As part of the AAPEX Learning Forum session, “What Else is in the Box,” Jim Kelley, director of sales, and Grif Jordan, product marketing manager for Honeywell Friction Materials, will elaborate on what else full-service suppliers do to stand behind the product they put in each box.

The session, which is open to all attendees on Thursday, Nov. 1 at 8:30 a.m. at the Venetian Hotel, will kick off with Jack Cameron, vice president of program and member services for AASA, giving a quick overview on how full-service manufacturers add value to the products they make, many of which are unseen or taken for granted, such as initial design, research and development, manufacturing, quality control, packaging distribution, marketing support, sales support, technical support, warranty, intellectual property protection and more.

The overview will be followed by a case study from Honeywell, a leader in the automotive aftermarket that recently received an award for Product Innovation from the Automotive Distribution Network.

Honeywell Friction Materials will share the quality assurances process and value-added services that are built in to every Bendix brake product they sell.

“This is a great opportunity for Honeywell to speak from the aftermarket supplier’s perspective in an effort to help educate the end customer on how we back up what we put in the box,” said Kelley. “A considerable amount of time and dollars are invested in research, development, category management, supply chain management, marketing, product testing, training, IP protection, warranty support, quality control and much more. This additional service and support is not typically offered by most short- or value-line suppliers. So, although products in the box may look the same, they are vastly different in terms of technology, quality, performance and back-end support.”

For more information, log on to www.bendixbrakes.com.