Someone You Should Know: David Bennington

With so many ERA members, it is not easy to get to know every rep, manufacturer and distributor in the business.“Someone You Should Know” is The Representor department that gives readers the chance to learn about fellow ERA members, including how their time is spent both in and out of the office.

Meet David Bennington, vice president of sales at Knight Electronics/Orion Fans. The Representor asked Bennington a few questions about his time in the electronics manufacturing business. Here is what he had to say.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

My dad worked for a major oil company when I was growing up so my older sister and I moved around a bit. I was born in Tulsa and spent time in Casper, Kansas City and Chicago, but have been in Dallas for 25 years. I took a job down in Dallas and moved down here from Chicago to be closer to my parents. Having said that, I am a Kansas City Chiefs, Cubs (NL) and a Blackhawks fan as I enjoyed going to these games and still do when I get the chance. Funny story — I lived here in Dallas for about a year and a half before I met my wife. We met at a birthday party of a girl I took out the night before! We have one daughter who is going into her senior year at University of Arkansas. (What’s really cool is we share the same birthday – best birthday present ever!)

How long have you been in the manufacturing business?

Wow! I am really going to date myself. I left Newark Electronics where I was a corporate supplier manager in 1997 and I began my career in the electronics manufacturing world as a national distribution manager for a company called CP Clare at the time. This particular role was in Chicago where I managed the corporate distributor relationships as well as interacted with manufacturers’ reps when engaging the distributor field personnel. When I moved to Dallas in 2000, it was with a different company and role – Optek Technology, Inc. as global distribution manager. I was single at the time and was very fortunate to get to travel all over Europe for business and some pleasure. (Optek went to market through the rep community too, so I got introduced to a couple of reps who ended up being my mentors and still are to this day).

How did you become interested in the electronics industry?

I was in Chicago working for Sears Roebuck & Co. and was getting bored of being a new store coordinator and literally answered an ad for a corporate product manager role with Newark Electronics. Several months later, I found myself sitting behind a desk at the old Ravenswood facility working for them. I handled two handfuls of suppliers and learned about their products within the electronics world, which at the time was all new to me and very exciting all at the same time. Almost 30 years later, I haven’t – and won’t – leave the industry.

What have you found to be most rewarding about the business?

First, the people. I have been very fortunate to meet so many interesting and fascinating people who I have either worked with, worked for or just worked around. It didn’t matter if they worked for a manufacturer, manufacturers’ rep or a distributor, I got to know a lot of people. Secondly, the technology we see. I might be old school in the fact that when I visit customers (with reps and/or distributors), I really like when I can walk about in the lab or production area/backroom. It’s amazing to see some of the applications that ultimately make it to market, and I can say, “I saw that being designed/built!”

Briefly describe your organization.

Knight Electronics is a family-owned business located in Dallas, Texas, and we have three brands – Orion Fans, Knight EMS and IoAudio Technologies. Our company was founded in 1979 by Bob Knight. The company is now run by his son John Knight, who is a Merchant Marine Academy grad and logistics expert. We have 35 employees and a 50,000-square-foot warehouse at this location as well, which houses the most on-hand inventory of any fan manufacturer on the planet. The majority of our manufacturing is done in Taiwan, as we have transitioned almost all of our business out of China.

What recent innovations, best practices and/or changes has your organization made?

We have reached several major technology milestones since 2020 here at Knight:

• New phone system: Enabled seamless work-from-home capability during lockdowns — and continues to support flexible work today when someone must be out.

• Sage ERP upgrades: We added multibin barcoding, vastly improving inventory accuracy and warehouse efficiency and are in process of adding an “on the water” module to streamline receiving and warehousing.

• New POS tool with Budde Marketing: A game-changer in how we view our distributors’ customer transactions.

• Buddy CRM system: Our new CRM platform gives us a full 360-degree view of our customers, helping us boost sales, track activity and improve customer satisfaction.

• EDI implementation: We’ve taken a major step forward with automated order processing, improving speed and reducing errors.

• Rep management upgrades: We replaced RPMS with Repfabric, and now Manufabric helps us track rep sales and commissions with precision. For a company our size, these enhancements have really allowed us to “punch above our weight” and keep improving the way we do business and go to market.

What have you learned and/or what contacts have you made through ERA that have had the greatest positive impacts on you and/or your business?

Walter and his team have done a fantastic job growing the ERA organization from where it was just 3-4 years ago to what it is today. It’s allowed its members to not only network and learn best practices for reps, but also manufacturers and distributors to do their jobs more efficiently than in the past. (The wait list the last two years to attend the ERA Conference is a testament to their focus and dedication). It is so impressive to click on the “Resources” tab on ERA.org to find a plethora of tools to assist or inform the members on how to grow in their roles and responsibilities.

What are some things you enjoy outside of the workplace?

As people know, the Texas summers are brutally hot so I enjoy boating and lounging by the pool to help cool off and pass the time away. Having attended a Big Ten school and with my daughter at an SEC university, the fall is all about college football and tailgating – whether watching in person or with friends is a lot of fun. I also try to squeeze in a round or two of golf occasionally.

What is one interesting fact people may not know about you?

Before my wife and I got married, we were part of the DFW Golden Retriever Rescue where we were Board members and actively involved in fostering golden retrievers. After we left the organization, we counted that we had fostered 41 dogs between our two households. They are such great dogs and we finally adopted one when we got married that our daughter grew up with for almost eight years. Right now we own a three-year old English Cream Golden.