The University of Industrial Distribution will be held March 4-7 at the Indianapolis campus of Purdue University.

The UID is sponsored by the Industrial Distribution program at Purdue, along with 27 trade associations, including the Fluid Power Distributors Assn., the Specialty Tools and Fasteners Distributors Assn. and NAHAD: The Assn. for Hose and Accessories Distribution.

Thirty educational sessions are scheduled for this year's UID. Among them are: Productivity Tactics for Branch Managers; Negotiation Skills for Distributors; Hiring the Right Salespeople; and Value-Added Selling.

“We feel like we've put together something that is the right combination of quality content and education for a price that's very reasonable,” said Joe Thompson, executive vice president of NAHAD.

Instructors for this year's session include Tim Underhill, president of Underhill Associates; Tim Horan and Michael Marks of Indian River Consulting; Jon Schreibfeder, president of Effective Inventory Management; and Tom Reilly, of Tom Reilly Training and author of Industrial Distribution's monthly “Strictly for Sales” column.

While many of the instructors participate each year, Thompson says he's not concerned about their topics or content becoming repetitive.

“We get a lot of feedback from attendees, and we also tweak the program based on new program ideas,” Thompson said. “Instructors are either faculty members at business schools or professional consultants who have to stay on top of what's going on. That brings a whole dynamic and vitality to the content of the program. So it will change as [industry] needs change.”

More than 5,000 distribution and manufacturing professionals have attended past UID sessions, Thompson said.

“We've always had a strong contingent of manufacturers attending the program,” he said. “It's a good way for them to find out what's going on and what issues distributors are facing. A lot of the content is mutually beneficial.”

For more information, visit www.univid.org.