PPB November 2019

these businesses. Instead, our team is 100-percent committed to embracing what made Debco, Debco or Origaudio, Origaudio, while also leveraging the operational and logistics advantages (among others) of our coast-to-coast North American footprint to better serve our distributor partners.” HPG is investing in technology to seamlessly integrate its eight North American operations and to integrate with their distributors. The plan HPG jokingly refers to is its “Hubazon” initiative. “Simply put, our goal is to leverage people, facilities and technology to provide our customers with the most compelling combination of speed, quality and value in the promotional industry,” he says. By late September four HPG locations were already on the system and another was set to go live this month. To bring HPG closer to its goals, a series of improvements are under way. First, the company plans to increase Origaudio’s presence by adding two new shipping locations. The Fountain Valley, California- based supplier, which specializes in tech accessories and lifestyle products, ships from its factory but it has product inventory arriving daily at HPG’s Braintree headquarters and at Debco’s facility in Concord, Ontario. In the coming months, Origaudio products will ship from all three locations, providing customers with greater availability and shorter lead times. To refresh the look and feel of HUB Pen Co., which was founded in 1954 and recently celebrated 65 years in business, the HPG creative teamupdated the website and the logo, which now appears in a cursive font and is animated where applicable. Further, HPG recently opened a new innovation center in the San Francisco Bay Area, and the company plans to remain aggressive on the acquisitions front. “We will continue to be thoughtfully aggressive,” he says. “This is not to say that we will acquire for the sheer sake of growth—that type of expansion rarely results in a successful outcome. That said, we have a well-defined architecture for the future of HPG (including the market segments, geographies and services and functions that we intend to actively pursue), and we will remain open to future acquisitions that better position HPG to delight our customers in these areas.” Asked about some of the challenges he and other suppliers are facing, he points out tariffs, product and social responsibility and technological threats. On tariffs, he says, “HPG is constantly evaluating its supply chain to ensure our products are manufactured on a globally-efficient basis. Given the recent tariff-related issues, this task has become infinitely more complicated. That said, the combined scale and resources of HPG has us well-equipped to navigate these waters and ensure that we are delivering the products our customers want, at the prices they need to be successful in their businesses.” Being a leader in today’s marketplace is about more than price. “At HPG we are committed to doing things right in terms of growing our footprint and business, while doing the right thing in terms of being a responsible corporate citizen,” he says. “Once again, we have leveraged the scale of HPG to establish an enterprise-wide process, and team, to ensure that our products and practices are at the forefront of promo industry responsibility.” As far as industry disrupters, Anderson says, “Technology is disrupting previously-thought impenetrable markets at an accelerating pace. While it has remained resilient, the promo industry is not immune from the effects (positive and negative) of technology. With this in mind, and as previously noted, HPG is aggressively investing in technology with an eye toward ensuring we remain not only relevant, but the supplier partner of choice, in the promo industry of the future.” Today, Anderson lives in Salt Lake City with his wife, Jamie, and their four children, where they enjoy the mountains, winter and water sports, and are committed to actively finding ways to serve others. “We have made it a point to pass this core belief on to our children,” he adds. As far as serving distributors, at the PPAI Expo 2020 in January in Las Vegas, HPG plans to launch a compelling lineup of products across all eight brands. “I have been sworn to secrecy, but I can tell you that fromwriting instruments to technology, lifestyle products and drinkware, the innovations we are bringing the industry are going to drive growth for HPG distributors in 2020.” Danielle Renda is associate editor of PPB . “At HPGwe are committed to doing things right in terms of growing our footprint and business, while doing the right thing in terms of being a responsible corporate citizen.” – Chris Anderson | NOVEMBER 2019 | 67 THINK