NAED 2020 SouthCentral Report

The NAED 2020 South Central, held a couple of weeks ago, introduced the industry to a new stop on our “tour”, Austin, Texas.

While a new city, like all conferences, unfortunately didn’t get to see the city.  Hotel was “okay” as core elements of the meeting were on the 4^th floor and the lobby was noisy and relatively small, so, logistically somewhat of a challenge. No one complained about not being at a resort property, so perhaps that gives NAED license to explore other city hotels.  Some did mention that they arrived early to explore the city and partake in some of the culture / music for which the city is known.

Overall the conference was well attended with 634 registered.  Registrants consisted of:

• 362 manufacturer and authorized reseller registrants from about 111 companies / brands
• 227 distributor registrants from 62 companies (inclusive of multiple Sonepar operating companies)
• 45 were reps, affiliates, technology companies and guests

The Conference

The Rab Lighting welcome reception on Sunday night was well attended as was the first NAED reception.

Unfortunately, I did not attend any of the seminars, which were the same from the other regionals. Reportedly on Monday morning the average attendance was about 25 people per session according to some who attended. Spoke to a distributor who found some value in the negotiation session and was considering enrolling some staff.

The keynote speaker received mixed reviews.  He was billed as a futurist, however, rather than being provocative, or perhaps insightful, regarding the future, he shared technology-driven tools he has seen and postulated that they will be mainstream in 10 years (i.e. next gen version of Google Glasses where the technology has been miniaturized, the increased role of controls, sensors and wifi in society as well as data collection vehicles.)  Unlike prior speakers, his presentation style was not “dynamic” nor did he have a story.

A couple of important elements of his message which he shared at the end of his presentation is:

• Due to sensors, intelligent software and the need / trend for predictive maintenance, a basic will be building information models that use digital data to communicate. The advent of a “living blueprint” will become reality where there is a “live document” that is connected via the Internet for instant updating from manufacturer to point of installation and all points in-between. (coincidentally, this is the vision for ETIM and why ETIM North America was launched.)
• The need for companies to have Research and Development staff / departments. This should be someone, removed from operational duties, who is responsible for looking into the future and developing pilots / tests as he stated “operational duties get in the way of innovation.”

Heard Around the Conference

• First couple of months appear to be rocky but the outlook appears fine.  January was up for some, down for others and vice versa for February. Essentially, no consistency except for all reported that backlog is good.  Construction market is stronger. Industrial essentially flat.
• Much concern due to the coronavirus regarding lighting inventories given that most lighting, or at least components, originate in China.  Some shared that their inventory would last for 60-120 days before having “challenges”.  The advent of Chinese New Year helps some companies from a planning viewpoint as they had placed orders knowing factories would be closed for a few weeks. (Note: Since the conference it appears that some factories are getting up and running).
• More manufacturer interest in NEMRA’s POS initiative and the recently introduced POS Connection service.  Four manufacturers committed, at the conference, to participating in POS Connection.
• Spoke to a few AD distributors who are in the process migrating to web 3.0 (next version of their eCommerce site).  Interesting that all are migrating from Unilog or an ERP storefront solution. Additionally, all commented that they now realize that their web investment is “cost of doing business” to meet customer expectations, that customers are using the site primarily for non-purchasing behaviors and that the vision that AD “sold” was “oversold” at the time.  They are learning more from customer experience.
• A number of distributors used scorecards for their supplier meetings. Different versions that “work for them.” One spoke of a “total value relationship” metric that integrates multiple metrics that relate to supply chain “value”.
• Many manufacturers who attended NEMRA’s Annual Meeting mentioned that they have received / read portions of NEMRA’s Rep of the Future report and commented that it has “much” in it and that they needed to digest it. If you / your company is a member of NEMRA, you can obtain a complimentary copy by clicking here.
• A number of distributors also commented regarding billing for, or attempting to bill for services. All are having some level of success. Much depends upon knowing costs, being honest and direct with their customers and having the “right” profile customer. Few are having any session driving these initiatives through their salesforce as inevitably it is a business conversation with customer senior management / ownership.

And obviously there are some things we can’t share as they are company specific / “one-offs”, however, suffice it to say that there are a number of manufacturers and distributors who are doing things “disruptively / innovatively” or are excelling.

The challenge is that few are being consistent in these initiatives or are able to scale them across their business.  It appears that, for most, it is “turning the Titanic”.  Affecting change is difficult as inertia is prevalent in many companies and most leadership is hesitant to drive change due to organization push back. Be it systems that need to be developed, identification of metrics that drive accelerated performance or a middle management group that really hasn’t bought in (and this audience is critical), challenges exist achieving transformation, or at least forward momentum.

Overall, a good, steady, conference.