here…looking forward to the next PTX.”
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– Darrell Nelson, Engineering Manager
Blue Diamond Growers
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“I think PTX is a first step to gain access at a very senior level and start a dialog…it clearly has opened up some doors for us to at least initiate dialog and determine what the next steps would be in going forward from what we experienced here.”
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– Jon Jones, Director of Engineering
McCain Snack Foods
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To learn if you qualify to participate in ProcessTechnologyXchange or to receive your registration materials, please contact Elizabeth Lange.
Elizabeth Lange, 952.736.9394 elizabeth@verticalxchange.com
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