AGMA President Joe Franklin is stepping down after some 24 years on the job. He graciously took the time to answer some questions from Gear Technology Senior Editor Jack McGuinn regarding his tenure.

If you are like most navigators of the printed page, the first thing you read in this final 2013 issue of Gear Technology was our State of the Gear Industry Survey. And who would blame you? It’s not Sabermetrics, but once you’ve read it you’ll have a pretty clear snapshot of last year and a peek into the next. But if you also like to get a little closer to the bone about things, what follows are the collected opinions of five well-regarded people in the gear industry speaking to a number of issues with relevance.

AGMA president Joe T. Franklin Jr. talks about how the AGMA Gear Expo has grown and changed since its beginnings as a table-top show in 1987.

Gear Technology talks with AGMA's president about the association and its role in the gear industry.

With all the heated debate and hoopla surrounding ISO 9000 certification, everyone seems to have an opinion about whether to sign up. Executives in the gear industry are flooded with information and ideas that often seem at odds. Gear Technology asked AGMA executive director Joe T. Franklin, Jr. to give an industry perspective on the pros and cons of ISO 9000 certification.