Nearly 950 people turned out for the 22nd Annual Meeting & Convention of NAHAD—The Assn. for Hose & Accessories Distribution in Colorado Springs, Colo., last month, where the group's standards process for making hose assemblies took center stage. Attendance figures were in line with last year's record-setting number of 950 at the show in Miami, according to Joe Thompson, NAHAD's executive vice president.

This year's convention was a milestone in the development of the group's Hose Assembly Guidelines, which outline processes for fabricating industrial hose assemblies—a function most hose distributors perform for customers. The program is designed to promote safety, quality and reliability in fabricating hose assemblies industry-wide.

The standards effort began in 1993, and culminated this year with the introduction of a Design Guide, aimed at distribution sales engineers, and a Fabrication Guide, for use by the engineers and technicians who make the assemblies. Both guides are Web-based tools, and go hand-in-hand with the program's previously released Specification Manuals, which define minimum performance criteria for Industrial, Hydraulic, Corrugated Metal, Fluoropolymer and Composite hose.

NAHAD Standards Committee president Sam Foti, Jr. has led the project, serving in various capacities on the committee for the last 12 years. Foti is president of Hose Master, Inc., in Cleveland.

In a presentation to attendees on Sunday, April 9th, he thanked the "hundreds of volunteers" who helped develop the Guidelines, noting that, "Our industry is much better for all that you have done."

Also part of the Guidelines is an exam and certification program, and a Listed Members program. A training task group led by NAHAD president Dan Ahuero oversees the exam and certification program, which tests and recognizes hose professionals who successfully demonstrate their knowledge of each of the five Specification Guidelines. Ahuero is president of GHX, Inc., in Houston.

The Listed Members program is a marketing initiative designed to promote the standards throughout the industry. Listed Members appear on a public list on the NAHAD Web site, can use the NAHAD Listed logo in promotional programs, and receive special pricing on the Hose Assembly Specification Guidelines manuals. All NAHAD manufacturers and distributors are eligible to join the Listed program.

Promoting the Guidelines nationwide is one of the Standards Committee's main goals in the year ahead.

A customized sales presentation is already available to Listed members, and the committee is working to develop more ready-to-use marketing materials, as well as a national advertising campaign, said Joe Lark, who leads the committee's marketing efforts. Lark is president of Monroe Rubber & Plastic Supply Co., Monroe, Mich.

Steve Gray of Manuli Hydraulics officially took over for Foti as president of the Standards Committee during the convention. He told attendees that his goals include recruiting more member volunteers to the program; gaining recognition from standards-setting bodies such as the International Organization for Standardization and the American National Standards Institute; promoting end-user adoption; and getting regulatory support from groups such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

To illustrate the practical side of the Hose Assembly Guidelines, NAHAD member Rob Lyons gave a presentation showing how his company has used them to build business with customers such as the U.S. Coast Guard. Lyons is president of TIPCO Technologies in Owings Mills, Md.

Though hose assembly standards were the focal point of the meeting, the convention also featured some other highlights. A keynote presentation by MIT professor Yossi Sheffi focused on supply chain vulnerability. Sheffi, of MIT's Center for Transportation and Logistics, talked about how companies can become resistant to supply chain disruptions, covering everything from terrorism to natural disasters.

Other highlights included an economic outlook by Tulane University professor Peter Ricchiuti; a profitability workshop by Al Bates of the Profit Planning Group; an RFID workshop by Texas A&M professor Madhav Pappu; and two pre-convention workshops—one on recruiting, training and retaining employees, by Dr. David Javitch of Javitch and Associates, and one on improving presentation skills, by Stephen Boyd of Northern Kentucky University.

Also during the convention, Mark Forget, president of IPM Hose & Fittings in Ajax, Ontario, was elected association president, replacing Ahuero.