I have been a member of MAPI for over 10 years, having participated in several different Councils as well as the Board. As I’ve moved up the corporate ladder, MAPI has been there to support me at every turn, whether it be in finance, strategy, P&L leadership, or ultimately as Chairman, President and CEO. The best practices I’ve learned through MAPI have kept me ahead of the curve and made me a more effective leader. Just as importantly, MAPI has played an integral role in the development of my management team. They regularly bring back insights from MAPI meetings or research that helps us look at issues in fresh, innovative ways. MAPI’s support of member executives, their companies, and the manufacturing sector is world-class.
Member Spotlights
Todd Teske, Briggs & Stratton Corp.
I really enjoy your economic forecasts. They are clear, concise and offer meaningful insights. I monitor the various pundits and economists constantly as I try to get a fix on where this economy (and consequently our business) is going. Yours is one of the best I’ve seen for presenting the key information and indicators, and presenting useful conclusions in a timely format (without a lot of jargon).
Jim Sweeney, Esterline Corp.
The MAPI Division Leadership Council is an excellent forum to learn about problems of other industries and how management is solving those problems. Relating these experiences to your own becomes a powerful tool in preparing your business to the challenges ahead. You can bring your problems, thoughts, and ideas and get the collective wisdom of others with years more of experience. This makes you a stronger manager and makes your business more competitive.
Jim Kulig, The Babcock & Wilcox Co.
I asked for MAPI’s help understanding what peer companies are doing about changes to global top level domain (gTLD) rules, a potentially critical issue for any commercial organization’s website. MAPI was quick to grasp the strategic importance and promptly delivered a white paper based on feedback from my fellow members. The information was very helpful, and I’ve used it to shape both our ultimate gTLD decision and overall digital marketing strategy. The depth and promptness of MAPI’s support was remarkable.
Terry Weeber, Gates Corporation
Eclipse asked for MAPI’s help in improving our processes for gathering and using competitive intelligence. MAPI polled its member companies to identify best practices, and provided us with a detailed report summarizing the takeaways. We’ve found the information extremely helpful, and it has supported several key decisions around improving our competitive intelligence function. We were able to leverage our MAPI membership and get quality results back within just one week.
Todd Ellerton, Eclipse
Attending MAPI meetings has been one of the best business investments I have made. The payback has been immediate and substantial. Having a chance to learn from others allowed me to implement successful sales and marketing strategies quicker and with better results and avoided costly mistakes. The openness of sharing best practices by members is truly what makes our MAPI membership a great return on its investment.
Todd Snelgrove, SKF USA
The MAPI Marketing Council is one of the few forums available for industrial B2B marketers to share best practices, connect on issues affecting our collective businesses and build a network of marketers. The economic forecasting work has been invaluable as we all work through the severe upheaval in our businesses.
John Jacko, Kennametal
Thank you for the great survey results on Scenario Planning across the MAPI membership. This is insightful, and aligned with our experience on the topic.
Cengiz Kurkcu, The Timken Company
I asked MAPI for member contacts to benchmark how portfolio companies drive cross business unit/divisional collaboration, sharing, and learning. MAPI polled the member companies and received agreements from five large companies for me to contact. In every instance we both benefitted from the discussion. Each company I contacted offered special insight and different approaches to how they manage a portfolio of companies and their collaboration and sharing business model. I also shared some lessons we have learned and techniques we have tried within our Diversified Products Division. We are fortunate to have the network that MAPI offers.
Tim Cunningham, Caterpillar
The Timken Company recently leveraged MAPI to benchmark ourselves against nearly 100 peer companies on the long term sales forecasting process. With a quick turnaround, MAPI delivered an excellent report that gave us a great deal of insight into how our peers produce forecasts. We’ve used this information to take a fresh look at our own processes, and we are planning to launch a new forecasting tool for our steel business by the end of this year. MAPI’s support with this ambitious project helped us make decisions with much more confidence.
Wayne Parcel, The Timken Company