PARTS FORUM 2026: What Happens When North America's Aftermarket Leaders Get in the Same Room

On June 2, aftermarket and pricing leaders from across industrial manufacturing will gather in Chicago for PARTS FORUM 2026, the only event in North America dedicated exclusively to aftermarket parts pricing and operations.

Now in its third year, PARTS FORUM has become the must-attend event for leaders serious about transforming their parts pricing and operations. The format is intentionally focused: one day, practitioner-led sessions, no vendor pitches, and plenty of time to connect with peers facing similar challenges across industries.

Close the Gap: Where Aftermarket Meets Excellence 

This year’s theme, “Close the Gap: Where Aftermarket Meets Excellence”, is built around a simple question: What separates organizations that treat parts as a support function from those that run it as a strategic growth engine? Every session is designed to help attendees answer that question for their businesses as they hear from experts and peers across the industry.  

Speakers Delivering Real-World Impact 

Meet the leaders sharing strategies you can implement immediately:

Danilo Zatta
Pricing Expert & Author, Senior Partner at Implement Consulting Group

Boosting Aftersales Profits with Innovative Spare Parts Pricing (Opening Keynote)

Named by The Financial Times as “one of the world’s leading pricing minds”, Danilo shares insights into innovative pricing models and pricing tactics, presents a transformation roadmap for aftersales pricing, and delivers concrete quick wins to boost profits with parts pricing. 

Exclusive for attendees: Each participant receives a personal copy of his newest book Smart Parts Pricing – the world’s first book on aftersales pricing – with a personal dedication from the author (limited run).  

“Most companies manage spare parts as inventory; the leaders manage them as a strategic profit engine. I am excited to share how to increase aftermarket pricing maturity also with concrete quick wins to boost profits.”

Pricing Expert & Author, Senior Partner at Implement Consulting Group Danilo Zatta

John Somers
VP Construction & Utility Sector, Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM)

 The Industrial Evolution: Shifting Fundamentals in a Transforming World 

John examines how all along the value chain, the long-relied-on fundamentals of the industrials business are in a state of flux and explains why understanding these shifts is critical to crafting the tactics necessary for success.

“Our industry sits at a pivotal moment where understanding customer expectations, anticipating trends, and unlocking efficiencies across the value chain will define success. By collaborating and learning from each other, we create a stronger, more resilient aftermarket ecosystem where everyone wins."

VP Construction & Utility Sector, Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) John Somers

Meridith Zaltsberg

Head of Sales Operations, North America at Siemens Energy.

Pricing Credibility: How Strategic Price Decreases Build Trust – A Siemens Energy Case Study on Data-Driven Market Pricing

While most aftermarket pricing conversations focus on capturing more margin, Meridith takes a different angle. She shows how getting prices down on the right SKUs can be a powerful strategic move: correcting just 8% of buyout parts volume resolved roughly 50% of customer pricing complaints, and she explains why a few visible “signal” SKUs anchor portfolio-wide trust.

Matt Marone

VP Product Strategy at MARKT-PILOT™

From Pricing Intelligence to Pricing Performance: Building the Operating System That Closes the Gap

Matt discusses why intelligence alone doesn’t produce pricing performance and introduces a closed-loop pricing operating model built on four disciplines: Develop, Deliver, Execute, and Measure. Drawing on real-world transformations at Honeywell Building Automation and GE Vernova Gas Power Services, where price realization grew from roughly 1.5% to nearly 10%, he demonstrates what it truly takes to close the gap between pricing data and measurable results.

Panel Discussion: Parts as a Profit Center 

One of the most compelling sessions on the agenda is the panel “Parts as a Profit Center: How Three Industries Are Rethinking the Aftermarket.” Moderated by Wade Holeman, Head of North America & VP of Sales at MARKT-PILOT, this panel brings together Simone Silva (VP Customer Experience & Quality, Newmar), Josh Wing (Director of Parts & Supplies, Henny Penny), and Robert Danner (Director of Aftermarket Services, Douglas Machines) for a candid conversation on how parts can become a true driver of business performance.  

The discussion will explore how leadership expectations of the parts business are shifting, what it takes to turn data into better pricing decisions, and why a gap persists between how companies price whole goods and how they price parts. Panelists will also share what's worked to get leadership to see aftermarket as a growth engine—and what they wish they'd known five years ago.

With perspectives from RV manufacturing, commercial foodservice, and industrial sanitation equipment, the panel offers a chance to hear how others across different industries are approaching the same fundamental challenge: making aftermarket a strategic part of the business.

Networking That Sparks Breakthrough Ideas 

PARTS FORUM is built on a simple idea: when aftermarket leaders come together to share challenges and best practices, everyone gets better. That spirit comes through in what attendees consistently say after the event: "I realized there are people in industrial manufacturing, outside my sector, tackling the same challenges with approaches I'd never considered."

You’ll benefit from

Game-changing conversations:

• OEM leaders from diverse sectors exchanging pricing strategies that work
• Aftermarket execs data-driven insights from unexpected industries
• Cross-sector peer learning you won't find at traditional trade shows

Premium networking experiences:

• Join Cindy’s rooftop reception (Mon, June 1, 6-9pm). Skyline views and meaningful connections
• Watch MP ONE™ live demonstrations, MARKT-PILOT's Unified Pricing Performance Platform
• Get free professional headshots
• Join the conversation with like-minded people at the IIDA Idea Studio in a personal, constructive atmosphere

MP ONE Live: Pricing Performance in Action 

Experience MARKT-PILOT's Unified Pricing Performance Platform through hands-on demos showing how leading OEMs achieve:

• Unified intelligence across markets, competitors, and internal data
• Confident, governed pricing decisions with full auditability
• Real-time performance measurement on net realization and profitability
• Scalable execution across massive parts portfolios
  

See the screens, workflows, and results manufacturers use today to turn market data into measurable growth.

Your Aftermarket Edge Awaits

Industrial Manufacturers are entering an era of uncertainty: volatiles markets, broken supply chains, tariffs and other challenges. Join your peers in Chicago to master these challenges at the PARTS FORUM. Discover proven aftermarket growth strategies and connect with industry leaders driving competitive advantage through real-world pricing insights.

Attendance is free.

North America's premier aftermarket pricing event happens once a year. Seize the opportunity and join the PARTS FORUM closing the pricing gap!