SAN ANTONIO, Texas — The shareholders of Aftermarket Auto Parts Alliance Inc. (Alliance), marketing under the names Auto Value and Bumper to Bumper, gathered Dec. 5-8 in Boca Raton, Fla., for their annual winter meeting.
The annual meeting, held at the Boca Raton Resort & Club, is one of two general membership meetings held each year bringing together members from Canada, Europe, Mexico and the United States. More than 500 participants representing 52 shareholders and 120 vendor partners reviewed past and current business performance and upcoming opportunities. Reports and breakout meetings focusing on sales, marketing, product, information technology and education were held.
Alliance President and CEO John Washbish said, “Our winter shareholder meeting is an important component to the success of the Alliance programs. We reviewed what we did well in 2010 and focused on our future, especially 2011.”
Eli Futerman, co-president and CEO of Hahn Automotive and chairman of the Alliance, said, “This was the best winter meeting we’ve ever conducted, and I believe all shareholders share this view.”
The Tuesday joint shareholder/vendor meeting was extremely well-attended and contained an “Aftermarket Industry Public Service” component. This component included an industry Political Action Committee (PAC) update by Corey Bartlett, president of Automotive Parts Headquarters, as well as an industry update from AAIA Director of Member Services Larry Northup.
Additionally, Jim John of Northwood University explained a host of educational opportunities for “aftermarket minded” individuals that are available from Northwood.
The highlight of Tuesday evening’s banquet was the presentation of the coveted Annual Supplier Awards.
The following recognition was awarded to outstanding vendor partners:
• Supplier of the Year: Wix Filters
• Outstanding Manpower Support : Federal-Mogul
• Outstanding Parts Master Vendor: Parts Master Oil by Valvoline
• Outstanding Training Support: Standard Motor Products
• Outstanding Logistics Support Vendor: CARDONE
• Outstanding Marketing Support: Federal-Mogul
• Outstanding Technology Partner: Activant Solutions and Experian Automotive
•Outstanding Customer Service: Dorman Products
•Outstanding Technology Support: Standard Motor Products
The Alliance says fill rate is a key to the organization’s ongoing success, and with that said, the following vendors were recognized for their 95 percent or better shipping performance for 2010 with the Outstanding Shipping Performance Award:
Amrep Inc., ATP Inc., BBB Industries, CARDONE Industries, Castrol North America, Champion Spark Plugs, Cloyes Gear and Products, Continental Battery, Cooper/Bussman, Curt Mfg., Dayco Products, Delphi Service and Solutions, Duragloss Appearance Products, East Penn Manufacturing, EMPI, Inc., Forney Industries, Freedom Marketing, Gates Corp., Gojo Industries, Haynes Manuals, K&N Engineering, Motorcar Parts of America, Old World Industries, Original Engine Management, Parts Master Filter by Wix, Parts Master Oil by Valvoline, Parts Master Wire by Standard, Peterson Mfg., Plasti-Kote, Plews/Truflate/Edelmann, Precision U-Joints, Remy International, Richporter Technology, Spectra Premium Industries, Standard Ignition Wire, Stant Corporation, Universal Mfg., Uquality Auto Parts, USA Industries, Valvoline Oil, Wagner Brake and Wix Filters.
