ISH North America UPDATE<br>ASA Positioning For Future Growth
The American Supply Association's annual meeting held here beginning Oct. 29 carried the theme "Supply Chain Summit." For the first time in its history, ASA geared its convention program to its channel of distribution, including the 200-plus vendor companies -- manufacturers, manufacturers rep firms, service suppliers and others -- that are members of the association, instead of focusing exclusively on wholesalers' interests.
At ASA's opening general session on Wednesday, Oct. 30, Jack Hester, current president of ASA and president of Burlington, Mass.-based F.W. Webb Co., said that this year ASA has slightly more than 500 distributor members, about half the number of companies that existed 10 years ago. However, as a result of mergers, acquisitions and some strategic growth, the number of locations around the country at which the 500 member companies do business has grown to nearly 4,000, he said.