But just having a prototype in place is not enough, said Kiel. "The most critical element in the successful application of a prototype is to develop a process for incorporating new information and updating the prototype."
        Vann Cunningham, with BNSF Railroad, addressed transportation's role in industrial site selection. Proximity of a distribution center to a transload facility affects drayage costs, which can be significantly reduced if the right location is selected.
        In 1998, INCO Thompson – the world's largest nickel producer – ordered all its operations to reduce energy consumption by 10 percent, giving Wayne Schroeder, chief power engineer, an opportunity to effect substantial change.
        Schroeder identified several key objectives that would help his organization meet its goals while staying focused on INCO's strategic plan. These included aligning corporate goals with sustainable values, increasing profitability, developing low-cost production techniques and concentrating on value-added products in order to remain competitive.
        If energy costs are central to remaining competitive with other markets, then involving the utility in the task of reducing energy consumption would have to be part of the equation, Schroeder reasoned. He and Manitoba Hydro formed a unique partnership that is more than just a shared vision. The utility became part of INCO's energy-management team. The philosophy behind the partnership is a commitment to energy stewardship.
        The result? INCO Manitoba reduced energy usage not by 10 percent, but by 15 percent. That translates into annual savings of $2 million.
        Experts in negotiating industrial space leases offered some unorthodox advice to IAMC members on Tuesday: bring a dictionary and tote a camera.
        Actually, the corporate real estate experts advised attendees to take special care to "define your terms when negotiating lease language" and "take a picture or video of the entire property and provide complete photographic documentation with narration" before signing any lease.
        The art of successful industrial lease negotiation is all about effectively managing risk, said Robert F. Duncan, senior vice president of CB Richard Ellis in El Paso, Texas. "There is generally too much ambiguity in the lease language," Duncan said. "To hedge against risk, you must try to think through all of the probabilities – all of the 'what ifs' – before the lease is signed."
        James S. Gray, partner with Altheimer & Gray in Chicago, added that flexibility is also instrumental in effective lease negotiation. "We can't have the same canned thinking all the time," said Gray.

Roger von Oech

        Freeing fresh business ideas often means "combining the ha-ha of humor with the a-ha of creative thinking," advised internationally recognized consultant and author Roger von Oech, authorof business best-sellers A Whack on the Side of the Head, and A Kick in the Seat of the Pants. "Do asset management professionals need a whack on the side of the head?" he asked his audience. Most of us do, he said.
        Humor can effectively move people away from rigid thought patterns, he explained. And it stimulates new and different thinking. "So many people fall so much in love with the way they do business, they don't see new ways of doing things," he noted.
        Another creativity constraint is "the tendency to talk only to people in the same industry," von Oech added. "For five percent of your day, explore ideas in other industries."
        Business mindsets, he explained, break down into four general categories: The Explorer, who searches for information; The Artist, who transforms information into new ideas; The Judge, who evaluates an idea and decides what to do with it; and The Warrior, who carries ideas into action.
        "You wear the Judge hat half of every day," von Oech noted. "Try not to be a hanging judge. Be critical and constructive."
        The Warrior mindset, though, "is the most important," he added .