The Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week (HDAW ’07), scheduled Monday, Jan. 22 through Thursday, Jan. 25 at The Mirage in Las Vegas, will be highlighted by the first-ever Heavy Duty Aftermarket Forum

following Tuesday’s opening general session. In addition, a distributor education program has been developed by industry experts from the distributor, supplier, education and consulting areas.
Moderated by Stu MacKay, president, MacKay and Co., the three-hour Forum will include a series of presentations and panels featuring industry leaders and experts.
MacKay will provide a detailed heavy duty aftermarket economic forecast and lead discussions on the five key trends he sees driving the aftermarket industry’s future:
• Distribution channel cost compression
• Distribution flow acceleration
• Supplier consolidation
• Customer consolidation
• Competitive distribution consolidation

HDAW Business and Technical Theater
The HDAW Business and Technical Theater, located on the showroom floor, will feature four one-hour sessions:
The Effects of the Fleets’ Changing Service Needs
Learn how the changing service needs of a fleet offers new opportunities for doing business. A panel of experts, moderated by Bruce Plaxton, president and CEO, BGP Marketing, will provide their future vision and insight. Panelists will include Russ Musgrove of Federal Express, as well as other leaders from within and outside the heavy duty industry.
Now You Hired Them; How Do You Retain Them
Employee retention is more important than ever before. Chuck Udell, senior partner with Essential Action Design Group, and Lee Greer, regional manager, Page Brake Warehouse, will address the three clarities to increased profitability. Included in this presentation are setting performance goals and objectives, and measuring the right criteria for your employees.
New Developments in the Heavy Duty Brake Business
A panel of industry experts will examine the pending regulation on stopping distance and the challenges and opportunities resulting from any changes, as well as what’s on the horizon that will affect the distributors’ product mix. Moderated by Jerry Weis of Ott’s Friction, the panel will include a range of representatives from government regulatory agencies, supplier engineering and industry-leading distribution.
Servicing Profitable Customers
Moderated by Harry Howard, vice president, sales and marketing for Triangle Suspension Systems, a panel of some the industry’s most successful distributors will present and moderate discussion on this topic. The interactive discussion will focus on processes by which you evaluate your customers, understand your own costs and optimize profitability for both. Attendees will participate in the discussion and will leave with an understanding of the processes and how to implement and use measurements needed to establish long-term and mutually profitable relationships with your key customers.

Value-Added Selling Seminar
This three-hour session on Jan. 24 is for outside salespeople and store managers. The presentation/panel discussion will be led by Tom Easton and Chuck Udell of Essential Action Design Group.
In this fast-paced, fact-filled and highly interactive session you will learn how to boost sales and profitability through an increased understanding of the value-added sales process. You will be able to win more business by understanding and communicating the value proposition that is meaningful to your customers. Grow your organization’s commercial vehicle and heavy duty products market share by taking it from your competition.
For more information, (708) 226-1300, fax (708) 226-1310, e-mail info@hdaw.org, or visit www.hdaw.org to register.