Iwo Jima Author Keynotes Mcpx Opener

Next month’s Manufactured Concrete Products Exposition will open with a presentation from James Bradley, author of the 2000 New York Times #1 bestseller

Next month’s Manufactured Concrete Products Exposition will open with a presentation from James Bradley, author of the 2000 New York Times #1 bestseller Flags of our Fathers and son of one of six soldiers shown in the famous World War II photo of the American flag-raising on the Japanese island Iwo Jima. Bradley’s presentation will headline a 10 a.m. to noon, Feb. 23 brunch opening the 2006 MCPX at the Anaheim Convention Center in California. The 2006 MCPX show will encompass 250,000 square feet of exhibit space filled with hundreds of products and services for the manufactured concrete products industry. The event will include nearly 100 hours in industry-specific educational courses covering topics ranging from production and management to quality and safety. A working laboratory and product demonstrations showcasing the latest techniques and production practices will also be featured.

This year’s MCPX will run on a Thursday-Saturday schedule, versus past years’ Friday-Sunday format. Immediately following the brunch will be the opening of the Exposition, whose hours are noon to 6, 11 to 6, and 11 to 3 on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Consistent with the MCPX program first started in 2003, the event will coincide with the annual conventions of show partners National Concrete Masonry Association and National Precast Concrete Association, plus lead sponsors American Concrete Pipe Association and Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute. New to this year’s sponsor line up is Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute, which will be contributing to the education program. Partners and sponsors’ meetings and functions are scheduled across eight days, Feb. 20-28, and will include committee meetings and a wealth of technical and market development education sessions.

Nine manufactured-concrete operations are lined up for MCPX partners and sponsors’ plant tours, all early to mid-morning. The NPCA tours on Feb. 23 feature Hanson Structural Precast, Jensen Precast, Pomeroy Corp., or Utility Vault/Oldcastle Precast. On the same day, ACPA has scheduled tours of Ameron International, Johnson-Bateman Co. and Rialto Concrete Products. The NCMA/ICPI tour on Feb. 25 will feature Orco Block Co. and Sierra Building Products/Oldcastle APG.

In addition to joining the sponsor line up for 2006, PCI is staging a Winter Symposium, with four courses scheduled outside MCPX Exposition hours on Feb. 23-24. The courses will cover information technology, prestressing basics, and an overview of lean manufacturing principles applicable to precast/prestressed operations.

Registration can be completed or additional information obtained by visiting the main Web site, www.mcpx.org or calling 877/627-3976; or contacting partners and sponsors ACPA, 972/506-7216, www.concrete-pipe.org; ICPI, 202/712-9036, www.icpi.org; NCMA, 703/713-1900, www.ncma.org; NPCA, 800/366-7731, www.precast.org; or PCI, 312/786-0300, www.pci.org.