Movers and Shakers: Tom Doring

When Tom Doring received a call from private equity firm Partners Group in 2019 asking him if he’d like to be involved in the creation of belting production company Ammega Group, he knew there was only one possible answer.

"They told me their vision, what they were working on, what they wanted to do, and asked me if I wanted to be part of it," Doring recalls. "It was exciting!"

He continues that there are defining moments in your career that either help you grow or are incredibly interesting and once-in-a-lifetime-type opportunities and describes joining Ammega as one of those.

"Our intention, with our scale, is to bring new products to the market that have never been seen before."

As President of Americas Region, Doring, who boasts over 35 years of experience at companies including industrial technology company, Vacon and power management technology manufacturer, Eaton Corporation, oversees one of the primary markets of the Netherlands-headquartered company that was formed with the merger of Megadyne and Ammeraal Beltech.

"Over the past five years, we’ve spent an enormous amount of time and focus on building what we call the House of Brands," he tells The CEO Magazine. "So we’ve built a business via acquisitions and mergers, and have acquired many, many companies.

"We’ve brought these companies together with the vision to be the best belting company in the world. And our intention, with our scale, is to bring new products to the market that have never been seen before. We will have a closer touch to customers that allows us to truly understand their wants and needs."

A Winning Portfolio

Going hand in hand with Ammega’s acquisition strategy was the formation and development of a cohesive, strong company culture.

"When you buy many companies, every little one has their own culture. So we’ve spent a lot of time developing that culture," he says.

Ammega also created its ‘seven must-win battles’, which became the strategic pillars of the company and key focus areas.

Doring explains, "One of those must-win battles is what we call ‘winning portfolio’. We believe innovation starts with the customer – technology is a part of it, but we have to apply our technology to the customer’s needs."

The bottom line? There is no problem too big.

In 2022 Ammega launched its Belting Technology Conference, inviting customers to come to it with their greatest problems – a way to ensure the company is at the absolute forefront of innovation and therefore improve efficiencies and the entire customer experience.

"We challenged ourselves to figure out the solutions," Doring says. "We launched close to 30 new products this year, and we have an entire funnel of products to be launched in the near future. Some of them are simple adjustments, but others are pretty radical and transformational. We’re beginning to apply digital technologies to belting, and the intersection of belting and digital technology is coming to a point where it’s going to be a big play for us."

Network of Innovation

For Ammega, operational excellence extends throughout its entire vast supply chain. The entire ecosystem is continually being enhanced, with partners such as Keystone Dedicated Logistics (KDL), which through its technology has helped Ammega improve offenses in its logistics across its eight North American facilities, or iMedia, which developed a B2B platform that leveraged Ammega’s personal relationships with customers, enabling it to be more autonomous and streamlined in its ordering.

While Doring acknowledges that it’s important to form relationships with suppliers that are able to simultaneously provide them with the best cost, as well as the best innovation, he adds that it’s about so much more than that.

"It’s also making sure that you’re doing business with the right suppliers from an ethical and green perspective," he says. "When we think about sustainability, one of the aspects is ensuring the supply base is aligned to the values that we have, and the values that our customers have."

"When we think about sustainability, one of the aspects is ensuring the supply base is aligned to the values that we have, and the values that our customers have."

And by utilizing B2B ecommerce, Ammega’s customers are able to make the right choices based on complementary information shared on the B2B platform or product configurator to ensure fast delivery and minimize reordering, therefore impacting on their overall carbon footprint.

Another of the benefits of boasting such an impressive portfolio of partners is the additional access to expertise.

"We have suppliers that are constantly introducing their new technologies to us, but then we also have associations with universities that are applying their best talents in areas that we ask them to look at, or providing via consultation services," Doring explains.

"We are also part of multiple associations around the globe, and we get a lot of thoughts and ideas from them as well. So the network of innovation is not just through the suppliers and our customers, but the whole ancillary."

Unleashing the Power

With 26 locations around the United States providing 24/7 service 365 days per year, Ammega is differentiating itself not only through its immensely high quality products, but the unmatched support it offers customers.

"So when something goes bump in the night, any one of our customers can call us, and we’re there to do installation, repairs, upgrades," Doring says. "The belting industry, it’s a big industry that helps move the world, and that’s one of our key mantras: ‘We make your business move’."

Customer support is not a standalone project at Ammega, however; Doring says that it is an ecosystem consisting of 14 warehouses, eight customer solutions centers, five manufacturing facilities and three fabrication sites to support the United States market.

Now, with five hugely successful years under its belts, Ammega is truly hitting its stride and gearing up for all that the next chapter holds.

"What we’ve experienced here is that a strong vision helps drive you, but you need to work on the basics first – the fundamentals," Doring says. "And one of the keywords for us moving on after our fifth anniversary is ‘unleash’.

"And because we’ve built this infrastructure, we can without a doubt be the fastest-growing supplier in the industry with the best products by leveraging what we created."

Ammega’s recent investment of US$100 million to boost production, warehousing and innovation in the United States emphasizes its slogan, ‘Built American Proud’.

Now, with that rock-solid foundation to build on, Doring says that next, Ammega can focus on understanding how to unleash all of its expertise so its customers can benefit. "We’ve got to find a way to unleash the power," he says.

And as for where the industry as a whole is heading? He enthuses that the possibilities are thrilling, especially when utilizing innovative technologies.

"I truly believe automation is one of the keys to our future, as business is outpacing the individuals that can deploy things like delivery services, manufacturing services or support services," he explains. "Automation can be the answer. So I’m just so excited about how our customers are automating their equipment, and how we participate in that evolution."