IGear Joins AHTD
IGear Online, LLC (Louisville, KY), a leader in smart manufacturing and supply chain solutions, has announced they have joined the Association for High Technology Distribution (AHTD; Waukesha, WI) to support the company’s go-to-market strategy for their innovative new SQUEAKS platform.
IGear has already signed a number of strategic go-to-market partnerships in North America. These include AHTD member and automation solutions providers Air Hydro Power Inc. (Louisville, KY) and RR Floody Company (Rockford IL), industrial machinery powerhouse Komatsu America Corporation (Rolling Meadows, IL) and robotics systems integrator Genesis Systems Group, LLC (Davenport, IA).
“Joining AHTD will help us to expand our go-to-market distribution efforts for our new platform – a mobile-first Internet of Things (IoT) messaging app that facilitates quicker, better decision-making and closed-loop collaboration, with machines as part of the conversation,” stated Don Korfhage, the president and chief executive officer of IGear. “Gartner Inc. predicts there is $1.9 trillion worth of economic value related to the sale and usage of IoT technology, and IDC Research, Inc. predicts this will reach over $7 trillion by 2020. With the maturation of the IoT, there is a new ecosystem emerging that offers significant opportunities for channel partners as manufacturers and supply chain players seek to leverage the IoT and expand their current Machine-to-Machine strategies to evolve to support Machine-to-Human collaboration.”
SQUEAKS is already installed at multiple beta sites across the country, supporting smart manufacturing where people and machines communicate in real-time. The platform was recently previewed at AutoVision 2016, where IGear was also a featured presenter on the role of the IoT in the new automotive era of smart factories and connected manufacturing, and the platform was recently named one of the top 10 new technologies showcased at FABTECH 2016.
For 30 years, AHTD has worked to increase the productivity, profitability and market share of automation solution providers and manufacturers. To qualify for membership, companies are required to have the majority of their revenue realized through distributors. The group works to improve the efficiency and profitability of relationships between its members, provides networking and educational opportunities, and has business support personnel with expertise in distribution, legislation, profitability, safety, sales strategies, and tax and legal issues.
