Webinar: Forming Bonds & Leading Innovation – The Operational Challenge in Rubber

Thursday, July 30, 2026; 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. ET

Most rubber businesses are carrying two problems right now and underestimating both.

When cash gets tight, the lab budget is the first thing a board cuts. Pipelines fill with stalled projects, engineering resource bleeds away, and the regulatory pressures already landing won’t wait for a dormant lab. At the same time, the people who hold the key relationships and the institutional knowledge are within a few years of leaving, and the handover that used to take five years no longer fits the time anyone has.

Webinar Format: Two back-to-back presentations put both problems on the table and show what to do about them.

• Leading Innovation & R&D in the Rubber Industry – Dr. Matthew Thornton, Co-Founder of The Rubber Initiative and Secretary-General of IRCO, on practical frameworks for running an R&D pipeline that commercializes product instead of burning cash
• Forming Bonds – Michael Clayton, Co-Founder of The Rubber Initiative, Fractional Executive and Executive Chairman of IRCO, on the leadership and succession gap, and real AI applications that help technical people lead sooner and capture expert judgment before it walks out the door

Practical frameworks and real AI applications you can test against your own business will be discussed. Each presentation runs around 20 minutes with time for Q&A after.

Price: Free for Members / $99 Non-members

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.