Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/314415
A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats It's Time for Collaboration Brad Pierce President Restaurant Equipment World brad.pierce@rewonline.com The President's Message I t's official, the torch as been passed from "The Other Brad" Wasserstrom to me. I'm humbled to follow in the footsteps of such a great leader who's inspired me to reach even higher as I lead this fine association. As Brad moves on to the role of becoming a trusted advisor as chairman of the board, I'm honored to become your new FEDA president. As I embark upon this journey, I've vowed to keep dealer-based distribu- tion advocacy at the heart of my goals and decisions. This is the foundation of FEDA and something that we do very well. I'll be continuing the successful programs initiated by my predecessors, while also forging a new path toward better collaboration throughout the industry's channels. My collaboration goals include both people and techno- logical processes, two areas in which I believe great gains can be made to benefit all. Take dealers, for example. We are uniquely positioned to interact with every segment—from the manufactur- ing community to consultants—yet despite all these interactions, each of our industry groups seem to operate in silos, rarely collaborating to solve mutu- al challenges and goals. I've already met with the leaders of our industry's trade associations and we've agreed that not only can we do better, we will do better. Our leadership teams will be interacting on a regular basis to determine where we have synergies in areas such as new talent recruitment, perception of the industry, education and, in general, mak- ing the industry a better place. Another facet of my administrative goals includes collaboration of technol- ogy. I love the foodservice equipment industry, but we're way behind the times when it comes to data interchange and communications within the channel. Manufacturers' and dealers' computer systems are out of sync speaking differ- ent languages. We're working harder rather than smarter simply because we haven't found common ground to auto- mate routine tasks effectively. My goal for FEDA is to play a central role in developing a standardized nomen- clature of data terms and processes that will facilitate automation between those in the channel. Throughout this pro- cess, we'll seek expertise and guidance from our industry partners to ensure this is a collaborative effort, which I feel will lead to the highest level of success. Increased efficiency, reduced trans- actional expenses, better use of your workforce—all leading to improved margins—it's a winning value proposi- tion for everyone involved. As your new FEDA president, I'm excited about the bright future ahead for our association and our industry. Our greatest asset is the wisdom of our mem- bers and partners, so I encourage you to reach out to me with your thoughts and ideas. As the old saying goes, a rising tide lifts all boats. Working together we can accomplish great things and take the industry to the next level. It's truly an honor to serve at the helm of such an incredible organization, I'll paddle tirelessly to serve you well.