NFPA Distributor Council Open Meeting Provides Guidance for Future Conference Programming

A meeting open to all NFPA distributor members was held at the NFPA Annual Conference in February, with 17 participants from 16 member distributors in attendance. The Council, Chaired by Kevin Kampe of Evolution Motion Solutions, is charged with influencing association program development and delivery to better serve the needs of NFPA's distributor members and helping those members participate in those programs.

Discussion at this meeting focused mainly on developing content ideas for future NFPA conferences that best meet the specific needs of distributor members. The ideas will be used by staff on an ongoing basis but more immediately in developing breakout sessions at the Industry & Economic Outlook Conference (IEOC), which will be held August 13-14 at the Oak Brook Hilton in the Chicago area.  These ideas include the following: 

• The impact of tariffs on distributors and their businesses, including strategies for adapting supply chains.
• Strategies for better-balancing inventory and lead times, especially when working with suppliers and customers who keep changing the forecasts.
• Changing ERP systems among suppliers and strategies for adapting to those new environments.
• Cybersecurity and cyberattacks – strategies for educating employees and protecting businesses.
• The financial burden of adhering to new regulations regarding PFAS, carbon footprint, and other environmental impacts.
• The pace of electrified technology adoption in end markets and opportunities for distributors to leverage those developments.
• Use cases for Artificial Intelligence in the distribution business.
• Workforce development, including how to find or develop technically-trained people for open positions.
• The use of skill assessments and personality profiling in the hiring process.

Watch for more information in the coming months. Registration for the IEOC is expected to open in mid-May. 

Please contact Pete Alles at palles@nfpa.com for more details.