IGear Joins Association for High Technology Distribution to Power Up Industrial Internet of Things Go-to-Market Efforts

Company Will Leverage AHTD Membership to Support North American Distribution Strategy for New SQUEAKS Mobile-First Industrial IoT Messaging Platform


LOUISVILLE, KY--(Marketwired - Dec 7, 2016) - IGear, a leader in smart manufacturing and supply chain solutions, today announced it has joined the Association for High Technology Distribution (AHTD) to support its go-to-market strategy for its innovative new SQUEAKS platform.

IGear has already signed a number of strategic go-to-market partnerships in North America. These include: AHTD member and automation solutions providers Air Hydro Power and RR Floody Company, industrial machinery powerhouse Komatsu and robotics systems integrator Genesis Systems Group, LLC.

"Joining AHTD will help us to expand our go-to-market distribution efforts for our new SQUEAKS platform - a mobile-first Industrial Internet of Things messaging app that facilitates quicker, better decision-making, and closed-loop collaboration, with machines as part of the conversation," said IGear President and CEO Don Korfhage.

"Gartner predicts there is $1.9 trillion worth of economic value related to the sale and usage of Internet of Things technology, and IDC predicts this will reach over $7 trillion by 2020. With the maturation of the Industrial Internet of Things, there is a new ecosystem emerging that offers significant opportunities for channel partners as manufacturers and supply chain players seek to leverage the IIoT and expand their current Machine-to-Machine strategies to evolve to support Machine-to-Human collaboration," said Korfhage.

For 30 years, the AHTD has worked to increase the productivity, profitability and market share of automation solution providers and manufacturers. To qualify for membership, companies are required to have the majority of their revenue realized through distributors.

The group works to improve the efficiency and profitability of relationships between its members, provides networking and educational opportunities, and has business support personnel with expertise in distribution, legislation, profitability, safety, sales strategies, and tax and legal issues.

SQUEAKS is already installed at multiple beta sites across the country, supporting smart manufacturing where people and machines communicate in real-time. The platform was recently previewed at AutoVision 2016 where IGear was also a featured presenter on the role of the IoT in the new automotive era of smart factories and connected manufacturing, and SQUEAKS was recently named one of the top 10 new technologies showcased at FABTECH 2016.

About IGear: Real-Time Manufacturing Realized
Over the past 30 years, IGear has been at the forefront of innovation in smart manufacturing and supply chain solutions. We provide solutions that connect the enterprise, streamline data gathering and analysis, and empower teams through improved communication and collaboration. The world's leading organizations in the manufacturing and supply chain industries rely on our solutions to solve their most complex, mission-critical operational challenges by unlocking the power of their data to support better, faster decisions, improved performance and exceptional responsiveness. Learn more: www.igearonline.com