NORCROSS, Ga. – Real-world real estate - specifically, huge potential energy-cost savings - will again be the focus of Tuesday's keynote address at the International Asset Management Council's (www.iamc.org) Professional Forum.
        Wayne Schroeder, who has spearheaded saving millions of dollars in energy expenditures for Toronto-based Inco (www.incoltd.com), will be the Tuesday luncheon keynoter at IAMC's Spring 2003 Professional Forum in Palm Harbor, Fla. on Apr. 6-9, IAMC officials announced. Schroeder's expertise ties in closely with the Spring Forum's theme: "Getting it Done Right: Industrial Asset Management Approaches to Proficiency and Profitability."
        Currently chief power engineer for Inco's huge 1,400-employee operation in Thompson, Manitoba, Schroeder brings well-demonstrated energy-saving experience to his keynote topic.

Inco's 1,400-employee operation in Thompson, Manitoba (pictured), has produced more than 4 billion pounds (1.8 billion kilograms) of nickel since 1961 - enough nickel to plate the front bumpers of roughly 3.2 billion automobiles.

        In 1998, for example, Inco, the world's second-largest producer of nickel, mandated that all operations trim energy consumption by 10 percent. Schroeder did better than that. He lowered energy consumption at the Thompson complex by US$1.34 million.
        Schroeder's IAMC keynote address will describe how he achieved those multimillion-dollar savings at the Thompson operation - which produces more than 100 million pounds (45 million kilograms) of nickel and copper each year.
        One key to his cost-cutting success, he says, was to bring a representative from Inco's energy provider onto the internal energy-management team.
        Another key to Schroeder's realizing multimillions in savings was to make energy consumption an essential part of the company's overall strategy - the same dynamic involved in making corporate real estate as a whole a stronger bottom-line force. As part of Schroeder's savings efforts, he succeeded in making energy management a component of Inco's long-term capital planning process. In addition, the 20-year energy management veteran will discuss how the process was managed to make the energy-cost reductions sustainable.

Thompson Complex Has Produced
Enough Nickel for 3.2 Billion Auto Bumpers

Schroeder, in addition to continuing to head Inco's energy team at Thompson, is also charged with transferring best practices to other Inco production units. Inco employs more than 10,000 workers at its operations.
        Schroeder continues to face formidable professional challenges. His mandate this year is to save Inco at least $335,000 in energy costs.
        The Thompson operation, located some 500 miles (800 kilometers) north of Minneapolis, is a huge energy consumer. The operation includes mining and processing, as well as a water treatment plant for the city of Thompson. Since 1961, the Thompson complex has produced more than 4 billion pounds (1.8 billion kilograms) of nickel - enough nickel to plate the front bumpers of roughly 3.2 billion automobiles.

Keynote Bolsters IAMC's Distinct Niche

Schroeder's Tuesday keynote address at the Spring 2003 Forum will continue the real-world emphasis evident in Tuesday's keynote message last year. At the Fall 2002 Forum in Savannah, Ga., Sanford Smith, Toyota Motor Sales corporate manager of real estate and facilities delivered a Tuesday keynote presentation outlining his division's successful "Process Green Initiative," which is reducing the automaker's energy use by 50 percent by 2010.
        Schroeder's Tuesday keynote will buttress IAMC's unique niche, said officials of the Atlanta area-based association. The association is distinctly centered on executive-level managers in the industrial and manufacturing sectors who have corporate real estate and asset management responsibilities.
        Schroeder joins a stellar speaker roster for the Spring 2003 Forum at the five-star Westin Innisbrook Resort (www.westin-innisbrook.com), located some 20 miles (36 kilometers) north of Tampa. Other Palm Harbor speakers include environmental legal expert Grant Trigger; CNN contributor and Tulane Business School Assistant Dean and professor Peter Ricchiuti; creative thinking guru Roger von Oech; and "the Pit Bull of Personal Development," Larry Winget.