Councils & Forums: HDMA's Highest Ranked Member Benefit

In simple terms, an association is a group of people coming together with a joint purpose, as is the case with the Heavy-Duty Manufacturers Association (HDMA). HDMA’s annual member survey consistently ranks membership in one of HDMA’s councils and forums at the pinnacle of value for members — and to no one’s surprise.
 
Over the course of this year, we have been focused on ramping up member opportunities for CONNECTION and placing its importance equally alongside our other two main strategic pillars of HDMA — INSIGHT and ADVOCACY — completing our three dedicated value streams.

Connections Through Councils and Forums

HDMA connection is the heartbeat of what makes our councils and forums popular and integral to HDMA members. 

Why? Council members enjoy an unfettered opportunity to:

• Engage with peers on a deeper level

• Debate industry trends and technological developments

• Discuss legislative hurdles, personnel issues, supply chain disruptions, and more

• Hear from industry leaders keen to present the latest developments that have potential to construct and disrupt the future of our industry

For the benefit of exclusion and privacy, past promotion of HDMA councils and forums tended to be member-driven, which makes sense. However, in breaking from that paradigm, we would be remiss in not spreading the word that there is limited space available for HDMA members to take advantage of prior to our fall meeting sessions.

How to Join

Joining is simple! Contact Danielle Kaspar, HDMA’s manager of councils & member engagement to:

• Learn about potential openings for your company

• Receive an overview of the information each council provides

• Participate in an unfiltered discussion with a council participant to hear first-hand about the group’s benefits

• Preview their meetings planned for the balance of the year.

Council and Forum Rundown

But do not take it from me and this Dispatch: additional information on each individual council, including links to their specific webpage and upcoming meeting information, are available below. 

• Heavy Duty Business Forum (HDBF)

  • Purpose: Facilitate informal networking and open discussions about industry issues between senior executives

  • Meeting Content: Presentations and discussions with executives from major OEMs and aftermarket organizations, as well as fleets and end-users about current conditions and hot button topics in the industry

  • Members: CEOs, COOs, or other designated senior executives with responsibility for company or business unit profits and losses

HDMA also offers a Heavy Duty Business Forum Europe (HDBF E) for members who have a presence in Europe. 

• Heavy Duty Advanced Technology Council (HDATC)

  • Purpose: Provide an avenue for discussion of advanced technology trends and issues impacting the on- and off-highway commercial vehicle industry

  • Meeting Content: Discussions around regulation, connectivity, cybersecurity, and ADAS

  • Members: CTOs, VPs of Technology or Innovation, Directors of Engineering, or other designated senior executives with responsibility for technology innovations and advanced technology developments

• Heavy Duty Marketing and Sales Forum (HDMSF)

  • Purpose: Drive the direction and content of HDMA market research publications, as well as to discuss industry trends, forecasts, contracts, challenges, and best practices

  • Meeting Content: Presentations and discussions with executives from major OEMs and aftermarket organizations about hot button topics in the industry

  • Members: Sales and marketing executives

• Off-Highway Business Forum (OHBF)

  • Purpose: Offers members the opportunity to discuss industry trends, market outlook, regulations, legislation, economic impacts, issues, and developments in the global off-highway equipment markets, such as agricultural, industrial, and construction

  • Meeting Content: Presentations and discussions with executives from major OEMs, industry experts on global market trends, and internal group roundtables of industry issues

  • Members: CEOs, sales and business development executives, or designated senior executives with responsibility for company or business unit profits and losses in the off-highway segment

• Heavy Duty Manufacturers Representatives Council (HDMRC)

  • Purpose: Remain up to date on key issues and trends, as well as bettering themselves as manufacturers’ representatives in the markets they serve

  • Meeting Content: Discussion of trends and issues affecting manufacturers’ representatives

  • Members: Manufacturer representative executives, representing HDMA member companies that are supplier/manufacturers of heavy duty vehicle components (on or off-highway)

HDMA Benefit

Remember, access to these councils and forums is a benefit of being an HDMA member. If you’re interested in learning more or if you think a member of your team would benefit from engagement with any of these groups, please let us know!