PMI - Growing Stronger Together PMI Convenes its 2003 Spring Meeting

For Immediate Release

May 06, 2003

Contact: Barbara C. Higgens, Executive Director (847) 884-9764

Schaumburg, Ill. — With the backdrop of the Georgia foothills and the Chateau Elan Winery & Resort, the Plumbing Manufacturers Institute held its 2003 Spring Meeting April 5-8 with a flurry of activity, issues and presentations.

Led by PMI President Ralph Herrbach, who is also president of Cifial USA, 66 members, spouses/companions, guests, speakers and press made this a meeting to remember. The theme, "Growing Stronger Together", symbolized the growth of PMI internally as well as its far-reaching impact into the plumbing industry. Below is a brief listing of action items arising from the specific committee and general meetings. Contact PMI for more information on any bulleted item.

Saturday, April 5

PMI held its semi-annual golf scramble Saturday morning on the resort's challenging Chateau course. Following the PMI Board of Directors afternoon meeting, the day concluded with the welcome reception and dinner, where PMI President Herrbach introduced new members and guests and previewed the meetings to come.

Among the highlights of Saturday:

A task group at the board level will review types of new membership categories PMI might wish to consider and report to the full board at the 2003 Fall Meeting.
It was announced that PMI Executive Director Barbara C. Higgens will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Department of Commerce, formalizing the working relationship between the two organizations on fair trade issues (a press release will be issued upon the MOU's signing).
Fisher Manufacturing Company of Tulare, Calif., was inducted into the Institute's "Quarter Century Club". PMI members are inducted when they achieve 25 years of membership.

Sunday, April 6

Following breakfast, PMI convened a full schedule of committee meetings, beginning with trade show consolidation and information technology in the morning, and continuing with universal conformity assessment and issue-specific product groups. Highlights from the day were as follows:

Members attending the Trade Show Consolidation Issue Committee agreed the committee will now be monitored though an ad hoc committee that will meet on a more frequent and timely basis in conjunction with existing industry trade shows.
Eugene Park and Jeff Zarse of Intrust-I.T., a Shaumburg, Ill.-based technology consulting business, addressed the E-Business Issues and Opportunities Committee on customer relationship management (CRM) and email marketing campaigns as a key CRM strategy (contact PMI for biographical information on the speakers.) It was also announced at the meeting that PMI's third Information Technology (I.T.) Forum is set for July 29-30, 2003, in Schaumburg, Ill. (a detailed press release on this event will be issued later this week).
The Universal Conformity Assessment Issue Committee will convene a task group to develop a survey in which PMI members can evaluate and compare critical performance areas of NSF 61 certification agencies (without involving certification costs or customer specific information). PMI staff will follow up with NSF 61 certifiers and determine whether their positions on the questions presented to them at the 2000 PMI Fall Meeting have changed.
At the Faucet and Shower/Tub-Shower Fittings Joint Product Group meeting, PMI members decided they would support the deletion of the minimum flow rate from the harmonized ASME A112.18.1/CSA B125 standard.
Flushing Devices and Fixture Joint Product Group included the decision to submit proposals to revise the plumbing codes, changing the reference from A112.19.6 to A112.19.2 for hydraulic performance.

Monday, April 7

Meetings continued on Monday, with member services, a discussion of PMI's model code change positions and government affairs in the morning, and fair trade and technical issues in the afternoon. At the general membership meeting, it was reported that PMI is financially sound with 93 percent of one year's operating expense in reserve. Also, since the 2002 Fall Meeting, three new members have joined PMI: Falcon Waterfree Technologies LLC, Heyco Metals Inc., and Sanitary for All Ltd., The evening culminated with a reception and dinner, followed by a keynote presentation from Naomi Haines Griffith, author of Red Clay and Vinegar: Looking at Family Through the Eyes of a Southern Child, on family priorities. An informal meet-and-greet session and book signing followed her presentation. Among the day's major action items:

Member Services Committee:

PMI will pursue the development of a shipment report by channels to replace the report recently discontinued by Triad.
A task group was established to investigate ways to "certify" codes and standards experts who complete PMI-sponsored forums.
The first codes and standards workshop is set for July 15-16, 2003, in Schaumburg, Ill.

At the Model Code Change Position Meeting, the members reviewed and approved PMI's position on proposed changes to the International Plumbing Code.
Numerous issues were discussed at the Government Affairs and Fair Trade Issue Committees, and PMI will continue its aggressive monitoring various regulatory, legislative and fair trade issues affecting the plumbing industry.

Tuesday, April 8

The meeting culminated with a presentation by industry consultant Julius Ballanco on a variety of plumbing issues.

PMI will hold its 2003 Fall Meeting October 26-29 at the Capital Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C.

The Plumbing Manufacturers Institute is the voluntary, not-for-profit national trade association of manufacturers of plumbing products serving as the Voice of the Plumbing Industry. Member companies of PMI produce a substantial quantity of the nation's plumbing products. For more information on PMI or its semi-annual meetings, contact the Institute at 1340 Remington Road, Suite A, Schaumburg, Ill., 60173; or via phone (847) 884-9PMI (9764), facsimile (847) 884-9775, or website www.pmihome.org.

Photographs and PMI logos are available via email on request.