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COVER PAGE |
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IBT |
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ISG |
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IMT |
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MATERIAL HANDLING |
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FLUID POWER |
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GENERAL INDUSTRIAL |
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IBT MEDIA |
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LEAN SIX SIGMA |
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ELECTRICAL |
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RUBBER |
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TRAINING |
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SAFETY |
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TECH X 500 |
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Two Great Days at Kansas Speedway
The weather was great: warm and sunny.
The crowds were impressive: 1,607 attendees piled up 12,989 total booth visits.
The guests must have been hungry: IBT Pit Stop Diner served 800 hotdogs, 800 hamburgers, 1,200 pieces of fried chicken, 150 pounds of brisket, 1,100 sandwiches, 2,000 cookies, 1,500 brownies, gallons and gallons of ice tea, water and lemonade. And who knows how many free Schwan's Ice Cream Treats guests ate, courtesy of Danaher Motion.
All in all, IBT TECH X 500 added up to a valuable experience for IBT's vendors and customers.
"We think of it as customer appreciation," IBT Chairman/CEO Steve Cloud says. "We wouldn't be where we are without the trust, confidence and loyalty of our customers. We honor them every day with exceptional service and technical expertise. But, we see events like TECH X 500 as a way to really go all out."
TECH X 500 included hospitality, training and technical information directly from vendors and IBT's experienced product and sales teams.
The fourteen one-hour training seminars had more than 450 attendees.
Topics offered covered the full range of IBT products and technologies, including: lean manufacturing; robotics; safety and HazMat compliance; fluid power filtration; bearing maintenance; and many other related areas.
More than 60 vendors showed their wares, answered questions, demonstrated new products, solved problems and made arrangements to follow-up thoroughly with plant visits.
And of course, what's a trip to Kansas Speedway without the speed, adrenaline and excitement of NASCAR race cars?
Rockwell Automation displayed Denny Hamlin's # 20 NASCAR Busch Series car and also ran the Pit Crew Challenge, timing "mechanics" as they changed racing tire lug nuts with an impact wrench.
Timken brought a scale model race track where drivers could remotely control two-foot racers on an oval track.
But the true racing highlight of TECH X 500 was provided by The Racing Experience. They fielded a fleet of eight NEXTEL Cup racing cars, all recently retired from NASCAR competition. The cars provided rides of three circuits of the one-and-a-half mile oval for more than 450 lucky winners. The cars turned in laps that reached 165 mph. Several days later, the riders still had their thrilled smiles plastered on their faces.
"TECH X 500 was an attempt to outdo our 2004 55th Anniversary Customer Appreciation," Jerry Hayes, Vice President Marketing observes. "Based on the attendance, the customer comments, the vendor feedback, and the reports from our own IBT people, we seem to have been successful. Now, all we have to do is figure out how to do even better next time - possibly for our sixtieth anniversary.
"This was a great success because of the fantastic work by the IBT employees who really jumped in to make this happen. Big thanks to all concerned: the guys from the warehouse who made sure all the vendor displays were delivered, set-up, dismantled, and shipped on time; all the team members who helped with the pre-planning; and the employees who worked at Kansas Speedway at the front gate, in the registration booth, at the seminars, at IBT Pit Stop Diner, and supporting The Racing Experience. And, of course, to our sales team who got our very best customers to attend.
"This would not have been possible without so many employees willing to put in all that extra time and do all that extra work. That's always been the IBT spirit and an important part of our team's professional pride. Great job!"
Click to view TECH X 500 Event Highlights Video.
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View Event Slideshow:
Click to view
View images:
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