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Ask a distributor about manufacturers who choose to sell directly to customers, and it can draw a reaction similar to that of the name Frau Blucher in the Mel Brooks [...]

The current model of wholesale distribution--in which the distributor buys products from suppliers and then makes these products available to customers--has remained unchanged for 50 years. Lately, the end result [...]

Panel hones in on four key areas: Outlook for distributors' importance! Product mix changes! Changes needed by retailers/contractors and distributors to make things better and more profitable for both! Changes [...]

Most contract construction-supply distributors are flourishing owing to a boom in the construction industry. However, many of them are expected to face challenging times in the 21st century that are being heralded by new forms of competition, consolidation and shrinking business margins. Mass merchants such as Home Depot, for example, are forcing many independent distributors to radically overhaul the way they market their products and services., A look at distributors who are shaping the future of the contractor supply market What does the future hold for construction distributors? While most contractor-supply distributors are enjoying a construction [...]

Distributors have varying views on developments in their industry in the second millennium. Most expect that merger trends will continue as this enable companies to have increased access to resources that will give them an edge in satisfying customers. They feel though that the alliance between distributors and manufacturers could either improve due to each other's mutual need, or worsen as control of supplies will no longer rest on distributors but on customers who, through the Internet, will have increased access to product information by themselves., QUESTION: What effect will mergers and acquisitions have on the selling of industrial products in the years ahead? Jack Dannemiller Chief Executive Officer and President Applied Industrial Technologies Cleveland, Ohio [...]

Mergers, acquisitions and consolidations were the leading emerging trends in the food distribution sector, according to executives polled for ID magazine's 31st annual survey. Forty percent of those polled have plans of making an acquisition in 1997, increasing by more than twofold from 18% in the 1995 survey. In 1995, 8% expected to be acquired, compared with only 3% in the 1996 survey. Technology was the second leading trend in the sector, with respondents frequently mentioning Efficient Foodservice Response initiatives. Performance is also expected to improve in 1997, with 73% reporting dollar sales increases and 73% posting case sales hikes., Big 'MACs' - mergers, acquisitions and consolidations - topped the list of emerging industry trends cited by executives who responded to ID's 31st annual survey. One comment summed up the [...]

CAREFREE, Ariz.--Retailers heading into the critical fourth quarter are concerned that this year's shorter holiday selling season will put the squeeze on sales and margins. 'The-single biggest issue is accomplishing [...]

Roundtable consensus: Networking, the Internet and Windows NT will drive sales for service-oriented VARs Taking the driver's seat with new technologies can put you on the road to profitability, but […]

A small stir was created recently at the edges of the industrial distribution industry by Wal-Mart Stores. In a transaction said to involve more than $300 million, Wal-Mart's Sam's Club [...]

One year ago, contractors, miners and most other users of construction equipment expected little from the new year. In too many parts of the country, little is what they got. [...]

Metal service centers are once again involved in market-wrenching consolidations. For buyers: More uncertainty ahead. An uncertain metals market is the least of the problems facing metal service centers-and the [...]

Distribution's New Direction If you're an equipment buyer, you can expect the '90s to bring fundamental changes in the industry that sells you machines, changes focused on serving you better [...]

How important is the supply chain? To consumer businesses, it's everything. But, to an industry like electronic imaging, not enough critical mass exists to leverage huge economies of scale in [...]

Mark Magstadt isn't shy when it comes to expressing his distaste for reverse auctions. As president of Lake City, Fla.-based Hub City Industrial Supply, Inc., he's been asked to participate [...]

Purchasing departments may have to accept longer supply delivery leadtimes during 1997 and, perhaps, during 1998. Some materials and commodity leadtimes, such as lead, have already begun to increase. According to Purchasing magazine's aggregate Leadtime Index, leadtimes have lengthened from 89 in September 1996 to 96 in April 1997.

Distributors are counting on a solid '94, although not as robust as a banner '93. No one believes two years to 30 percent-plus growth is possible, with a cooling of […]

Between today and the year 2000, the merchant wholesale distribution industry faces what may be the most challenging period in its history. That's the conclusion in Facing the Forces of [...]

Byline: Sara Yirrell We are already halfway through February and it is remarkably quiet on the consolidation front in the channel so far. But like a swan swimming gracefully in [...]

Distributors and manufacturers, both, expect a less-than-encouraging 1992 in the cutting tool arena. What's needed to survive? Even more conventional services such as timely deliveries, smooth order processing and highly [...]

By Steve Cropper It's times like these that we should be thinking about the strength of our communities and local economies Everyone knows the economy is a mess right now, [...]

Despite a flurry of year-end orders through distribution by customers anxious to fill inventory gaps, industrials are bracing themselves for another rough-and-tumble year. Sapping distributor confidence is a bruising economic […]

Jack Keough, Editor/Associate Publisher In this month's issue, our cover story (p. 28) focuses on the findings from our 60th Annual Survey of Distributor Operations. This year's study reveals several [...]

By Kimberly Griffiths, Associate Editor Providing a link between manufacturers and their distributors, the stocking rep is an extension of one, to the benefit of the other It stands to [...]

In the future, video distribution won't be in the hands of broadcasters, cable, satellite, or telecoms. According to Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, the future of video is Web television. [...]

Electrical distributors are a resilient bunch. Despite being rocked by one of the worst economic downturns in recent memory, they still forecast slow-but-steady sales growth for next year. According to [...]

The end uses for the products tend to fluctuate more than the types of customers that buy from electrical distributors, so a sales breakdown from this perspective shows where the [...]

The product mix shows how electrical distributors' sales break down by product group. To use these numbers, multiply your sales figure by each product mix percent to estimate the sales [...]

The proportion of electrical distributors' sales that goes to each of the customer groups is reported in the 'Customer Mix' table on this page. You can use the customer mix [...]

Las Vegas - Economic recovery may be a full year away, and the IT industry may never again see the robust growth of the past two decades, according to executives […]

The customer speaks ... and you'd better be listening. That's one of the central messages of a new book from the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors' (NAW) Distribution Research and Education [...]

LAST WEEK, WE NOTED THAT THE NORTH AMERIcan connector business faces a tough 2001, expected to be down 17.2 percent versus 2000. Total factory shipments this year are projected to […]

With Arrow Electronics Inc. and Avnet Inc. showing renewed interest in going after the small-and midsized customer, should smaller distributors be worried? 'Sure (the small guys) have something to worry […]

The polyethyelenes (PE) markets have seen some downward pressure in the last few weeks. Buyers and analysts are reporting falling prices. And most sources predict a continued downward trend through [...]

THE PERCENTAGE OF BUYERS WHO SAID PRICES ARE INCREASING WAS DOWN CONSIDERABLY IN AUGUST, according to Purchasing's business survey. Only 29% of buyers say prices were increasing, compared to 56% [...]

New York - Distributors' unsteady financial footing could lead to another industry shakeout, said analysts and executives. With shares of many distributors' stocks trading below $20, and the companies reporting […]

A survey of leading wholesalers reveals their major anxiety is the entry of giant multiples into the convenience store and wholesale industries. More than 72% of respondents identified the threat [...]

Southeastern industrial-PVF distributors expect a good market in 2000, especially after the last couple of years. It would be difficult to find a distributor of industrial pipe, valves and fittings [...]

Business-to-business Internet advocates anticipate the end of distribution as we know it. However, although analysts say going online is advantageous for distribution companies and the Internet should be embraced, it […]

Electronics buyers can expect distributors to emphasize value added and supply chain management services and to improve Web-based electronic commerce capability in 2000. More consolidation also is likely. Distributors say [...]

The economic tide appears to have turned back toward prosperity for the distribution industry, and distributors are breathing a collective sigh of relief. Distributors and electronic component suppliers have struggled […]

The new millennium brings with it the temptation to peer into the future, to envision what the industry may look like and how it might change in the future. This [...]

Increased IT capabilities across several departments allow for true activity-based management and streamline the flow of information from customers through to vendors. Information technology, and advances made therein over the [...]

In his seven years as a virtual consultative sales rep (VCSR) with XYZ Distributing, Inc., Future Town, USA, John Futureman has built his $13-million business by developing and implementing strategic [...]

VGDO rides the business-to-business e-commerce wave with direct links to vendors and customers, enabling it to achieve continual replenishment. Internet based business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce has, in the past decade, revolutionized [...]

In the warehouse, state-of-the-art technology in the form of chips, robotics, automation an satellite-tracking, facilitates the flow of product through the pipeline. In this era of 'clicks and mortar,' the [...]