HARDI
Encyclopedia
For High Angular Resolution Diffusion Imaging see Diffusion MRI: HARDI and Q-Ball
HARDI, or Heating, Airconditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International, is a not for profit association
whose focus is to promote the business interests of wholesale
air-conditioning, heating, and refrigeration
companies. HARDI's member companies are estimated to represent about 80% of the industry's wholesale sales- over $20 billion annually.
The market for refrigerators began in the 1920s and early 1930s with store display cases. Emerging as a result of this was the Refrigeration Parts Association in 1935, which in 1958 became the Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Wholesale (ARW).
In the late 1940s, heating wholesalers formed their own organization, the National Heating Wholesalers Association, to focus on the business of national distribution of lighter weight steel furnaces in the post-war building boom. By the 1960s this association was renamed Northamerican Heating & Airconditioning Wholesalers Association (NHAW).
As the exponential growth period for many products gave way to maturity, the HVACR industry entered into an era of excess production capacity. For manufacturers this led to mergers, acquisitions, and closed doors. The 100 furnace manufacturers in the 1960s became just a handful by the 1990s. Channel power shifted from the manufacturer to the customer.
For wholesalers too, real growth often came by increasing market share at the expense of another wholesaler, merging and acquiring other wholesalers and moving horizontally to handle other related products - air-conditioning wholesalers might expand into refrigeration and vice versa. As technology issues helped drive the merger of contractor, engineering and manufacturer associations in the 50s and 60s, pure distribution issues in the 90s helped inspire the consolidation of the two major HVACR wholesale trade groups- Northamerican Heating, Refrigeration & Airconditioning Wholesalers (NHRAW)' and Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Wholesalers International (ARWI).
In 2003 these two trade groups consolidated to form HARDI.
Increasing profitability
-Profit training by industry and distribution experts
-Margin and ROI
targets
-Benchmarking tools
-Credit and collections training
-Operational Management
-Warehousing and inventory management training
-Compensation trends and training
-HR and succession planning
-Logistics
-Cost Saving Programs
-EDI
, electronic ordering and fulfillment
-Catalog resources
-Price and product update services
-Insurance
-Credit card processing
-Car rentals
-Shipping and freight
-Excess inventory outlets
Growth
-Sales Training
-Sales Management
-Outside Sales
-Inside/Counter Sales
-Customer Retention
-Customer training tools
-Distributor advocacy and locating services
-Industry alliances with ACCA, RSES, NATE and other customer organizations
Industry, product and distribution education
-Accredited Home Study Institute (HSI)
-Counter Certification Program
-Product & System focused Councils
-Access & Exposure to the newest products from around the world
-Distribution trends and news
-University of Industrial Distribution
-Executive Development Seminars
-Disaster & Succession planning
Legislative awareness and representation
-National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors
-Small business advocacy
-U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, OSHA
, and other Regulatory Bodies
Accessing new channels
-Introduction to over 450 distributors of HVACR supplies, equipment, systems, and controls
-Total market coverage in North America
-Market coverage on six continents
-Trends, news and feedback from contractor and commercial customer bases
-Branding opportunities
-Introduction, training, and education on wholesale distribution
-Access to the industry's most important Cooperatives
Maximizing existing channels
-Supply Chain efficiency technologies and initiatives
-Marketing and sales training
-Training and education to increase Channel Manager leaning curves
-Sales and profitability trends for wholesale channel
-Panelist and speaker opportunities
-Training for factory-owned distribution operations
Marketing
-Conference Booth Program
-Regional Tabletop Mini-meetings
-Committee and leadership strategic meetings
-Product-focused Council meetings
-Roundtable discussions
-Formal and informal social events
-Golf and other organized recreational networking events
industry. The following are just some of those events:
Annual fall conference
This conference is host to over 1200 attendees who meet for educational programming, leadership meetings, and committee and council meetings. The conference holds a booth program that features over 200 leading manufacturers and service vendors, and functions such as receptions, dinners, and a golf tournament are all a part of the formal and informal networking that the conference helps facilitate.
Executive development and leadership retreats
These are highly intense and intimate three-day training sessions with well-known distribution experts focused on prominent and emerging executives among distributors and manufacturers.
Job title-focused traveling workshops
These expert-led training boot camps focus on specific distributor job responsibilities such as Branch Managers, Inside Sales, and Counter Sales held in locations across the US.
Regional meetings and the mid-year business conference
Regional distributors and their suppliers gather yearly at this conference to discuss issues specific to their local markets.
HARDI icebreaker and executives' roundtable
These HARDI-sponsored events held annually at the AHR Expo are member favorites where the HARDI community can meet and mingle in the midst of the often overwhelming Expo crowd.
HARDI, or Heating, Airconditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International, is a not for profit association
Trade association
A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association or sector association, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry...
whose focus is to promote the business interests of wholesale
Wholesale
Wholesaling, jobbing, or distributing is defined as the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers, to industrial, commercial, institutional, or other professional business users, or to other wholesalers and related subordinated services...
air-conditioning, heating, and refrigeration
Refrigeration
Refrigeration is a process in which work is done to move heat from one location to another. This work is traditionally done by mechanical work, but can also be done by magnetism, laser or other means...
companies. HARDI's member companies are estimated to represent about 80% of the industry's wholesale sales- over $20 billion annually.
History
Wholesaling matured at different times for different types of merchandise in the North America. For instance, food and apparel wholesalers were already well established in the 19th century. However, today's mechanical products were not possible until the development of the small electric motor in the early 20th century.The market for refrigerators began in the 1920s and early 1930s with store display cases. Emerging as a result of this was the Refrigeration Parts Association in 1935, which in 1958 became the Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Wholesale (ARW).
In the late 1940s, heating wholesalers formed their own organization, the National Heating Wholesalers Association, to focus on the business of national distribution of lighter weight steel furnaces in the post-war building boom. By the 1960s this association was renamed Northamerican Heating & Airconditioning Wholesalers Association (NHAW).
As the exponential growth period for many products gave way to maturity, the HVACR industry entered into an era of excess production capacity. For manufacturers this led to mergers, acquisitions, and closed doors. The 100 furnace manufacturers in the 1960s became just a handful by the 1990s. Channel power shifted from the manufacturer to the customer.
For wholesalers too, real growth often came by increasing market share at the expense of another wholesaler, merging and acquiring other wholesalers and moving horizontally to handle other related products - air-conditioning wholesalers might expand into refrigeration and vice versa. As technology issues helped drive the merger of contractor, engineering and manufacturer associations in the 50s and 60s, pure distribution issues in the 90s helped inspire the consolidation of the two major HVACR wholesale trade groups- Northamerican Heating, Refrigeration & Airconditioning Wholesalers (NHRAW)' and Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Wholesalers International (ARWI).
In 2003 these two trade groups consolidated to form HARDI.
Wholesaler members
One of HARDI's main goals is to help distributors looking to improve and grow their business. HARDI focuses on providing information in many different areas, and has experts in many different industry functions. Below are some of the services and educational opportunities HARDI makes available its wholesaler members:Increasing profitability
-Profit training by industry and distribution experts
-Margin and ROI
ROI
-Roi:Roi may refer to:*Roi, a 1993 song by The Breeders in their album Last Splash*Roi Et and Roi Et province in Thailand*Roi Klein, an Israeli Defense major*Roi-Namur, an island in the Marshall Islands...
targets
-Benchmarking tools
-Credit and collections training
-Operational Management
-Warehousing and inventory management training
-Compensation trends and training
-HR and succession planning
-Logistics
-Cost Saving Programs
-EDI
EDI
EDI may refer to:* Efficient Drivetrains Inc.* Electronic Data Interchange, a particular set of standards for computer-to-computer exchange of information* EDI, Extended Destination Index...
, electronic ordering and fulfillment
-Catalog resources
-Price and product update services
-Insurance
-Credit card processing
-Car rentals
-Shipping and freight
-Excess inventory outlets
Growth
-Sales Training
-Sales Management
-Outside Sales
-Inside/Counter Sales
-Customer Retention
-Customer training tools
-Distributor advocacy and locating services
-Industry alliances with ACCA, RSES, NATE and other customer organizations
Industry, product and distribution education
-Accredited Home Study Institute (HSI)
-Counter Certification Program
-Product & System focused Councils
-Access & Exposure to the newest products from around the world
-Distribution trends and news
-University of Industrial Distribution
-Executive Development Seminars
-Disaster & Succession planning
Legislative awareness and representation
-National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors
-Small business advocacy
-U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, OSHA
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Labor. It was created by Congress of the United States under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, signed by President Richard M. Nixon, on December 29, 1970...
, and other Regulatory Bodies
Manufacturer/manufacturer representatives
HARDI also has hundreds of members that are HVAC manufacturers, and helps to facilitate business between the manufacturers and wholesalers. The following are some of the opportunities offered by HARDI to manufacturers:Accessing new channels
-Introduction to over 450 distributors of HVACR supplies, equipment, systems, and controls
-Total market coverage in North America
-Market coverage on six continents
-Trends, news and feedback from contractor and commercial customer bases
-Branding opportunities
-Introduction, training, and education on wholesale distribution
-Access to the industry's most important Cooperatives
Maximizing existing channels
-Supply Chain efficiency technologies and initiatives
-Marketing and sales training
-Training and education to increase Channel Manager leaning curves
-Sales and profitability trends for wholesale channel
-Panelist and speaker opportunities
-Training for factory-owned distribution operations
Marketing
-Conference Booth Program
-Regional Tabletop Mini-meetings
-Committee and leadership strategic meetings
-Product-focused Council meetings
-Roundtable discussions
-Formal and informal social events
-Golf and other organized recreational networking events
Conferences, meetings, and training
HARDI holds a number of different events throughout the year to help promote business and professional development in the HVACHVAC
HVAC refers to technology of indoor or automotive environmental comfort. HVAC system design is a major subdiscipline of mechanical engineering, based on the principles of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer...
industry. The following are just some of those events:
Annual fall conference
This conference is host to over 1200 attendees who meet for educational programming, leadership meetings, and committee and council meetings. The conference holds a booth program that features over 200 leading manufacturers and service vendors, and functions such as receptions, dinners, and a golf tournament are all a part of the formal and informal networking that the conference helps facilitate.
Executive development and leadership retreats
These are highly intense and intimate three-day training sessions with well-known distribution experts focused on prominent and emerging executives among distributors and manufacturers.
Job title-focused traveling workshops
These expert-led training boot camps focus on specific distributor job responsibilities such as Branch Managers, Inside Sales, and Counter Sales held in locations across the US.
Regional meetings and the mid-year business conference
Regional distributors and their suppliers gather yearly at this conference to discuss issues specific to their local markets.
HARDI icebreaker and executives' roundtable
These HARDI-sponsored events held annually at the AHR Expo are member favorites where the HARDI community can meet and mingle in the midst of the often overwhelming Expo crowd.