Manufacturers maintain proprietary part-numbering systems, while distributors map products to their own SKUs, creating inconsistencies across ERP and product-data systems. A part fails. The line is down, and every minute costs money. The replacement might be on a shelf ten miles away. Before anyone can pull it, someone has to answer one question: what is this … [Read more...] about Why Industrial Parts Are So Hard to Identify and Match
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Meridian360 – 5 Tools in 1 to Drive Sales Intelligence
Every salesperson has blind spots and no sales manager has enough time to coach their salespeople before each sales call like they would like to. Further, no salesperson says "boss, thanks for all of the reports you offer me that I am supposed to review, decipher, and determine what to discuss with my customer." The reality is your sales team cannot perform they way you'd like … [Read more...] about Meridian360 – 5 Tools in 1 to Drive Sales Intelligence
Your Best People Are Retiring and Nobody Wrote Any of It Down
While inventory may site on your balance sheet as your most important financial investment, every distributor owner and manager knows that their people are their biggest asset and can also be their biggest liability. They are an asset as they are the #1 differentiator within your business. Without them, a distributor is a vending machine. People interact with customers, with … [Read more...] about Your Best People Are Retiring and Nobody Wrote Any of It Down
Myths of Selling to a Surplus House
Myths of selling to a surplus house All of them keep the profitable check on someone else's desk instead of yours. Every distributor and industrial plant is sitting on a bloated storeroom or warehouse full of parts, most have already talked themselves out of selling it. Usually for years. The reasons sound reasonable, in your head anyways. That's exactly what … [Read more...] about Myths of Selling to a Surplus House
Customer Stratification Delivers Focus, Profits
Industrial supply distributors sit in the middle of a demanding value chain: manufacturers rely on them to place products close to the market, while customers rely on them for availability, technical support, delivery, credit, and problem solving. That middle position creates opportunity, but it also exposes distributors to margin pressure, inventory risk, and rising service … [Read more...] about Customer Stratification Delivers Focus, Profits
Joint Calls, Am I Suffering from a Split Personality?
I've been thinking about joint calls lately. You know the drill… taking supply-partners out to visit your customers. As I sat down to write about the subject, I found myself conflicted. To the point of wondering if I were developing distributor directed personality disorders. As I sorted through dozens of conflicting thoughts, I even found myself putting a face on the whole … [Read more...] about Joint Calls, Am I Suffering from a Split Personality?
NetPlus Q3 Outlook: Focusing on Fundamentals
NetPlus Alliance distributors reported another quarter of growth after the close of the second quarter. According to its Q3 Outlook report, "members remain focused on sales fundamentals while many upgrade their systems and processes." The Industry Outlook, a quarterly report based on a survey of NetPlus members, tracks business results and trends in the industrial and … [Read more...] about NetPlus Q3 Outlook: Focusing on Fundamentals
3M Shares 1st Half Insights
Recently I received some information that 3M shared regarding first half insights: The key takeaways are not so much the market, or sales, performance, as that is company-specific and/or projections from Cleveland Research, and the information is as of June. The key is considering market trends. Key "strong" markets are: Further, anything tied to data centers ... … [Read more...] about 3M Shares 1st Half Insights
The Parts Nobody Wants to Hold
The Parts Nobody Wants to Hold — and Why You Need Someone Who Will Surplus houses exist because the industrial supply chain produces inventory nobody can afford to keep — and everybody eventually needs. Every Shelf Charges Rent Holding inventory in any industry costs 20–30% of its value, annualized. Capital, storage, insurance, shrinkage, labor — the meter runs whether … [Read more...] about The Parts Nobody Wants to Hold
Fastener Distributor Growth and Exit Opportunities
Are you a fastener distributor, or a distributor with fasteners as a significant percentage of your business and Why private equity may be interested Every distributor knows that private equity has been investing into the industrial space and into distributors. PE firms have funds to invest in companies, and people, that aspire to lead platforms and/or are seeking to … [Read more...] about Fastener Distributor Growth and Exit Opportunities
