The acquisition of a premiere hand tools manufacturer leads off our recap of the week’s top news for today. Earlier this week, it was reported that IDEAL Industries has entered into an agreement to purchase certain assets of SK Hand Tools Corp., one of America’s leading manufacturers of tools for professional technicians. SK had filed for bankruptcy protection on June 29. Doug Spitler, vice president and general manager of IDEAL’s Retail and Industrial Divisions, has been named to run the new company, which will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of IDEAL. IDEAL intends to sell SK Hand Tools’ portfolio of nearly 4,000 tools under the SK brand throughout the automotive and industrial channels of distribution. The deal was expected to be finalized this week.
In other news from the manufacturing sector, Raybestos has announced that new professional grade packaging for the Raybestos Brakes brand will be released later this fall. The company says compelling facts and attention-grabbing visuals on the packaging will provide the product validation technicians need to confidently sell a premium brake job. “Upon review of the brake pad packaging in the marketplace, there’s a ‘sea of sameness’ in the look and feel of most,” said Jeff Stauffer, senior vice president, Global Marketing, Affinia Brake & Chassis. “In addition, many formats are hard to read and lack real product benefit deliverables in language that both technicians and consumers can understand.” In order to differentiate it from other competitive brands, Raybestos says the new packaging will highlight the unique performance claims of the products.
Another school year has begun, and with it Northwood University’s University of the Aftermarket proudly announced that this fall it will welcome the largest class in the history of the Leadership 2.0 executive development experience. Thirty aftermarket professionals representing 23 organizations and virtually every level of the industry supply chain have registered to attend the program, which comprises two intensive five-day sessions conducted on Northwood University’s campuses in Midland, Mich., and West Palm Beach, Fla. Leadership 2.0 is designed for any mid-level professional working in any segment of the aftermarket, including manufacturing, retail operations, wholesale distributing, program group management, association management and vehicle service operations.
Also this week, the specialty equipment industry says goodbye to leader and friend, Jim Considine Jr. Considine passed away after a long fight against multiple myeloma. According to family members, Considine faced many adversities in his 10-year fight with cancer, including two stem-cell transplants and numerous chemotherapy treatments, which included trial programs where the results were relatively unknown. Considine Jr. founded Considine Sales & Marketing Inc. (CSM) in 1971, after nine years with Holley Carburetor Co. Holding to the principle of establishing long-term relationships with manufacturers and acting as their field sales arm as well as their eyes and ears, Considine Jr. represented McGard for 35 years, Moroso Performance for 28 years, Fluidampr, Hypertech and Dee Zee for more than 20 years, Competition Engineering for 23 years and Phoenix USA for 18 years. Also, he actively consulted on key company issues. During the 2009 SEMA Show Industry Awards Banquet, Considine Sales & Marketing was honored with the 2009 SEMA Manufacturers’ Rep Agency of the Year award.
Today’s issue of “The Pulse” – our weekly look at industry stats and data – rounds out our most-viewed items on AMN this week. Using data from IMR research, this issue of “The Pulse” shows which vehicle makes account for the most volume at America’s independent repair shops. The research compares the numbers from 2009 to the first half of 2010. “Historically, most independent repair shops reported domestic makes accounting for most of their volume with a much lower percentage being Asian makes,” noted Bill Thompson, president of IMR Inc. “However, in the past few years, shops have increasingly reported that they’re seen more Asian makes.”
And finally, for those of you either looking for work or looking to hire, be sure to check out the new AMN Careers page where new aftermarket opportunities appear daily. Among the new jobs posted just this week: Regional Sales Manager (Gates Corp.) and Sales Manager (Maryland auto parts company).
