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The 3M Innovation Center is the
perfect spot for ISA's upcoming eBusiness Summit. The center has been
described as a living laboratory for innovation. Specially designed
kiosks and hands-on exhibits showcase 3M's technology platforms. A
presentation in the vision-dome theater offers a three-dimensional view
of innovation and what it's like to partner with 3M. The ISA eBusiness
Summit is Oct. 16-17, 2007, in St. Paul, MN. Learn more and register here.
The event will be held in the
newly remodeled Hyatt Regency O’Hare in Chicago. The 2008
Conference will feature a new meeting format, new Trade Fair Pavilions
and other enhancements, and the FastMatch electronic scheduling system
has been enhanced to make it more user-friendly.
The Economic Indicator Survey Results report is a
monthly breakdown of the findings of the ISA Quarterly Economic Report
provided by Texas A&M University. All information in the report is based
on an index. An index of 50 is neutral. Indices over 50 indicate a
business expansion in the individual items being reported. An index of
less than 50 shows a contraction. Distributor report here. Manufacturer report here. Also available at the ISA
Research Center.
Webinar: Professional Telephone Etiquette – Oct. 10, 2007
ISA E-Business Summit – Oct. 16-17, 2007
For more information on upcoming ISA events, go to isapartners.org.
The way customers define value
added in the marketplace keeps shifting as they gain more knowledge and
control of sourcing options. This article provides a method to analyze a
company’s relative competitive position based on these value-added
components. Use the email and password provided in the ISA Advisor
welcome email to access this article. Tap into other articles like this
at Modern Distribution Management's ISA
Research Center.
Contribute to a survey to help
NAW better understand how product specialists add value to your
distribution company. Results of the survey, which should take no more
than 3-10 minutes to complete, will be used in a "how to" book of
recommendations on the best ways to use these resources in your company.
Take the survey here.
KEEP READING! Breaking industry news and articles on
distribution trends follow your association news each week in ISA
Advisor. Articles six months and older are available free of charge
to ISA members. Subscription or pay-per-view required for newer content.
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MDM NEWS UPDATE: August 16, 2007
It seems that tightening credit
markets may have forced Home Depot and the trio of private equity firms
that had agreed to buy its wholesale division back to the table to
discuss, among other things, a reduction in the selling price. A few
analysts go so far as to say that the price could fall to $8 billion
from the agreed upon $10.3 billion purchase price. See that article here. In an SEC filing, Home Depot pushed back the
closing date for the sale a week from Aug. 16 to Aug. 23. HD goes on to
say: "No assurance can be given that any agreement will be reached
concerning a restructuring of the proposed transaction, nor that the
transaction will close." More...
Beyond HD Supply: Order
the CD of MDM's recent audio conference featuring industry
experts on distribution M&A trends.
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Publisher Tom Gale looks at the
slippery slope manufacturers face when they try to operate their own
distribution units. More...
Strategic pricing is the next big
thing to reach for, according to Brent Grover of Evergreen Consulting. A
few principles outlined in this article: Managing the pricing on each
item is not the best use of outside sales rep time; incentive sales
compensation programs do not change OSR behavior all that much when it
comes to individual items; distributors lose a huge amoung of gross
margin dollars when supplier price increases are not passed along; and
not all items in a product category, sold to a particular customer, or
bought from a particular supplier need to be sold at exactly the same
margin percentage or discount. More...
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It's hurricane season again, and
while you can't stop the storms, according to this IndustryWeek article
you can mitigate potential losses. There are three ways you can do this:
prevention (using less hazardous materials or locating them in safer
areas, for example); protection (adequate roofing, windows, etc.), and
planning (having materials on hand to face the storm). More...
Related Articles from MDM:
What's Your Plan B? Learn from Distributors Hit by 2005
Hurricanes
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When does private-label branding
add value? Well, according to consultant Adam Fein's blog at distributiontrends.com, it adds value when you are in
a category that is dominated by one or two brands with little price
competition; when the wholesaler-distributors can get a much lower
priced product by re-engineering the value chain (ie global sourcing);
and when you can introduce new products and concepts that are not
offered by brand manufacturers. (In this post, he is citing a recently
released book on the topic.) More...
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No doubt lean helps companies cut
costs, but its biggest return can be found in freeing resources for
growth, according to the Lean Enterprise Institute. Unfortunately, the
organization has found, a new report shows most manufacturers focus
instead on cost containment, Managing Automation reports.
In a question on identifying lean's biggest benefit, cost reduction
was chosen more often than the nine remaining choices combined. Too much
focus on improving the bottom line can distract companies from working
toward growth, this article says. One researcher says that many
companies fail to integrate demand planning into their lean efforts. More...
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PVF distributors McJunkin Corp.
and Red Man Tool and Supply will merge to form a $3-plus billion
company. Private equity has a controlling interest in McJunkin, meaning
the deal, to be finalized in September, is probably just the first of
many steps in the companies’ plans for growth. Subscription
required to view this article. More...
Most Popular Stories at mdm.com
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