NFPA Identifies a Strategy Agenda to Address the Needs of the Fluid Power Industry

by William G. Gorski
CFO, Bimba Manufacturing Company

A few months ago, following the NFPA Board’s strategic planning session, I wrote about a new strategy agenda that was being formed to help address the needs of the fluid power industry. As I wrote then, NFPA’s three strategic priorities:

• Inclusiveness: Serving as a forum where all fluid power channel partners work together;
• Technology: Promoting fluid power technology and fostering an innovative environment for the fluid power industry; and
• Workforce: Building and connecting our members to an educated fluid power workforce;

are well aligned with the needs our members have expressed. And although we have made significant progress in each of these areas, several on-going challenges remain. For example, as much as we have done to bring the fluid power supply chain together, we are still seeking to improve our ability to engage customers of fluid power for market intelligence and networking. As much as we have done to provide our members with information and forums to promote their technologies, we are still seeking to build a sustainable innovation platform for them to leverage in bringing new products to market. And as much as we have done to bring more fluid power education to more students, we are still seeking to increase our ability to connect our members to those students for real workforce opportunities.

At our October 2014 Board of Directors meeting, we continued our discussion in all of these areas, and, with the help of our dedicated staff, finalized a series of “ends statements” to nest under each of our three areas of strategic priority. These statements better describe the world we’re trying to create for our members. They are focused very tightly on the outcomes we wish to achieve, and will be used to shape and direct our activities from this point forward. They are:

These statements, along with a series of success indicators by which we’ll be tracking progress against them, form a new strategy agenda for NFPA. It is one that is built upon the many strengths that the association possesses, while providing new areas of challenge for NFPA to tackle. All of this is framed under our central mission of strengthening the fluid power industry.

Future posts here on NFPA News will communicate additional details about the work behind each ends statement. At any time, please feel free to contact me through the NFPA office. Not only are your thoughts and feedback welcome, I strongly encourage your personal involvement in any or all areas of strategy that interest you.