Baer was announced as the third president in VIPAR Heavy Duty’s nearly three-decade history at the group’s annual meeting last fall in Florida, and kicked off his first HDAW as leader by introducing his new team.
In recent months, VIPAR Heavy Duty has named Larry Griffin vice president of program management, Andrei Katibnikov vice president of information technology and Jeff Paul vice president of marketing. All three had previously served as directors within the organization. Baer also announced that Griffin, Katibnikov, Paul and Jim Pennig, vice president of business development, have been named to the organization’s new executive management team.
In addition to the executive management team, the other members of the organization’s leadership team include Beth San Filippo, controller; Wendi Frederick, manager of rebate administration; Jay Pagano, general manager of Global Parts Network, LLC; and Mark Iasiello, general manager of Power Heavy Duty.
“As we enter our third generation of leadership, we have been diligent in assembling a strong and respected team to best serve our customers,” Baer says. “Collectively this group represents a vast amount of aftermarket industry knowledge and experience, with the vision to fully support our organization’s goals.”
Baer says the leadership team is eager to continue accelerating the growth of VIPAR Heavy Duty and its member companies as it enters phase three of its history.
“The first phase of VIPAR Heavy Duty was about the entrepreneurs who provided the critical mass to get the organization started more than 27 years ago, while the last 16 years were centered on innovation,” he says. “As part of our third phase we have outlined a ‘Game Plan for Growth’ to ensure our distributor network remains on top of the market for years to come.
“We can never lose sight that at our fundamental core we are a truck parts buying group working to help enhance and grow our stockholders’ businesses while looking to grow market share with our supplier partners. Not only will we remain focused on that core mission, as an organization we must be able to adapt in order to tackle the challenges and seize the opportunities presented by the aftermarket.”
Baer’s sales goals for the group are lofty. He says the organization hopes to drive the group’s yearly purchasing sales over $1 billion in the coming years—currently at $650 million—while also allowing the group’s members to continue outpacing the independent aftermarket at large.
He says key initiatives within the game plan include data driven marketing, a quest to drive operational efficiencies through continual improvements and benchmarking, and fully utilizing its wholly-owned subsidiary, Global Parts Network, LLC, as a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
Baer adds that technology also will be one of the company’s biggest initiative centers. Responding to a question about the independent aftermarket and the ability of buying groups in particular to integrate technology into their businesses, Baer was confident and optimistic. He says VIPAR Heavy Duty is prepared to work tirelessly for its distributors to best position each company to compete in a shifting marketplace.
“Tomorrow’s business can’t operate on yesterday’s technology with data as the new currency,” he says, adding “I think in the long term the independent distributor is extremely viable and I think it is VIPAR’s job to support our distributors.”
Additionally, Baer says the Game Plan for Growth will also emphasize the organization’s active involvement in the global aftermarket community, supported by joining the global aftermarket trade group NEXUS Automotive International SA (N!) and partnering with Automotive Distribution Network (The Network) and Automotive Parts Associates (APA Group) to form NEXUS North America, LLC in 2016.
Baer says the Game Plan for Growth initiatives are anchored by VIPAR Heavy Duty’s corporate core values of accountability, collaboration, innovation, integrity and being stockholder driven. Each initiative will be instrumental to the group’s future success, he says.
