April 2019
AHTD Annual Profit Report Survey - Where is It?
Profit
Last month, we sent a Survey Monkey request to learn more about AHTD’s Profit Report Survey through the eyes of membership. We were very happy to receive over 75 responses to the survey. Thank you to those of you that took the time to help us better understand how you use the annual Profit Report. As promised, we are sharing the results of that survey with you and we have formulated our action plan moving forward. 

The biggest take away was that members would like to continue to have access to the Profit Report. The feedback was many of you truly appreciate the comparisons against both the high profit AHTD group and as against companies of similar size, as well as the executive summary.

Based on your specific feedback, going forward we will be updating the annual profit report to include:
•       More charts and graphical analysis
•       Ability to do “what if” forecasting analysis
•       Shorter, simpler input form
•       Eliminate least important elements (balance sheet and cash flow metrics)

Overall, there remains strong interest in this member benefit, and the consensus is that AHTD needs to update and modernize the survey format and enhance the report delivered back to participants. To accomplish this, we will be engaging a new survey provider and will spend this year updating the process and deliverable. The new survey will launch in the Spring of 2020. We hope all of you will participate next spring in this valuable member benefit.

Thank you for your participation and feedback in the survey.
AHTD is excited to announce a new program for members. The Future Leaders Program was unveiled at the Spring Meeting this month.

The Principals of Leadership Excellence series, or PLX, is delivered in six modules. These modules will be delivered over the course of four consecutive AHTD conferences beginning with our Fall 2019 Meeting.

The training will be offered during the first day and a half of each conference to align with the normal schedule for these events. There is more detail provided on the AHTD website . This format allows Future Leader participants to also experience the Product Showcase and networking benefits while at the conference.

What is unique about this program is the distance learning component that continues to provide micro-bursts of training totaling 2.5 hours per month during each of the five months between conferences that participants take on their own schedule. This approach essentially reinforces the PLX leadership competencies over a continuous 19 month period without having your emerging leaders out of the office for extended periods of traditional classroom training. Check out the website and call Leigha Schatzman for more information.
2nd Quarter 2019 Economic Report
Brian Beaulieu - ITR Economics

“Exercise caution in 2019.”

We have uttered this phrase for a long time now at ITR Economics; as far back as April of 2014, our forecast for US Industrial Production called for a 2019 characterized primarily by business cycle decline (Phase C, Slowing Growth, or Phase D, Recession).

The list of leading indicators suggesting business cycle decline into at least late 2019 is growing. Declining off a January 2018 peak, our flagship ITR Leading Indicator™ is signaling that the US Industrial Production business cycle will trend downward into at least late 2019. 

Click here to read the article. Log in to receive this member benefit.
If you attended the conference and haven't taken the survey Click here.
SMART Becomes Standard in Vacuum Generator
Hingham, MA – Ready for Industry 4.0, when you are! piCOMPACT®23 SMART is an IO-Link-ready vacuum generator platform available from Piab. Offering operation with either standard 24V IO or IO-Link, the new SMART compact all-in-one ejector is ready to meet the future.
Carlo Gavazzi's Product Release
Buffalo Grove, IL – CARLO GAVAZZI is launching the RG..M Series of 1-phase solid state relays and contactors with integrated monitoring features. The RG..M consists of solid state switches that integrate
monitoring features for quick and timely failure detection, besides the switching function. Read the full article.
C&E Advanced Technologies Position Announcement
C&E Advanced Technologies is pleased to announce that Mac McElhaney has accepted the position of Technology Consultant to the Northern Indiana territory.
Centro, Inc. Position Announcement
Centro is pleased to welcome Terry Hissong to Centro as Territory Manager in the Northwestern Arkansas sales territory based in Springdale. Read the full article.
New Balluff IO-Link Masters Add Flexibility in Designing Controls Architecture
The newest family of IO-Link masters from Balluff provides more flexibility in designing controls architectures with Smart IO-Link devices. The new Device Integration IO-Link masters — BNI00E1 (Ethernet/IP) and BNI00AZ (Profinet) — feature 4x Type A IO-Link ports and 4x Type B IO-Link ports, each with up to 2A of output per channel to meet a wider range of requirements. Read the full article .
RG Group Announces Partnership with Doosan Robotics
Rich Freeh, President and CEO of RG Group, headquartered in York, PA,
announced the agreement with a global leader in industrial robots, Doosan Robotics,
to be the first to integrate their collaborative robot lines in the United States,
specifically throughout the Mid-Atlantic states.

AHTD Strategic Business Partner Program
WebPresented

Thank you AHTD members for making our first Spring Meeting a great one!

WebPresented became an SBP for AHTD this year after we received recommendations from a couple of our current customers.  WebPresented was founded to create a solution that provided actionable data to the Sales Reps. The solution, WPCRM, is a fully integrated CRM, Quoting, BI, and Predictive Analytics Tool built specifically for wholesale distribution and manufacturing.

If you have any questions about CRM’s, or are looking for support on how to improve your ERP environment, we are here for you as a resource. Please contact  shesson@webpresented.com  with any questions or watch our video to see some of the features of WPCRM.

LeadMethod Logo
AHTD Distributors: Get a free CRM Connector to your Suppliers' Lead System

Distributors, want to help your sales reps be more efficient? Let us help you integrate your CRM with suppliers' lead systems to save a lot of time. For details call us at 800-406-5020 or email  info@leadmethod.com .
 
MRA - The Management Association
Survey Shows Companies are Getting Creative to Compete for Top Talent

A recent Hot Topic Survey conducted by MRA on Compensation shows companies are getting creative when it comes to compensating and competing for top talent. Competitive pay is the greatest attractor; however, companies are using innovative rewards and unique benefits, in addition to base pay, to offer more robust total compensation packages.

"Benefits are a powerful tool to recruit, retain and reward employees," said Susan Fronk, MRA President and CEO. "Pay alone is simply not enough. 'Unique and emerging benefits' are the new buzz words in the compensation conversation."

Fall Meeting 2019

Wednesday, October 9 - Saturday, October 12, 2019 
Marriott Orlando World Center, Orlando, FL
Promotions
Please share your company milestones, news, and events with us by emailing promotions@ahtd.org to be in an upcoming newsletter. We'll publish one article per member company each month. Don't fret if you don't see your article right away. We publish articles in the order received.
 
Questions?
Contact Leigha Schatzman, Executive Director at 262.696.3645 or email Leigha.Schatzman@ahtd.org .