Gary Jackson in The Wholesaler

June 13, 2016

The following interview with Affiliated Distributors' Vice President of PVF & PHCP, Gary Jackson, entitled "Independents" is being featured in the May 2016 issue of The Wholesaler. Thank you to The Wholesaler for their coverage of this story.

DG: How did you get your start specifically with Affiliated Distributors?

GJ: I started in the PHCP industry right out  of school  at the  University of Alabama. After working in sales and sales leadership  roles with two well respected industry  companies, Stockham Valves and NIBCO for 20+ years, I joined AD in 2003. As a supplier, I had interacted with AD and many of their members over  the years and was always impressed with the people and their strong sense of community. My early career gave me the chance to meet and work with many wholesalers across  the country and being in sales taught me the value of finding a winning solution that works for all parties.   Those experiences serve me well here at AD.

DG: With the current state of the PVF industry being what it is, talk about some of the challenges you've faced in your role.

GJ: It's always been a very dynamic market so generally speaking folks that have worked in this industry for a few years have seen the ups and downs.  In my experience, when  markets are either really good OR really bad, the challenges are the same - grow sales, capture new customers, manage profitability through  people and inventory, and maximize supplier partnerships. One of my roles here at AD is to help people find new solutions to those common challenges -we mostly do that  by facilitating discussions among our  members and suppliers through networking events and group meetings. I've found that when you put smart people together the results are amazing.

DG: In your experience and opinion, what is the future of the PVF industry?

GJ: PVF wholesalers fill a basic requirement for many industrial market segments that are not going away any time soon.  Obviously, we will always see emerging new markets and evolve to more technically oriented products and different levels of service and value added activities.  But even if we are delivering with drones or  printing valve parts on some unique jobsite with a 3D printer, it will still be a relationship and service driven business between users, wholesalers and suppliers.

DG: What is AD doing during this period?

GJ: AD is doing great. Our strength has always been the combined power of our  members and recently  we've invested in new ways to leverage our size and multiple industry member ship, not  just on product purchases but on areas such as Indirect Spend categories and HR Services. Our existing members are growing through market share gains and acquisitions and we are adding new members every year. Our diversity across various industry segments, such as commercial construction, manufacturing MRO, Oil & Gas, Power, Fire Protection, etc. has allowed us to maintain strong support for our  Preferred Suppliers.  And most importantly, we continue to pay out 100% of Supplier rebates  to our  Members.

DG: Cautious optimism; that's the phrase I'd use to describe the current state of affairs within the PVF industry. How has your experience been so far?  What phrase would you use?

GJ: I'm actually more optimistic than cautious.  The most interesting aspect of this cycle is that it is really market focused and even regionally based. Some of our AD PVF Members had record years in 2015, while others were softer  because  of the specific downturn in oil & gas related  markets. Despite the immediate economic headwinds in some  markets, we are optimistic that the economy can still offer strong opportunities for PVF wholesalers.

DG: How is technology impacting the PVF sector?

GJ: I mentioned product technology earlier  and I  think one  key for wholesalers is to align themselves with those Suppliers who are committed to R&D and staying ahead of the curve on new products and customer solutions.  And technology has started to dramatically impact the service aspect, such as how customers are served in a mobile, web based environment. I think it is critical  that  PVF wholesalers address that  part of their business in order to stay relevant over time.

DG:  How is AD staying motivated while generating new  ideas for the future?

GJ: Well it's easy to stay motivated when you have a group of members that  are constantly identifying new opportunities and ideas. Our job at AD is to make sure we understand their needs and  priorities  and then commit resources as needed. For example, based  on member input we recently launched our  eCommerce Initiative. One component of that initiative allows us to use our scale and multi-industry approach to consolidate web content from Suppliers and then  provide  it to our  members as a consistent, cost  effective way to populate their  web catalogs.  We use a combination of dedicated resources inside AD and active engagement with our members and industry leading technology companies to support this effort.  We're well into that initiative now, and of course our  members and suppliers are already  looking ahead  to what's next. Our motivation is probably best summed up in our  tagline -Together, we win.

Please click here to read more articles from the May issue of The Wholesaler. 

If you would like to learn more about AD's PHCP Divisions contact Gary Jackson at gjackson@adhq.com.