West Palm Beach, Fla. —Meeting under the theme "All Business is Show Business," members of the Bearing Specialists Assn. held their 36^th annual convention at the Breakers Resort April 14-16. Despite the economic downturn, attendance was about the same as it was for last year's meeting, said Jerilyn Church, BSA's executive secretary.

More than 185 members registered for the meeting, including 16 first-timers.

Attendees heard from industry experts and had the chance to participate in a panel discussion of purchasing executives from four industrial sectors.

Sten Malmstrom, president of SKF USA , gave a presentation on behalf of the American Bearing Manufacturers Assn. Malmstrom pointed out that bearings sales in 2000 reached $26 billion worldwide, up four percent from 1999. Sales rose two percent in North America during the same time frame.

He also identified several trends in the bearings industry, including consolidation, alliances, globalization, price competitiveness and increased offshore production of bearings in Asia and Eastern Europe.

Keynote speaker Scott McKain focused on ways for distributors and manufacturers to meet and exceed customer expectations. Customer satisfaction alone, he said, does not differentiate a company, nor does it guarantee customers will do business with you.

Hal Allen of Allied Bearings Supply moderated a panel discussion entitled "Value Added: Fact or Fiction" in which purchasing executives detailed how they define value added and what services they expect from distributors. The panelists were Don Koschmeder of Rinker Materials; Ronn Croston of Addison Products; Vic Maslak of Ingersoll-Rand; and Steve Millette of Victronics-Soltec.