The National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED), St. Louis, has formed a partnership with Affiliated Distributors, King of Prussia, Pa., in which NAED will become part of A-D’s network of preferred organizations.
As part of the partnership, the two groups said they have taken steps that would result in cost savings and more streamlined, coordinated programs for members of both organizations. These steps include a new agreement between A-D and IDEA to move all A-D electronic transactions through IDEA’s Industry Data Exchange, which they said would result in cost savings for A-D’s affiliates and additional support for an industry-wide initiative. A-D is also endorsing NAED’s Learning Center for vendor product training and training programs, such as Electrical Products Education Course (EPEC), Voice-Data-Video (VDV) and Electrical Distributor Guided Education (EDGE).
David Oldfather, A-D senior vice president for its electrical supply division, said strengthening the relationship between NAED and A-D will ultimately benefit members of both organizations.
“Education has always been a major and valued role for NAED,” he said. “The investments NAED is making in its Learning Center are impressive and strongly suggest that the NAED Board and Education Foundation are committed to maintaining its strong menu of educational programs,” he said. He added that A-D has committed itself to coordinating its training and promotional programs with NAED to ensure that A-D programs are complementary and not unnecessarily redundant.
To further strengthen the partnership, NAED and A-D said representatives from both organizations have held several recent meetings at each other’s headquarters; A-D staff has participated in several NAED task forces and panels; and NAED representatives conducted two seminars at A-D’s ESD North American Meeting.