Looking back to see ahead
Without the full support from a global community, the IFPTA and PPI Transport Symposium would not be the same today
Ken Norris, Editor
IFPTA
Published: September 30, 2011
Every so often, as we look ahead to see what the future might hold, it helps to look back to see where we’ve been and how far we’ve come.
Like all endeavors that withstand the test of time, the International Forest Products Transport Association did not have the easiest or smoothest of beginnings. Like all good births, it can be said, the IFPTA was touch-and-go from inception. And looking back, without the determined efforts of some very dedicated individuals, it’s certainly possible the IFPTA would never have grown to the global association it is today.
Our story starts with two inauspicious men: Bob Herbert and Per Strömbeck. In 1974, Per invited Bob to present a paper at a new conference in Rotterdam organized by Pulp & Paper International (PPI) magazine. Old friends, having worked together on a project for SCA, Per asked Bob to talk about transporting forest products by ship. As a naval architect, Bob had seen the impact of how tank-landing ships (LSTs) during World War II loaded and unloaded these heavy monsters by driving them through the bow doors, and wondered if this might find an application in the industry.
Enter the visionary: John Kalish. In 1974, John was editor of PPI and helped to organize this new symposium. John understood that there were people throughout the world working hard at the business of moving forest products, but they were too often islands to themselves. By giving them an opportunity to talk with each other, to see the different ways of managing the flow of cargo, there was the chance to learn and do it better. As John would say, a high tide raises all ships.
Debut was a huge success
Most of us know this first symposium was a overwhelming success. Attendance was more than double what was cautiously estimated for a burgeoning conference of this type. And the stage was set. Two years later, in 1976, PPI Symposium was held again in Rotterdam. Ted Przedpelski, a director of export and marine services with International Paper, was asked to give the opening speech. From the podium, Ted, a vocal advocate for innovation in the maritime industry, asked symposium delegates a pointed question. “Why is it that this group, which has so much in common and so much to offer one another, has such infrequent opportunities for discussion?”
Over the next years, PPI Symposium was held twice more, in 1978 and 1980, until the industry fell on hard times and the event was cancelled for 1982. Bob and Per had worked with John to organize the symposium programs, but they all had lingering doubts the biennial gathering would survive. Without a supporting body, without a dedicated group or industry association, the event would never have a stable footing.
On October 4, 1982, the articles of incorporation and bylaws for a new association were filed. The International Forest Products Transport Association would be a non-profit corporation, designed to promote the common interests of forest products professionals around the world. To give the new arrival a strong backbone, a strong independent board of directors would help oversee it. Calling on some of the top professionals in the field, John, Bob and Per drew from a wealth of experience.
The founding directors were: Albert Bernaert ( Westerlund Corp., Antwerp), Jaakko Ebeling (Jaakko Pöyry, Helsinki), Bengt Eldered (SCA Shipping, Sundsvall), Klaus Gebert (Cellpap Terminal, Hamburg), Marius Hoogewerff (Boise Cascade, Portland), Clyde Jacobs (Seaboard Shipping, Vancouver), James Powell (Crown Forest Products,Vancouver), Tor Schumann Olsen (Star Shipping, Bergen), Per Strömbeck (Consultant, Gothenburg).
John was asked to serve as President. Marius Hoogewerff and Klaus Gerbert served as the first Vice Presidents. Bob convinced his wife to help oversee the finances as Treasurer and he served as the Association’s Secretary. These positions are considered the officers of the IFPTA, subject to the directors and to the Association, and serve at the pleasure of the board.
Together with the owners of PPI, now RISI, the IFPTA established the permanent PPI Transport Symposium, an event every two years that global forest products professionals can rightly call their own. For the last 29 years, there have been 15 more Symposiums, each an opportunity to answer Ted Przedpelski’s call to offer each other something more.
A unique association
When asked to write his history of the IFPTA, John described the Association as unique. In many ways he couldn’t have been more right. Few industries span the depth and breadth of knowledge and ability that connect IFPTA members together. And fewer still would hold such a conviction to each other, holding the industry as the greater horizon instead of each other’s individual pursuit.
He writes: “The IFPTA’s interests may be considered to lie along horizontally connected disciplines as opposed to vertical interests practiced by groups of specialists in narrowly defined single subjects. Indeed, our members do not have to be specialists (though many of them are). Most, however, possess at least a working knowledge of a number of disciplines such as materials handling, warehouse management, rail, truck and ship transportation, ports and terminals, innovations in control and communications, finance and insurance, government initiatives. These areas must all work smoothly together in order for the whole system to succeed, and in this the IFPTA is unique.”
