Committee Connection

©iStockphoto.com/Studio-Pro Committee Connection

The SMI board of directors met in regular session Oct. 11, 2022, a day before the start of SpringWorld 2022 in Rosemont, Illinois. It was noted that SMI continues to be in a good financial position and a full audit was to be completed before the end of 2022.

Planning is coming together for the annual meeting in Orlando with speakers lined up for both the Monday and Tuesday sessions. The meeting, scheduled for April 22–25, 2023, at the Waldorf Astoria, includes bus transportation to the Disney parks. It was also noted that SMI has a great hotel rate of $199 per night that is good three days before or after the meeting.

The technical committee is led by Tim Zwit of Motion Dynamics, and he noted that SMI Technical Director Rick Gordon is active with the committee to help keep it organized. Gordon provides technical advice, training and failure analysis information to all SMI members. SMI has had 585 students participate in spring design training since 2019. Gordon is doing all the training since Gary Van Buren retired.

The 301, 304 and 206 classes are new, with 107 total new participants out of 137. The spring design training classes are averaging 25 students per session. Gordon noted that the committee has given great support for class content. He also said he invites students to participate in the committee and contribute. One more class that people are interested in is 205 Spiral, Torsion Bar and Constant Force Spring Design, which is currently being developed.

The magazine committee is led by Keith Porter Jr. of Newcomb Spring. He noted that the committee has grown in size and met in September via Zoom to select

By Gary McCoy

magazine themes for 2023. Porter also noted that the committee is focused on increasing the magazine’s social media presence which includes increased usage of the app and overall digital communications. A podcast has been proposed that would be subsidized by sponsorships to keep the cost down. After approval by the executive committee, the hope is to launch the podcast in 2023.

The regulatory committee is led by Joe Devany of Betts Company, who noted that it is hard to get engagement in the committee. Laura Rhodes, SMI’s regulatory compliance consultant, had six contracts in 2022. She also performed three audits and provided a lot of phone support for members. More marketing is needed to promote the services available through Rhodes.

It was suggested that more operation-specific activity would be helpful

SMI’s board of directors met the day prior to SpringWorld 2022.

that could be accomplished with a safety panel or roundtable, where each person could ask specific questions. Dave Deerwester of The Yost Superior Co. mentioned that his company had a medical emergency take place recently. Deerwester said he was able to talk with Rhodes about Occupational Safety and Health Administration reporting in that situation and suggested this would be good topic for a webinar or as part of a roundtable discussion.

It was noted that regular SMI membership continues to be affected by mergers and acquisitions. The hope is to connect with middle managers at member companies to get them more involved and engaged with SMI. This could possibly be done with smaller events that more companies can afford, such as business seminars and company tours. There is also an effort to reach private-equity-owned companies that have multiple locations.

Regional meetings were successful pre-COVID and a road show to introduce the new executive director of SMI would be a way to promote SMI services to more members and prospects.

The Avant-Garde group is being led by Adam Jacobson of FENN/Torin. He noted that the group planned a meeting during SpringWorld to discuss ideas and hear concerns. He said one of the goals of the group is to promote the future and growth of manufacturing. He said Jennelle Carlier of S3 Wireform has been helping with expanding the social media and marketing program.

David DeVoe of Plymouth Spring said NESMA is all about workforce development with younger people. He said they continue to work with local technical schools to obtain new equipment and to get more participation in spring manufacturing. DeVoe said they continue to work with local high school students and parents to attract them to the industry and manufacturing jobs.

The SMI board of directors will hold its next meeting in April the day before the annual meeting starts in Orlando. n

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