IRVINE, Calif.—Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies Simrit has expanded its distribution of specialty seals by naming six companies preferred aerospace distributors.

Freudenberg selected Buckeye Rubber & Packing Co.; Kapco Inc.; Gexpro Services; Pattonair USA Inc.; Seal Dynamics; and Valley Seal Co. as its inaugural preferred distributors of aerospace products.

"This is a very technically focused market segment," said Vinay Nilkanth, vice president of global sales, aerospace. "We were looking for distributors that are technically oriented, not only about how they internally handle things, but also externally, whether or not they have sales forces that can handle aerospace types of questions."

Nilkanth cited three cornerstones to the preferred partnership: mutual sales growth, strong technological focus and complimentary capabilities. With Freudenberg bringing its technology and expertise to the table, the distributors are expected to provide logistics, keep local stock for customers, provide vendor management inventory at customer locations, package materials and reach a global market.

"With aerospace, there are some unique requirements that customers have, most important of which is the traceability requirement," Nilkanth said. "It is extremely important to pick distributors that have aerospace pedigree and the infrastructure to support aerospace documentation traceability."

All six distributors have worked with Freudenberg for at least five years. Nilkanth said the company had relationships for more than 20 years with Buckeye Rubber, Kapco, Seal Dynamics and Valley Seal.

Celebrating Freudenberg's partnership with six preferred distributors at the firm's conference in California are company officials (left to right) Sean Morgan, Vinay Nilkanth, Don Padgett, Jean-Luc Paris, Scott Wilson and David Ravani.

The scope of coverage was a major factor in the selection process. Freudenberg wanted to ensure it had its footprint in as many different strategic markets as possible, both in the U.S. and around the world. The company specifically targeted Europe and Asia.

"We wanted to make sure we had nationwide coverage, but some of the distributors were picked because of their global coverage," Nilkanth said. "We were looking for somebody that has that global reach because aerospace is a global market segment for us."

Kapco has experienced tremendous growth in Europe during the last seven years. Ron Basbas, vice president of materials management, said the company established several offices and stocking locations throughout the region.

The business always has had a presence in Asia, but it recently established sales offices and stocking locations in Singapore.

Basbas said the Middle East also will get the company's attention.

"Our partnership goes a long ways, probably close to 20 years," Basbas said. "It's nothing really new to us. There have been a lot of things over the 20 years that have moved the relationship forward and moved the business forward. We started entering into some contracts that were rather sizable and really help-ed our business grow."

The partnership is not just about growing worldwide. Rather it is about having distributor coverage with few over-laps.

Buckeye Rubber primarily is focused in Ohio, with a strong presence in New York and North Carolina.

"New York and Ohio are the states that we focused on because there are specific pockets of aerospace companies in that area that Buckeye is strong with and added significant value for us as well," Nilkanth said. "The bandwidth that we get from these preferred distributors is of tremendous value to us."

Nilkanth stressed the company and its distributors will grow together. One way Freudenberg is going to help make that possible is by offering specialized training programs for its preferred distributors.

The programs will allow distributors to broaden their knowledge of Freudenberg's products in order to expand their ability to sell more of them. Nilkanth said the distributor's sales people vicariously become Freudenberg's, and ideally they will help both entities grow.

"I'm thinking we can really expand the product breadth we've been seeing," Basbas said. "We can bring in some new products, some new opportunities based on that (training)."

The training not only will put distributors in a better position to expand their product line, but it also will allow sales associates to address specific problems of their customers better.

"I really believe by having the engineers out in the field, it's going to help grow that side of the business ... going out there and looking at the (maintenance, repair and overhaul) and asking what kinds of issues they have and what kinds of opportunities we can bring back," Basbas said. "If we understand what their concerns are rather than just selling product part numbers, I think those opportunities will come."

Kapco isn't alone, Buckeye Rubber President Don Catlin said the company eventually will use the training provided to expand into oil seals, plate seals and airframe components and PTFE seals.

"We've considered Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies a prime supplier for the aerospace brand for many years," Catlin said. "We intend to take advantage of the training programs they offer through this preferred distribution program for both our inside and outside sales staff. The training will help us open Buckeye to less-traditional product lines."

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