Earlier this year Affiliated Distributors of Wayne told the business community the firm was laser focused and bullish about 2014. The firm has followed through by expanding into Latin America.
“AD is now open for business in Latin America and we look forward to working with and sharing best practices with the best independent distributors and manufacturers in Mexico, Brazil and Colombia,” said Bill Weisberg, chairman and chief executive officer of Affiliated Distributors.
Affiliated Distributors aims to help independent distributers outperform national and international chains and is the largest industrial and construction products buying and marketing group in North America. The company reported record sales for 2013 of $28 billion. AD members also hired 1,618 new employees, opened more than 100 new locations and made 37 acquisitions. Membership across all company divisions (electrical, industrial, plumbing and building materials) grew 4 percent in 2013, and sales were up in all divisions.
“The creation of AD Latin America is driven by our sense of responsibility to our existing members and supplier partners and consistent with AD’s mission to help strong independents work together in order to counter the geographic scale advantage of national and international chains,” Weisberg said.
Leading the Latin American expansion is Carlos Garcia Ramirez, AD’s new managing director and vice president of operations there. Ramirez has three decades of electrical industry experience. Prior to joining AD, he was managing director for Panduit in Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe and the Middle East. During his 24 years at Panduit, Ramirez successfully built a distribution network and strong local teams. He will be based in Guadalajara, Mexico.
“AD Latin America has the enthusiastic support of the entire AD board of directors, said Donald Slominski, a member of the AD board of directors and president and chief executive officer of McNaughton McKay Electric Co. of Madison Heights, Mich.
“We believe that AD’s culture of diversity and respect for local market differences will be very well received in Latin America,” Ramirez said. “AD doesn’t have just one way of doing things. We work in seven industries and two countries and we customize our approach in each market based on its unique dynamics.”
Affiliated Distributors also plans to expand to other countries in Central and South America.
