How to recognize and respond to previously unrecognized markets will be the principal theme of the fifth annual AED Executive Forum in Chicago, September 11-12. The Associated Equipment Distributors began this annual forum for top executives of distributors, rental and manufacturing companies in 1999 with a focus on the emerging trend of rental. AED has since covered e-commerce, profitability and the future of equipment distribution.
Conference planners said that well-managed equipment dealers and manufacturers typically focus resources on their most profitable customers, while new markets that appear small, cheap and unprofitable today might be tomorrow’s emerging growth markets. “By the time the well-managed company recognizes and responds to the emerging market, it’s generally too late,” according to conference brochures. The 2003 executive forum is focused on helping executives recognize new market opportunities and make the changes necessary to take advantage of them.
Keynote speaker for the forum will be Matt Eyring, managing director of Innosight, a leading authority on innovation management. Eyring helps organizations identify and exploit high potential growth opportunities, protect against threats and better manage the innovation process.
The forum will also feature:
- Small, medium and large contractors talking about where they’re planning to go for equipment;
- Dealers, manufacturers and rental companies offering response to contractors’ perspectives;
- Another group of contractors talking about where they’re getting the parts and service they need and how they’ll be dealing with fleet management in the future;
- A Wall Street analyst on the future of publicly held companies in the construction equipment industry, the challenges they’ll face and how they will affect the industry;
- Managing and benchmarking dealer profitability;
- A leading authority on rental will project the direction of the market and predict future trends;
- A panel of industry experts on the merits and methodology of various forecasting and budgeting techniques, helping attendees set aggressive, yet achievable goals.
- Additional information is available at www.aednet.org.
