The EMEA Power Transmission Distributors Association (EPTDA) proudly celebrated this year its 20^th Annual Convention, at the prestigious Waldorf Astoria Rome Cavalieri Hotel in Rome, Italy, on 20-22 September.

Close to 500 people – the movers and shakers, thought leaders and industry influencers – from 190 class-leading distribution and manufacturing companies across 35 countries attended the pinnacle event, with almost 30 companies and their over 40 delegates joining an EPTDA Annual Convention for the first time.

A new record was established for the Manufacturer-Distributor IDea EXchange (MD-IDEX) and the Distributor-to-Distributor IDea EXchange (D2D-IDEX) programs – EPTDA’s proprietary business-to-business speed-networking platforms: close to 1,000 meetings took place over two days, enabling participants to refresh their connections, to establish new ones, and to set the scene for new and fruitful business.

The 2017 Annual Convention was also the occasion for launching new and exciting members’ benefits, such as the Production Line Intelligence Report (PLI) on the Confectionery Industry – a one-of-a-kind tool facilitating a deep understanding of the confectionery production process and machinery, thus empowering sales teams to create new growth opportunities for EPTDA members.

The EPTDA also launched the General Code of Conduct and the Information and Data Policy – a set of recommended best practices regarding the relationship between distributors and manufacturers, the exchange of information, the data format, and the timelines of information delivery and change notifications.

Regarding future plans, EPTDA announced the upcoming White Paper on WMI Systems, and the continuation of the PLI and the End-User Video programs.

Educational programs are at the core of EPTDA’s members’ benefits, and this year brought exciting presentations from internationally acclaimed and renowned speakers: David Taylor with How to unlock 3 times more value, confidence and agility from your team, the Next Generation (NexGen) seminar and workshop with Tom Gale on Managing in Disrupting Times, and the Executive Seminar on Managing Through Tough Times – A Global Economic Outlook with Nenad Pacek.

Always with an eye on the future, the Association announced the upcoming revamping of its EPTDA Academy and Online Product Training into a modern and full-featured eLearning platform, which will be available on cross-platform computers and mobile devices to train non-technical personnel on the basics of PT/MC products.

The EPTDA surprised its guests also in regards to its strong environmental commitment, launching the premiere EPTDA Goes Paperless campaign. This year, every Annual Convention Delegate received a complimentary EPTDA Convention Tablet, holding all the necessary information, documents and applications in a convenient digital format. Not only that such pioneering initiative contributed greatly to the comfort and efficiency of the attendees, but it also generated an economy of more than 50,000 paper sheets, thus saving 6 full-grown trees from being cut-down.

The EPTDA Goes Paperless initiatives comes to complement the already established and much-appreciated EPTDA Convention App, offering delegates access to relevant information from their personal mobile devices.

The Association’s governance is always a core component of its annual conventions, and this year is marked by the successful accomplishment of the EPTDA 2013-2018 Strategic Plan. A special task force was established for measuring and analyzing the corresponding results, but also to set the basis for the upcoming 2019-2024 Strategic Plan.

The 2017-2018 Board of Directors was also appointed during the event:

President: Jan Friman – YTM-Industrial, Finland
Vice-President and Treasurer: Zoltan Arkovics – BDI Europe Ltd., Hungary
Manufacturer Council & Convention Chair: Christoph Martin – Georg Martin GmbH, Germany
Manufacturer Council Vice-Chair: Frank Borgmann – Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, Germany
Member at large & Advisory Council Liaison: Roberto Cugnaschi – Mondial, Italy
Member at large: Samer Khalil –Doctor Establishment Import & Export, Egypt
Member at large: Athanasios Kouimtzis – Kouimtzis, Greece
Member at large: Luca Martelli – TRM SRL, Italy
Member at large: Elisabeth Meister – Ludwig Meister GmbH & Co, Germany
Member at large: Meino Noordenbos, – Biesheuvel Groep, The Netherlands
Member at large: Moris Romi – RIMA, Italy
Member at large: Paul Desmond Spillings – Acorn Industrial Services Ltd – UK
Member at large:Tom Clawser, PTDA President, USA

The EPTDA always encouraged its guests to join the Annual Convention together with their spouses, who are provided with a special social tours program throughout the event days. Additionally to the 3 relaxed, yet educative city tours made available to the spouses, EPTDA introduced this year its new Kids’ Corner, where the young ones were cared-for by specialized personnel while the parents attended the convention programs or indulged in the social tours.

The 2017 festivities were carefully curated to offer long-lasting memories of this special 20^th Anniversary event. From the enthusiastic Welcome Reception and Welcome Dinner to the elegant Grand Finale Reception and Grand Finale Dinner, the guests encountered plenty of occasions to relax and celebrate, while experiencing the strong feeling of belonging to a community. The premiere, disco-style After Party went on until early morning, in a vibrating atmosphere.

But what would all the celebrations have been without the whole EPTDA community also paying respect to one of its strongest principles and oldest traditions, of offering a helping hand to those in need? This year’s Charity Program constituted in a considerable donation to the Peter Pan Foundation, established in 1994 with the mission to implement support actions in favor of children and adolescents with onco-hematological diseases and their families.

EPTDA is already looking forward to its 21^st Annual Convention, next year in London, UK. The event will take place on 26-28 September at the centrally located Hilton London Metropole Hotel.

Further information will be available in due time at http://www.eptdaconvention.org

About the EMEA Power Transmission Distributors Association

www.eptda.org

EPTDA is the leading executive association for industrial distribution distributors and manufacturers across Europe, the Middle East & Africa, setting the highest commercial, environmental, social and ethical standards. Its mission is to advance distribution and strengthen members to be successful, profitable and competitive in a changing market environment. EPTDA vision is to be the leading community in the EMEA region for industrial distribution, as recognized by customers. EPTDA currently has a membership of more than 243 leading companies across 34 countries worldwide, working with some 320,000 employees and representing over €22 billion in annual revenues.