National Fluid Power Association
2015 NFPA Annual Report
Networking
Statistics
NFPA
Workforce
POWER
Technology
The
and
The
of
Association
Powerful Forces
Working Together
National Fluid Power Association
6737 W. Washington St.
Suite 2350
Milwaukee, WI 53214
www.nfpa.com
[email protected]
POWER
of
Association
Message
from the
We are
CEO
Inclusive.
We are
Overall Value
NFPA membership stands at its
all-time high. Conference
attendance also achieved new
highs this year. A growing and
inclusive association drives
greater value in member services,
and better supports efforts to
strengthen the industry.
Each year’s annual report is an opportunity for us to look to two directions—back at the year just
ending and ahead at the year to come.
As we review our performance and activities during our 2014-15 fiscal year, you’ll see many
significant accomplishments. Based on the strength of a growing industry, NFPA’s membership
and conference attendance numbers are both up, increasing the effectiveness of the forum
we provide for fluid power suppliers, manufacturers and distributors to come together and
advance their collective interests. This momentum carries through to all of our areas of service
and support—providing timely and accurate industry statistics, promoting the use of fluid power
among your customers, developing new knowledge and education resources for fluid power, and
connecting you and your companies to an emerging fluid power workforce.
Growing.
361
MEMBER
Organizations
Manufacturer
Distributor
And as we look ahead to the new 2015-16 fiscal year, we see several new programs and
opportunities coming online.
International
We’re investing in our core services. A complete rebuild of our essential Electronic Statistical
Toolkit is in the works, a major undertaking that will help you pull even greater value out of
our market information services. We’ll also be launching a new data program specifically for
distributors. Modeled after our popular State of the Fluid Power Industry monthly survey, the
distributor program will provide participating members with timely information about what’s
happening in our distribution channel, greatly enhancing their decision-making ability.
And we’re investing in the future of the industry. The launch of our Foundation’s new Pascal
Society has provided more support for all of our important outreach, education and research
programs, and specifically enabled more engagement with the universities, researchers and
students that make up the Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power. That program, and
our industry’s leadership role in it, will be increasing next year in significant ways, maximizing its
potential as both a technology and workforce development engine for fluid power.
400
Our industry and our association has a very bright future. Thanks for being a part of it.
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350
300
333
339
350
361
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50
Visit www.nfpa.com
2012
2013
2014
13%
3%
Product Supplier
22%
Service Supplier
3%
Educator
11%
Steady
since 2012
150
0
48%
GROWTH
200
Eric Lanke, CEO
Tricia Fulton
CFO
Sun Hydraulics Corporation
2015
“…Sun has benefited from
the relationships and
networking … it helps you
understand more about how
your company relates to
the industry as a whole.”
More and Better
Networking Opportunities
Our events are growing. They
offer unparalleled opportunities to
connect and learn from experts:
The NFPA Annual Conference
The Industry & Economic
Outlook Conference (IEOC):
•
• Network with industry
leadership at the highest levels;
Capitalize on the strong
representation from across the
supply chain;
•
• Listen to presentations from
well-respected economists
and market experts;
• Gain insight into U.S. and
global perspectives;
• Get forecasts of macroeconomic
and market-specific trends;
• Take advantage of opportunities
to build your network of
industry partners;
•
Examine technology trends in specific customer markets.
Gather strategic insights for
your latest challenges—and
those to come.
285 Registrants
for 2015 NFPA
Annual Conference
•
Participate in association
councils and committees that
shape the future of NFPA and
the industry;
Fluid Power Innovation &
Research Conference (FPIRC):
• Explore the premier fluid power
industry and academic research
conference in North America,
co-sponsored by NFPA and
the Center for Compact and
Efficient Fluid Power.
• Connect with industry or
university resources and talent
through technical sessions,
networking opportunities, and
laboratory tours.
• Attend panel discussions that
cover the workforce skills
and technologies needed to
continue growing the fluid
power industry.
The NFPA Regional Meetings:
Chicago, Detroit, and Minneapolis
• Meet with members and supply chain partners in your area;
• Learn from brief presentations
by economists, local educators, others—efficient delivery of useful information;
NFPA Regional meetings are
offered at no charge to members
and scheduled to fit within your
busy workday. They are open
to all representatives of NFPA
Member companies, regardless of
geographic location.
Don’t forget IFPE 2017 – it’s about
selling to customers, but it’s also a
premier opportunity for networking
within the industry. And at IFPE 2014
we had more exhibitors in more
floor space than ever, creating
more reason than
ever for your
customers to visit.
Networking
Rock Able
President, Fluid Power Group
Cross Company
“Being in the NFPA keeps me
connected with what’s going
on in the industry. I do that
by networking with both my
peers and partners. Coming
to an NFPA event gives me
the opportunity to see a lot of
those people in a very short
period of time, and I find that is
a good benefit.”
If you are doing business in the
area, come join us!
• Benefit from several special
opportunities for future leaders
to network.
320 IEOC Attendees
FPIRC 2014 Participant
“There’s a lot of benefit from
these types of events. As
industry, we get to meet
faculty, talk to faculty. There’s
an opportunity there to
introduce our ideas…and meet
the students.”
Visit www.nfpa.com
Unmatched
Value:
Statistics,
New Tools
and
Expertise
Data/Analytical Tools:
Building Value for 2015:
New! Electronic Statistical Toolkit
Expected to be ready in early 2016,
the new Toolkit will be easier to use
from start to finish:
• No more need to download and
update multiple files;
• More intuitive user interface with
easier report generation;
•
Ability to save reports in the
Toolkit for future update
and use.
Easier Toolkit administration
means more efficient use of
NFPA staff time and a focus on
delivering membership value over
troubleshooting old systems.
New! Distributor State of the Fluid
Power Industry Survey
The new survey is parallel to the
long-standing monthly industry
pulse-type survey from which
manufacturer members benefit.
Now, Distributors will be able to
report, delivering industry pulsetype information from both ends of
the channel:
•
Confidential Shipment Statistics
Program (CSS), the foundation
of NFPA’s statistical offerings,
provides hard, reliable data on
a monthly basis, helping you
understand industry trends,
benchmark performance, and
develop your own predictions for growth.
Bill Tulloch
Executive Vice President
Flodraulic Group
“Statistics are a great way to see how the industry is doing, great
way to benchmark yourself against the industry, see how I’m doing
at my own company. The statistical resources are just so deep.”
• International Trade Data and Summary Reports – from
the vast amount of customs
data collected by the federal
government, we extract and summarize fluid power product
import and export data, with country by country breakouts spotlighting emerging trends…
so you don’t have to.
Expertise:
Global Market Reports and
Forecasts – supplied by Oxford
Economics and offered initially
in 2013, they offer:
The NFPA Forecast: U.S. Customer
Markets Report, supplied by
Alan Beaulieu and ITR economics,
offers:
• Customer Market Survey – an • Expert forecasts for 29 major • And much more… data and
• These quarterly forecast reports
U.S. customer markets and specific forecasts for hydraulics,
pneumatics and fluid power;
annual report on the segmentation
of hydraulic and pneumatic sales
by customer market.
• Participating distributors will
receive the distributor State of
the Fluid Power report and the
manufacturer summary; and
are a benefit of membership with no added cost.
reports on key markets and
economic trends, all housed in
the members only section of the
NFPA website, and embedded
into tools you can use.
• Manufacturers participating in
our traditional State of the Fluid
Power survey will now receive
the distributor results as well.
MAPI Resources for NFPA
members – access to special MAPI
publications, bulletins, economic
updates and quarterly forecasts.
• High-level macro data and leading indicators for 68
countries around the world;
• The quick and easy State of the
140 Companies
in participation-based programs
Fluid Power Industry Survey
(SOFP) gives you the pulse of the
industry with expectations for fluid power orders, shipments, inventory and backlog, hiring and competitiveness.
• Detailed by-country forecasts and analysis of several key customer markets;
• Monthly and quarterly reports
and forecasts that allow you to
investigate every angle of our global marketplace.
Market Outlook Report – a quarterly
economic outlook with U.S. and
global economic indicators,
including short-term forecasts
and commentary.
Economic Webcasts – biannual
economic updates and insights
into the economic risks and
opportunities facing your
organization, from the expert economists you’ve come to rely on.
Kevin Kraft, CEO, Jarp Industries, Inc.
“Market Outlook Reports have become part of our strategic planning and
forecasting — what we need to plan for our company.”
NFPA Foundation:
Workforce Tomorrow
Building the
of
Partnership with CCEFP
The Pascal Society
Putting funds to work effectively
means a stronger relationship
between NFPA and the CCEFP. The
two organizations have assembled
a team of two CCEFP and three
NFPA staff to work closely on
collaborative projects important
to the industry. This new team
structure helps CCEFP increase its
focus on its core strengths of fluid
power research and education,
while more effectively connecting
the CCEFP and industry
through NFPA’s marketing and
communications function.
Launched this past year, the Pascal
Society is the NFPA Foundation’s
annual giving society, and has
already raised more than $757,109.
Pascal Society funds support
the full range of Foundation
educational and grant programs
highlighted here, as well as
supporting the sustained efforts
of the Center for Compact and
Efficient Fluid Power.
$757,109
Pascal Society Donations
Pascal Society members combine
their financial and volunteer
contributions in one concerted
effort, developing the resources,
tools and people needed to
meet the future technology and
workforce needs of the U.S. fluid
power industry.
Austin Ramirez
President and CEO
HUSCO International
“NFPA does a lot of great
things for the industry. One of
the things I appreciate most is
how they work to raise a profile
of fluid power with new grads
and engineering students.”
Educational Programs
Inspiring future
• Encourages students to acquire engineering students
The NFPA Education and
Technology Foundation
continues to make a significant
impact on the number of
students exposed to fluid power
and the number of schools
with the resources necessary to
effectively teach it.
Has grown almost exponentially,
primarily driven by our own
members, who have
enthusastically brought
the program to their local
communities and continue to
manage them.
NFPA’s flagship workforce program,
the Fluid Power Challenge, is a
competition that challenges middle
and high school students to solve
an engineering problem using fluid
power. This program:
• Actively engages students in
learning about fluid power while
introducing them to careers in
the industry;
• Gives support and resources to
teachers for their science and
technology curriculum;
Workforce
teamwork, engineering, and problem-solving skills;
•
Project Lead The Way (PLTW) is the leading provider of STEM
education programs used in elementary, middle, and high schools by over 400,000 students
in all 50 states. Thanks to the efforts of NFPA, fluid power is now embedded in four lessons of
three individual PLTW curricula.
Jeff Hand
CEO
Ross Controls
“The things that NFPA has done
for us has been invaluable in
terms of growing the workforce
and growing the industry by
really bringing awareness of
what fluid power is.”
Technology and Workforce
programs are supported by
contributions from members
through the NFPA Education
and Technology Foundation.
This essential support of
members is helping to build
a stable and secure base for
these important programs
and helps provide continuous
support for the future.
NFPA Foundation:
TECHNOLOGY
Advancing
Technology Events
Technology Research –
helping members understand and
prepare for technological change,
and informing updates to the NFPA
Technology Roadmap.
IFPE 2017 – Building on the
huge success of IFPE 2014 starts
now. IFPE 2017 exhibit sales are
already open, and NFPA members
receive a substantial discount on
exhibit space. IFPE has grown
in attendance and exhibit space
each year, and is the premier place
to showcase your technology to
construction industry customers.
The CCEFP Webcast Series
consists of bi-weekly updates
about CCEFP research progress,
affiliated research activities, special
topics and State of the Center
presentations. The series is open to
the broad academic and corporate
community. All webcasts are
recorded and available online
at ccefp.org.
IFPE Fluid Power Zone at IMTS
2016 – The IFPE Fluid Power Zone
and a new fluid power industry
educational track will be hosted
by NFPA at the 2016 IMTS/Motion,
Drive & Automation conference in
Chicago, Illinois.
Standards
ISO Standards Development –
NFPA continues to serve as the
focal point in representing U.S.
interests in international standards
development—over 140 fluid power
industry volunteers help ensure
a fair playing field for U.S.-based
fluid power manufacturing, while
advocating for standards that
make fluid power an easier
technology choice for customers.
New! ISO Standards Development
Site – In 2015 NFPA launched
a new Standards Development
Online Community to better
facilitate ISO balloting/voting,
document posting, easy
notification of postings and online
discussions in each of the 13 U.S.
technical advisory groups.
Introduced in 2013, the Customer
Technology Trends studies,
focus on key markets for fluid
power. Watch for our latest study,
Hydraulics and Variable Speed
Drives in Industrial Markets, to
be released in connection with
presentations at the 2015 Industry
and Economic Outlook Conference.
Through
and
Grants, Standards
Educational Opportunities
NFPA Grant Programs
Teaching grants:
•
Support activity-based learning
such as senior capstone projects
that challenge bachelor-level
engineers to solve real-life
problems;
Applications are being accepted
from two-year community colleges
in Arizona, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas,
Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska,
New Mexico, North Dakota, South
Dakota and Texas.
•Beginning in fall 2015,
• Fund development of curricula,
students at Vanderbilt
University will begin working
on a project, Pneumatic
Exhaust Gas Recovery. The
goal is to design a suite
of pneumatic exhaust gas
recovery devices to improve
the efficiency of pneumatic
systems.
textbooks, software programs
and training stations in schools
across the country.
43 Grants
24 Schools
Fluid power lab grants establish
state-of-the-art training labs at
qualifying schools. Hundreds
of budding engineers use these
labs to study fluid power with the
goal of working in the fluid power
industry after graduation.
6 Lab Grants
500 Students affected
Fluid power research grants are
also provided directly by the
NFPA Education and Technology
Foundation to fund world-class
university research, including:
•Students at Iowa State University
are working on a project, An
Investigation of Dielectric
Spectroscopic Contamination
Sensing in a Compressed Air
Stream. The goal of this project
is to determine the signal-tonoise levels and performance
of dielectric spectroscopic
measurements in estimating the
level of typical contaminants
and lubricating oil in pneumatic
systems. This project will be
completed in spring 2015.
Technology and Workforce
programs are supported by
contributions from members
through the NFPA Education
and Technology Foundation.
This essential support of
members is helping to build
a stable and secure base for
these important programs
and helps provide continuous
support for the future.