Eric Lattanner given Lifetime Achievement Award by SPE Thermoforming Division

Eric Lattanner. Photo Credit: SPE Thermorforming Division

The Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) Thermoforming Division has presented its Lifetime Achievement Award to industry veteran Eric Lattanner, the business development manager with Maryland Heights, Mo.-based plastics processor Spartech LLC.

Lattanner has been a member of the thermoforming community for four decades, SPE officials said in a statement, beginning with joining the Royalite Division of Uniroyal in Mishawaka, Ind., in 1978 as a customer service representative. He remained with Royalite his entire career through multiple acquisitions and corporate spin-offs, including Polycast, Spartech, PolyOne, and several additional iterations of Spartech.

“For his entire career, Eric has consistently ensured that customers’ requirements were met for existing products and customers’ wishes for new products were reviewed and coordinated with stakeholders all along the supply chain – from the end-user to the thermoformer, as well as all key departments within his company,” SPE officials said. “He was pivotal in communicating and coordinating requirements with R&D, production planning, and every facet of manufacturing.”

During his career, SPE said, Lattanner established what were often decades-long relationships with many internationally-known customers, including seats for Bombardier light rail passenger cars, components for General Electric Locomotives, overhead luggage compartments and wall and window panels for Boeing and other aircraft manufacturers, and Royalex plastic sheet for every major canoe manufacturer and for Walt Disney World to produce canoes for their water rides.

A recipient of his company’s ‘Salesperson of the Year’ award, and ‘Circle of Champions’ award several times each, Lattanner has also supported every SPE Thermoforming Division conference since the first one was held in Portage, Wis., in 1992, and has also traveled to Europe to support several of the SPE European Thermoforming Division conferences as well.

Lattanner, who lives in Ridgway, Colo., was presented with the award on Oct. 25, during SPE’s Thermoforming Awards Dinner at the Huntington Convention Center in Cleveland, Ohio.