| Volume 4 - August, 2011 |
 Winter
Tech Week 2011 - Registration
is Now OpenWhen: December 6-8, 2011 Where: Portofino Hotel, Redondo Beach, California Through OEM presentations, hands-on demonstrations, data transfer and vehicle viewing, professionals from vehicle manufacturers and tool and equipment manufacturers discuss the upcoming service needs of new makes and models and the changes necessary in the tool and equipment industry to meet those needs. OEM’s share information regarding their vehicles to ensure that the tool and equipment industry has everything they need to design and build quality products that perform safely and accurately. In addition to OEM meetings, ETI Vertical Group meetings will be held. These are important meetings. Get updated on what is going on within your particular segment of the Automotive Repair industry. Discuss what activities and projects we need to engage in as a group. Remember, one of the major benefits of ETI membership is the ability to tackle issues on an industry-wide basis. Visit the ETI Website, or just click here for more info. |
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 Letter from ETI's PresidentAlan Tecmire “May you live in interesting times” seems to be the tag line of the past few years for the automotive industry. 2011 continues to provide both challenges and opportunities for ETI member companies and our OEM partners. Now that ToolTech 2011 and Summer Tech Week have been completed and I've had a chance to reflect on the experiences of two of the three major ETI events, I’d like to offer my thoughts, observations, and a glimpse forward for ETI. Tool Tech 2011 was again a successful event, and yet the event highlighted our need to continue to evolve this event as our business and market evolves. One observation that was clearly identified and is currently being actively addressed is the need to have more value for our OEM partners to justify their active participation. With discretionary spending restrictions in place at many OEMs, the bar is raised by our partners to justify the time and expense of ToolTech. As a result, the Program Committee is actively working on an exciting agenda for ToolTech 2012 that is sure to be viewed as extremely valuable - even critical - to our OEM tool & equipment partners to participate in as their ‘bottom line’ will be directly impacted. Summer Tech Week continued its successful run and expansion this year. Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, Volkswagen-Audi and BMW delivered a wealth of detailed technical information to ETI members who attended the Detroit event. Finally, Winter Tech Week plans are being worked on and with the event being in Southern California again this year, our expectations are for a record turnout to meet with our Asia-Pacific based OEM partners. With the automotive industry wrestling with high fuel prices, new propulsion technologies, emissions and safety legislation, right-to-repair, and a tough economy; ETI has lead and will continue to help our member companies and our OEM partners to navigate and address these issues openly, directly and to the best interest of our industry. |
Exciting changes in Store for ToolTech 2012 By: Charlie Gorman - Executive Manager, ETI Plans for ToolTech 2012 are well underway. Major changes are in the works that will enhance the experience for our members and provide new and compelling reasons for ETI member customers to attend. For 2012 we plan to shift emphasis towards our customers, not just to sell them something, but to help them provide products and services to the aftermarket. For the most part, vehicle manufacturers have not been very interested in promoting factory tools and equipment to aftermarket customers. In some cases there is no interest in doing so and in other cases there is a lack of expertise on how to do it. In either case the result has been aftermarket dissatisfaction that in many ways has lead to the “Right to Repair” (R2R) movement. It is not the purpose of this article to discuss the merits of R2R, but rather to point out that there may be compelling reasons for OEMs to improve their marketing efforts to the aftermarket. ETI member companies know how to market tools and equipment to the aftermarket; it is what they do. Vehicle manufacturers should be taking advantage of this knowledge in order to solve two problems. First, it would help satisfy the aftermarket need for OEM information and tools, and it is highly probable that a significant profit can be made while doing it, thus justifying the cost of putting a marketing program together. Therefore, ToolTech 2012’s theme is OEMs and the Aftermarket… A New Direction... Renewed Partnership. We will explore ways vehicle manufacturers can provide dealership level service capabilities to the aftermarket using ETI member capabilities to help get them there. ... Read the whole article... |
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Equipment
and Tool Institute Announces 2011-2012
Officers and New Directors
ETI congratulates the new 2011-2012 Officers and Board Members on their election to office beginning June 1, 2011: Officers (one year term)
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