A record-breaking number of exhibiting suppliers and independent heavy-duty (HD) distributors participated in the 12th annual Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week (HDAW ’17) in Las Vegas, according to HDAW organizers CVSN, HDDA and HDMA. The annual conference was held Jan. 23-26 at The Mirage in Las Vegas.

More than 2,530 aftermarket industry leaders attended the three-day conference. HDAW organizers reported all-time record number attendance of more than 1,600 supplier and 630 distributor executives, a 15 percent increase over 2016’s distributor attendance. All available booth space for exhibitors in both exhibit halls during the HDAW Product Expo was completely sold out more than 2 months prior to the start of the event. In addition, 1,809 one-on-one meetings were held throughout the four-day conference, another record.

“It was exciting to be a part of such a successful and record-breaking Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week,” said Carl Mesker, vice president, Aftermarket Americas of SAF Holland and HDAW ’17 co-chair. “I believe the new HDAW supplier show special program and an education program focused on solutions focused helped to draw the record number of distributors to the conference.”

“Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week is an incredible opportunity for suppliers and independent distributors to come together to network, learn and grow our businesses,” said Don Purcell, partner, Stone Truck Parts and HDAW ’17 co-chair. “It was fantastic to walk to the Product Expo floor and see so many people talking and doing business. It was a great experience to be an HDAW co-chair with Carl, and I am proud to say I have made a good friend during the process of the planning over the past 9 months.”

HDAW kicked off with an All-Industry Reception on Monday, Jan. 23 and officially opened Tuesday morning in the Terry Fator Theater with a USMC Color Guard, both the U.S. and Canadian National Anthems and two major industry awards. Gary Smalley, the retired CEO of Dayton Parts LLC was inducted in to the HD Industry Hall of Fame by IHS Markit; and Blaine Brothers of Minneapolis was awarded the 15th annual Distributor of the Year Award, presented by Truck Parts and Service Magazine.

This was immediately followed by keynote speaker, television and media star Jeffrey Hayzlett, who discussed “How Companies Reinvent Themselves to Keep Up with Their Customers.”

Hayzlett’s’ session was followed by an in-depth dive into disrupting your company’s strategy, with a presentation on “Shift Happens – How to win at Business Model Warfare,” by strategy consultant Rick Funston of Funston Advisory Services. His presentation was bolstered by HDAW-specific survey results and implications for the independent aftermarket. His talk was highly instructional and showed many examples of radically changing business situations occurring in the HD aftermarket. He provided strategies to effectively respond and plan for them.

After lunch, Mark Lanterman and Brian Hill of Computer Forensic Services wowed the audience with a striking presentation on cyber-security and how to defend your business and personal information from theft and disruption. Lanterman and Hill showed live examples of how criminals sell stolen information on the “Dark Net” and how hackers target businesses and individuals by using “phishing” emails and other nefarious techniques to gain access to bank accounts and credit card information. Many attendees left the session somewhat concerned and phoning home to alter passwords.

The next day, two concurrent sessions took place, including one on “Leveraging Your Independent Advantage,” by former DTNA and Volvo executive Rich Ferguson, and an uplifting discussion of maximizing your customers’ uptime to gain market share and using buying groups and relationships with associations to maximize the impact on businesses.

A new feature at HDAW in 2017 was Aftermarket Briefings, a TED Talk-inspired set of three, highly targeted presentations focused on adapting to new technologies in business and e-commerce. Speakers were David Seewack, CEO of FinditParts.com; Dana Nevins of Web Shop Manager and Shriram Rajagopal of e-Emphasis. Each spent 15-20 minutes on highly engaging topics, then took text questions from the audience. All four of the afternoon education speakers made themselves available to attendees for questions before and after their sessions.

The 2017 annual All-Industry Reception and Pinewood Challenge, sponsored by Minimizer, proved again to be an exciting event for all 27 race participants.

Winners of the Pinewood race were:

1st place – Triangle Suspension

2nd place – Dorman RamRod

3rd place – Dorman Duct Tape Dynamo

Winners of the Concours D’elegance (Best designed and best looking trucks):

1st place – Fleet Equipment – Iron Bullet

2nd place – Wyakin Warrior

3rd place – CVSN – White Lightning

Mark your calendars now for Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week 2018, Jan. 22-25, 2018, at The Mirage in Las Vegas.

For more information, go to hdaw.org.