At a meeting of the American Supply Association's Industrial Piping Division Council held in Chicago July 19, IPD leaders spent much of the time discussing the issue of value in a couple of different contexts.
One entailed ways to measure the value of a distributor beyond the prices charged for PVF goods. They wrestled with this issue in the context of finalizing participants and plans for the IPD panel workshop, “The Voice of the Customer: the Key to Mutual Profitability,” scheduled for presentation at next month's ASA Convention at Network '05 in Orlando. The session is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 8, 3:30-5:00 p.m.
“What's a distributor worth?” was the rhetorical question posed by one of the Council members. It was a question they hoped to get addressed by the contractors selected to participate as panel members. The discussion was to be moderated by Tim Arenberg, president of Chicago's Columbia Pipe & Supply.
IPD also addressed value in the context of membership recruitment to its own organization. They listened attentively to a presentation by ASA Education Foundation Executive Vice President Paul Martin, who enthralled the Council with a preview of plans by the ASAEF to “sell” the value of ASA/IPD membership through a systematic presentation of the group's “value proposition.”
IPD Council members also expressed interest in learning more about and helping to promote the “Green Building” movement for the industrial/commercial building sector.
-Jim Olsztynski
