This feature is the sixth in a series profiling associations connected to the heavy equipment industry. These important associations are the collective voice of the people who manufacture, buy, sell, rent, and finance equipment, ensuring they have the resources they need and that their voice is heard.
Association Snapshot
Name: Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM)
Year Founded: 1894
HQ: Milwaukee, WI with branch offices in the world capitals of Washington D.C., Ottawa, Canada and Beijing, China
Members:
AEM offers membership to manufacturers of off-road equipment, and product and service providers in the agriculture, construction, forestry, mining and utility sectors.
Non-members can access a names-only list of AEM members online.
Membership Size: More than 850 companies representing more than 200 product lines across the U.S., Canada and worldwide.
Association Mission
AEM ‘s mission is to advance the off-road equipment manufacturing industry in the global marketplace, and to provide the necessary tools and resources to help all members compete successfully. For more than a century, AEM has provided a forum for industry-wide action that transcends individual member company size, product line or individual business concerns.
Structure and Member Benefits
AEM serves companies operating in North America, including their subsidiaries of international companies. A number of AEM member companies have maintained their membership for more than 100 years.
AEM works at the national, provincial and international levels to create a strong and unified voice for equipment manufacturing and the entire industry.
Vice President Al Cervero told Tuffwerx that member engagement is key to the success of AEM. It is a member-led organization, with AEM boards, committees and councils providing direction and guidance for association programs and actions that benefit the entire membership and industry.
AEM members can draw on a wide range of benefits, due to the association’s sheer size and available resources. Services and benefits fall under the following six categories:
- Advocacy and legislation
- Market information
- Safety, regulatory and technical
- Trade shows
- Global business development
- Education
AEM Goals in 2014
AEM activity in 2014 has included trade shows and innovation in telematics. The association has focused on:
- Producing a successful CONEXPO-CON/AGG exposition to help equipment buyers and sellers more easily connect
- Expanding grass roots political support for increased highway funding and pro-manufacturing policies that create jobs
- Advancing an industry-wide telematics standard to boost equipment management and productivity
- Launching its EU REACH training platform to help companies comply with chemical-management regulations throughout their supply chain
- Strengthening the scope of its equipment safety outreach to machine operators with new and updated safety manuals
Trade Shows: CONEXPO-CON/AGG and More
AEM’s trade shows are among the largest in the industry. Tuffwerx features many of them on its Industry Show and Conference Calendar, including CONEXPO-CON/AGG, World of Asphalt, ICUEE and AG CONNECT.
AEM’s role as a trade show owner and producer provides high quality manufacturer-run events that offer superior business results for exhibitors and attendees, with show revenues going to support the industry.
AEM’s flagship show, CONEXPO-CON/AGG, is a global showcase and gathering place for the construction and construction materials industry. CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2014 in March in Las Vegas was a huge success, bringing together more than 129,000 registered attendees and more than 2.35 million net square feet of the latest equipment and product innovations. Hundreds of industry meetings took place in conjunction with the show, as well as high quality industry expert education.
Planning is already underway for the next CONEXPO-CON/AGG exhibition, set for March 7-11, 2017 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. You can visit conexpoconagg.com for the latest details.
I Make America Outreach
AEM was founded with the goal of advocating for better roads that could bring products to market faster, safer and more efficiently. Today, Vice President Al Cervero says that a superior infrastructure system is still needed for improved productivity and quality of life.
AEM’s I Make America initiative focuses on making more noise in Washington through increased grass roots support for pro-manufacturing policies in the U.S. that improve the economy and create jobs. The initiative has its own website, and AEM encourages readers to take a look and sign up.
In 2014, I Make America greatly increased its outreach with a Harley tour, displaying a new, specially painted Harley Davidson motorcycle to be raffled off in the fourth quarter of the year. The tour traveled more than 14,500 miles to 25 member company gatherings to sign up supporters and bring its advocacy messages to communities and elected leaders. I Make America now has more than 39,000 supporters across the United States.
New Telematics Standard
This year, AEM and AEMP, the Association of Equipment Management Professionals, unveiled and delivered a final draft of its joint industrywide telematics standard. The standard provides end users with more OEM equipment data and more convenient access, which allows them to better manage and analyze information across their fleets, and helps them save time and money on the job site or within their operations.
The AEM-AEMP draft telematics standard is now available at no charge to end users, including contractors, fleet managers, rental managers and dealers/distributors, as well as OEMs, systems management firms and other interested construction/industrial and related industry professionals.
To achieve a globally recognized standard for conformity worldwide, the AEM/AEMP Draft Telematics API (Application Programming Interface) Standard will be submitted for acceptance by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
EU REACH Training Program
AEM also launched its REACH training platform in 2014, an industrywide program that helps manufacturers and their suppliers comply with onerous and far-reaching chemical management regulations from the European Union.
Under these regulations, manufacturers must prove compliance throughout the supply chain, or risk losing market access. The REACH training platform provides a secure way for manufacturers to trace supplier participation and completion of training at every level of the supply chain.
At the request of members, AEM has expanded the training to include complex conflict minerals-reporting rules mandated by the U.S. Dodd-Frank Act.
Safety Manuals and Materials
AEM produces a wide variety of safety manuals and related materials as a convenient and cost effective way to provide safety information to operators (AEM safety manuals are not a substitute for manufacturer manuals). The manuals and materials are developed by manufacturers under the auspices of AEM working groups.
In 2014, AEM produced a new directional drilling safety manual and updated directional drilling tracking equipment and roller compactor safety manuals. AEM safety materials cover more than 40 types of equipment used in agricultural, construction, forestry, mining and utility applications.
Select materials are available in Spanish, Chinese, Russian, French and French Canadian. All AEM safety and training materials are available online in the AEM store. Some safety materials are offered in downloadable files or in DVD format. AEM members receive discounts on select material.
Future of AEM
Looking ahead to 2015, Vice President Al Cervero communicated with Tuffwerx that a key focus in public policy includes pushing for passage of a new highway bill. Following the success of AEM’s advocacy efforts with I Make America, the association is developing a much more ambitious initiative, the AEM Infrastructure 2050 Vision. Through this initiative, AEM strives to take a comprehensive look at the future of infrastructure, from needs to opportunities for improvement.
AEM is also planning several successful trade shows to be held in 2015:
- ICUEE-The Demo Expo - September 29–October 1, 2015 in Louisville
- World of Asphalt Show and Conference - March 17–19, 2015 in Baltimore
- CONEXPO Latin America - This inaugural show will be held October 21–24, 2015 in Santiago, Chile, bringing CONEXPO-quality exhibition and education opportunities to the Latin America
The association will also continue to expand its efforts in all core service areas to advance its members’ and industry interests.
AEM is active in social media, communicating with and engaging members, as well as the broader industry and business community and general public. You can connect with AEM on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Learn more at AEM.org.