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RealTruck Hosts Inaugural Supplier Summit

Updated on Sep 18, 2024

On Thursday, September 14th, 2023, RealTruck Inc, held its First Annual Supplier Summit. Hosting over 120 attendees at the Junge Family Champions Center, next to University of Michigan’s Stadium “The Big House”, the event explored the company’s future state to their partner-suppliers. With an informative sharing session, RealTruck detailed the next chapter of their story; from executing a One Company Operating Model to the recent acquisition of Go Rhino. RealTruck shared up-and-coming designs, detailed the breadth and depth of its current product offerings across all locations within the RealTruck umbrella, and communicated its strategic plans and future direction.

“The theme of this event was WeR1. We see our partner suppliers as an extension of our organization and recognize that they are an integral part of our success. We have a great opportunity ahead of us to grow together and it’s important that our suppliers understand our strategic direction and company goals. This also gave us an opportunity to thank our supplier partners and acknowledge their contributions to our joint success. We look forward to this summit becoming an annual event to strengthen our supplier relationships that further our mutual success.”
– Dan Kusiak (SVP, Global Sourcing): Procurement

Overview

RealTruck’s Inaugural Supplier Summit included presentations from CEO, Carl-Martin Lindahl on RealTruck’s current state and future transformation, moving on to the critical topics of supply chain and distribution, presented by SVP, Kelly Szatkowski. Operations and operational next steps were covered by the Chief Product Supply Officer, Sebastien Katch, shifting to the SVP of Global Sourcing, Dan Kusiak, who highlighted procurement and RealTruck’s global footprint. Suppliers learned about RealTruck’s marketing and advertising strategy from Tony Ambroza, the company’s CGO, while closing the presentation section was RealTruck’s VP of Engineering, Bob Gaarder, highlighting innovations—those currently in development and others coming to market soon.

As the event concluded, RealTruck presented several “REAL” awards to its partner suppliers, highlighting strategic partnerships. RealTruck was honored to distribute six awards—ranging from Quality and Innovation to Service and Commercial Value—to its most critical suppliers.

RealTruck Supplier Award Winners:

Real Commercial Value Award – FedEx Corporation
Real Value Add Award – Merit Aluminum
Real Service & Responsiveness Award – Axalta
Real Innovation Award – APEX Sourcing & Manufacturing
Real Quality Award – Hydro
Real Supplier of the Year - eShipping

RealTruck sincerely thanks all of those in attendance for their participation and looks forward to next year’s event.

About RealTruck
RealTruck, Inc. is the premier vertically integrated truck, Jeep® and off-road parts and accessories company in North America, and is headquartered in Ann Arbor, Mich. with over 5,000 employees and 35 locations across North America. Realtruck.com is the ultimate source and digital destination for those who love and live a real truck lifestyle. Fueled by its customer-first mindset, RealTruck, Inc. continuously designs, develops, manufactures and sells industry-defining products with more than 570 patents and growing. RealTruck Inc.’s product offering is a leader in each of its primary categories. Its extensive omni-channel approach allows RealTruck, Inc. to serve customers wherever they’re searching, researching and shopping for products online at RealTruck.com or through the RealTruck, Inc. sales channel, which includes more than 12,000 dealer locations and automotive (OEM) partnerships. RealTruck, Inc. is engineered to deliver a seamless consumer experience from idea to installation.