An Interview With...Andy Duffy

Andy Duffy, VMA Chairman of the Board, at the 2023 annual meeting.
Photo Credit: VMA

Andy Duffy is the vice president of sales for discrete automation at Emerson, based in Florham Park, NJ, and he’s the 2023-2024 VMA Board of Directors Chairman. In this article, Andy provides some insights into what opportunities and challenges he sees ahead for the valve industry, as well as the importance of elevating the industry’s visibility. Andy is the successor to Matt Thiel as VMA Chairman of the Board, who remains on the VMA Executive Committee.

Valve Magazine: Can you give us a little background on your education and how you became involved in the industry?

Andy Duffy: My undergraduate degree is in Mechanical Engineering from Villanova (way back in 1983). I had a short stint in the printing industry and then instrumentation before joining ASCO in 1986. In 1988, I earned my MBA at Seton Hall. I was drawn to ASCO by the international opportunities. I was in the international department and then moved with my young family in tow to Australia as commercial director for that operation. In 1997, we moved to Singapore, where I ended up as GM for our fledgling operations in Asia.

My first experience with the North American valve industry began in 2002 when we moved back to headquarters in Florham Park, New Jersey. Marketing was my first role there, but by 2005, my position shifted to sales where I have been ever since. The valve industry is probably one of the most important for everyday life but least seen and understood by anyone outside of it.

VM: Why did you want to get more involved with the VMA?

AD: With all of my focus early in my career overseas, the VMA offered a great way to get immersed in the North American market and start building a network of peers and ultimately, great friends.
 

VM: What do you see as the greatest opportunities in the industry? What about challenges?

AD: The shift in focus around all process industries to sustainability and efficiency makes our industry and products that much more relevant today. We control so many different processes that we have to stay ahead of the trends and regulations. We have huge potential if in addition to the basic control of the process we can all learn to harness the data stored in our installed base and turn that into actionable insight for our customers. By doing that, we should be able to help them achieve their goals on sustainability and better efficiency.

Our challenges revolve around the ever-changing and broad regulatory environment. Companies not only have to deal with various government and legal requirements from the U.S. but also across the globe. We can take the lead as an industry group to influence and drive the regulations to make the world a better place.

In addition to regulations, our own industry’s profile is largely unseen, yet vital to our lives, also creates a challenge in attracting young talent. We need to make the industry more visible and attractive to a broader group to ensure that we can continue to drive innovation.

VM: Did the pandemic or other recent economic or global events bring on any shifts or changes to the industry you think may stay?

AD: Probably the biggest change is a shift to some sort of hybrid work environment and with that, the diminished travel and face-to-face interaction with our customers and end users. We need to find better ways to communicate and stay in touch with our customers not only for current day-to-day things but to keep a pulse on forward trends to help with innovation.

VM: How do you see VMA’s role in advancing the valve industry?

AD: Over the past few years, the board has worked to refresh our approach and provide more value to our members. We updated our strategic vision and focused on areas where we could come together and impact issues that were important to membership. The best and most recent example is our government affairs program. The continuing evolution of regulations around PFAS chemicals creates significant challenges for many of our member companies. Our group has really come together with technical resources to put together very critical position papers that have been presented to various government offices over several joint visits to Washington. In addition, our staff (Heather Rhoderick) has worked with other industry associations to coordinate efforts and amplify the message.

VM: Any other pressing issues in the valve industry?

AD: I think that in addition to regulations like those above, the current geopolitical environment presents small- to medium-sized companies with a very difficult compliance picture. We can help as an industry group to educate and point them in the right direction.

And we’ve already talked about attracting good, diverse talent. By making the industry more visible, we can help our membership recruit and retain a growing workforce.

VM: How do you hope to focus your efforts as a leader of VMA?

AD: The work of the past several boards has moved us forward and positioned the association to be much more relevant and valuable to our members. We will keep on that track but also increase our efforts to recruit and retain our membership. We need to find a way to attract all of the relevant companies to join us and add to the voices driving the programs mentioned above.

VM: What advice would you give to someone joining VMA?

AD: Get involved! We have many committees in addition to what we have already covered, technical and education, to name some. The association is only as good as the members make it and that takes getting involved.

VM: On a more personal note, your challenging job must keep you busy. What do you do when you’re not wearing your business hat?

AD: My wife Holly and I love to travel and experience new places and food. Cooking and wine are high on the list. Lately, that has included many trips between our two grandsons, one in Boston and one right near VMA headquarters in Alexandria. Being in NJ puts us halfway between the two!
Outside of that, we love to spend time on Cape Cod where I can golf and Holly can spend time on the beach. We always meet up at the beach bar to figure out what we are going to do for dinner.

VM: What advice would you have for those entering the valve industry — either as a recent graduate or a mid-career professional?

AD: The valve industry is one of the most diverse areas where you can work. We touch so many aspects of daily life that it truly represents a great way to get to touch so many different industries and see some much new technology and opportunity. There is never a dull moment when someone comes in and asks you about a new application. It's also not just technical, there are opportunities for all different backgrounds whether your interests are in marketing, sales, operations and even finance.