AD Bearings & Power Transmission welcomed over 140 member and supplier partner attendees to its annual Network Meeting from August 23-25 in Frisco, Texas. The meeting brought the division’s members and suppliers together to discuss industry trends, celebrate a year of growth and collaboration, and learn about important divisional updates.

At the member business meeting, Darin Davenport, vice president of the Bearings & Power Transmission division, highlighted members’ financial successes in 2022 and discussed areas of priority for the division for the end of the year and into 2023.

AD Bearings & Power Transmission is projecting total sales of $6.5 billion in 2022, an increase of over 14 percent from 2021. Member business with participating suppliers is expected to increase by more than 23 percent.

“I’m proud to share this meeting experience with members and suppliers in the AD community,” said Davenport. “Our strong financial results speak to our member’s and supplier partners’ commitment to growth and focus on advancing our mission to help independent distributors compete and win in the channel.”

The AD Bearings & Power Transmission Network Meeting brings groups of non-competing members together to share best practices and collaborate on opportunities and challenges. Divisional Board and committee meetings also take place to ensure that member and supplier voices contribute to AD’s direction.

“There are always new challenges and opportunities facing independent distributors. Our network meetings are attended by some of the finest minds in our industry, and it’s here that we collectively tackle some of the biggest obstacles we face in our day-to-day operations,” said Shelby DeBorde III, vice president at Bearings Distributors, Inc. “The open and honest dialogue creates genuine comradery and a unified focus that is rarely seen in distributor and supplier relationships today.” DeBorde continued, “I consider each AD member and supplier partner a true friend and know that whatever tomorrow brings, together, we win!”

AD welcomes new leadership to network meeting

The AD Bearings & Power Transmission Network Meeting gave new AD leadership the opportunity to connect with divisional members and suppliers and discuss their plans to build upon AD’s success.

Marisol Fernandez, president of the Electrical & Industrial business unit, discussed AD’s corporate initiatives with members and suppliers. 

“It is incredible to engage with our member and supplier community in this forum,” she said. “As a new leader in the business, the meeting experience was a wonderful introduction and demonstrated the strength of AD Networks and how impactful this experience is for our members.” 

AD also announced the addition of an owner/member and supplier to divisional governance groups. Ryan Watts, owner and president of Apex Industrial Automation, has joined the divisional Board, and Don Markham, vice president of sales and engineering for Conveyors, Inc., has joined the Supplier Advisory Council.

“The Bearings & Power Transmission Board does a great job of providing guidance and feedback for AD’s programs,” said Watts. “It is an honor to join the Board and speak for our division to help us all win together.”

Markham commented on how his role will support AD and the division’s leadership: “This is a great opportunity to help bolster member/supplier relationships and contribute advice about AD’s suppliers based on industry trends and conversations with peers.”

Meeting attendees learn about key divisional initiatives

At the meeting, attendees heard from representatives of key AD programs on investments that are being made to bolster programs. AD eCommerce Solutions introduced three new steering committees, AD Member Supply announced that three new supplier programs have been added to the program, and the BPT division launched a Product Playbook, which features new and existing product announcements from division suppliers, ensuring BPT members are up to date about the latest products available.

A standout session for attendees was a guided tour of The Star, the 91-acre campus of the Dallas Cowboys Global Headquarters and practice facility, followed by a supplier-sponsored networking reception.

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