Milwaukee wins prestigious award

The tool specialists took out the top honour at the recent GPC Asia Pacific PACE Awards

Milwaukee Tool claimed the coveted Supplier of the Year Award at the recent GPC Asia Pacific PACE Awards (formerly known as the Hall of Fame). The PACE Awards have become colloquially known as the ‘Pace-ies,’ with PACE standing for ‘Partners Awarded and Celebrated for Excellence.’ Milwaukee’s Supplier of the Year (Australia) award capped off an amazing night for the power tool brand, which also took home the Exceptional Service to the Store Network (New Zealand) accolade. Milwaukee says these awards truly solidify its partnership with GPC Asia Pacific and are testament to the success of its ‘end-user first’ approach. The awards were presented as part of a special gala dinner which was held at Melbourne’s prestigious Metropolis in Southbank and compered by Repco Supercars television commentator, Neil Crompton. The night opened with a high-energy video which brought together the Repco and NAPA brands and highlighted some of the biggest achievements of the two businesses from the past 12 months. GPC Asia Pacific Chairman, John Moller, set the scene at the award ceremony by reflecting on the importance of strong relationships with Suppliers and Partners. The Supplier of the Year Award recognises high performance in a range of criteria including Continual Innovation, Learning and Development, DIFOT Performance, Customer First Focus and Continual Support of the Stores and Support Functions. Group Managing Director of Techtronics Industries Australia and New Zealand (the parent company of Milwaukee Tool Australia and New Zealand), Michael Brendle, told Australian Automotive Aftermarket Magazine the Award meant a lot to his company. “We’re extremely proud to win this award as it recognises how well our whole team across Australia and New Zealand works together to ensure that our collaboration with GPC runs extremely well,” Brendle said. “The automotive channel is very significant to us and having this partnership with GPC provides strong connection moving forward. It has given us the ability to really connect with our automotive user base, particularly with Milwaukee’s innovative products in the automotive space.” Brendle believes the award stands Milwaukee Tool in good stead as it takes on the challenges of the future. “We offer a lot of innovation to our users for the workshop environment. Our M12™ platform really does lend itself to the automotive space. By offering cordless technology, we are able to replace air tools and it is important to us that our solutions are improving the users’ safety, while giving them even better product performance in the workshop,” Brendle said. “We are shaking up the automotive hand tool category – which has been dormant in the industry for a while – with some incredible hand tool innovation. We are really catering to the needs of the automotive professional to give them more access in hard-to-reach spaces, along with more power, more comfort and more control in their work. “It is going to be an exciting time ahead for our users.” Former AAAA President, Rob Cameron, was also presented an award for his leadership and guidance whilst navigating the COVID-19 period and maintaining a focus on looking after the GPCAP Team, suppliers, and customers. For more on the Awards gala dinner, see pages 50-53.

Karen Brewster, Executive General Manager Merchandise, GPC Asia Pacific, Paul Maclean, Strategic Account Manager – Transportation, Milwaukee and Rob Cameron, Managing Director & CEO, GPC Asia Pacific

PEDDERS AND CHERRY ENERGY SOLUTIONS FLICK THE SWITCH ON SOLAR

The renewable energy project is expected to offset Pedders’ total energy consumption by up to 81 percent

In 2020 Pedders Suspension and Brakes teamed up with Cherry Energy Solutions to install solar PV panels across five key sites. The renewable energy project is the first of its kind for the Pedders group. Every year, the solar systems installed across the five sites are expected to produce a total of 127,840 kilowatt hours of clean and reliable electricity – enough energy to power more than 14 homes or planting 2011 tree seedlings and growing them for 10 years. Pedders Suspension and Brakes is expected to offset its total energy consumption by up to 81 percent with one store already hitting 113 percent (making it 100 percent renewable). “After an exhaustive tender process, I’m pleased to announce that we have just flicked the switch on our very first renewable energy project,” Pedders Senior Executive Brand and Marketing, Adam Gillick, said. “In late 2020 we appointed Cherry Energy Solutions as our official provider of solar panels across five company owned store locations. “The combined installations are expected to save the sites approximately $24,344 in total electricity costs annually. “Not only are we grateful for the Pedder family’s investment in our organisation and sustainable values, but we are ready to take this to the next level, supporting renewable energy across additional sites of the business.” The solar installations took place at these locations: • Pedders National Headquarters, located at

Letcon Drive Dandenong South. • Pedders NSW State Distribution Centre, located at Campbelltown. • Pedders Queensland State Distribution Centre, located at Lawnton. • Pedders Moorabbin store outlet, located at

Wren Rd Moorabbin. • Pedders Ferntree Gully store outlet, located at

Ferntree Road Ferntree Gully. The renewable energy project, totalling 103.6kW of solar, was installed by Cherry Energy Solutions, a leading Australian commercial energy efficiency company which has installed over 50MW of solar and 1,000,000+ LED lights nationally.

For more from Pedders, visit www.pedders.com.au