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Here’s a look at Cross
Company’s recent decision to go 100 percent employee-owned.
Employee Stock Ownership Plans – partial or full – carry both
benefits and risks, but can be a viable exit strategy or a way to
provide additional benefits to your workforce. Weigh the ups and downs
carefully with advisers before moving forward. 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.
After a sluggish summer, U.S.
mills and service centers are experiencing stepped-up demand. Signaling
an improved business tempo, ferrous scrap prices rose $25 per ton.
Efforts to raise flat-rolled prices early in September were not
immediately successful but by mid-month $20-25 per ton increases for
flat-rolled products had taken hold.
The Economic Indicator Survey
Results reports are a monthly breakdown of the findings of the ISA
Quarterly Economic Report. These reports tie together the business
activity on 10 key measures and business expectations of all channel
members, manufacturers, distributors and purchasing agent customers. Distributor Report Manufacturer Report
Partners in Distribution
Excellence is hosting seminars on credit and collections during November
for wholesale distributors, branch managers, supply chain managers,
financial managers and sales professionals. Consultant and speaker Mike
Morley has more than 25 years experience in credit, collections and
finance.
At the Oct. 16-17 ISA
eBusiness Summit, learn about the real-life experiences implementing EDI
from 3M and a distributor partner. Learn more and register here.
The ISA eBusiness Committee announces availability of the ISA
eBusiness Implementation Guideline. Click here for more information.
Send name, title, email address and company
name of each colleague to info@mdm.com. Only employees of ISA member companies
will be added to the list to receive this weekly association update.
Top Gun Survival School for Distributor Salespeople – Between
Sept. 17 and Nov. 19 Details
Coaching for Sales Success - Oct. 11, 2 p.m. ET
ISA E-Business Summit – Oct. 16-17, 2007
One-on-One Sales Management Seminars: Dave Unplugged Details
For more information on upcoming ISA events, go to isapartners.org.
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: October 11, 2007
Some big pieces are in play in
distribution M&A again, including European distributors with extensive
North American operations. French-based electrical distributor
Sonepar’s unsolicited bid for Dutch-based Hagemeyer looks
like the first low-ball shot across the bow in what likely will be a
longer process of negotiating the price. Publisher Tom Gale looks at the
potential impact of such a deal, including a look at the respective
companies' market share.
More...
Hagemeyer NV said Tuesday that
Sonepar's unsolicited bid of US$3.5 billion (2.5 billion euro)
"significantly undervalues the company." But Hagemeyer has agreed to
meet with Sonepar to "clarify its intentions." Another player in the
mix? Rexel, which may or may not bid for Hagemeyer.
More...
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Newly formed US Electrical
Services LLC – for lack of a better word, a 'rollup' of 11
electrical distributors – announced it will be acquired by
Consolidated Electrical Distributors (CED). USESI, founded and led by
former Sonepar USA CEO Richard Worthy, has been extremely acquisitive
since its start in early 2006, and apparently will remain that way under
the CED umbrella. Worthy says: "The two operating models are
significantly different and the growth potential of a standalone USESI
through further acquisitions and organic branch openings is very great
in its own right." Find out what else Worthy had to say about the
decision to sell his company here.
MDM Interview See what USESI Founder and former Sonepar USA
CEO Richard Worthy said about his company and trends in the electrical
distribution industry in an interview with MDM last year. Read
Interview
Other MDM Interviews with Key Industry Players
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Adam Fein in his latest Distribution
Trends blog says the agreed purchase of Oncology Therapeutics
Network, a specialty drugs distributor, by McKesson Corp., San
Francisco, CA, is an example of "forward integration." Why? Because OTN
owns Onmark, a buying group for thousands of small accounts.
Fein says distributors outside of the drug industry should consider
opportunities like this one to establish a "unique competitive
advantage."
More...
McKesson to Acquire Specialty Drug Distributor
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Apple's iPhone pricing incident
– dropping the price by a third after just two months on the
market, only to be forced to give refunds to those who paid the full
price – is an extreme example of the sensitivity of customers to
price changes. This Wharton article talks about how pricing is gaining
ground as a way to increase revenues while at the same time management
is downsizing and cost-cutting. As one managing partner at Accenture
says: "Pricing is the last bastion of gut feel."
Another interesting point: "Pricing is not just about getting people
to pay more. Pricing is used as a testing mechanism to find out what
consumers really want. It's basic supply and demand. The surest way to
find out if consumers really want something is their willingness to pay
for it." While retail and consumer-focused businesses have been looking
at pricing strategically for quite some time now, in
business-to-business, the trend is catching on a little more slowly.
More...
Related from MDM
Get Paid for the Value You Add
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Wolseley CFO Steve Webster talks
with Accounting Age about how the global building material distributor's
profits have been hit by the slump in the U.S. housing market. Actually,
the story was that this is the first time in 10 years the company has
not posted record profits.
Webster blames the slight slowdown on three things: the housing
market; price deflation in lumber and panels; and the decline of the
dollar. Webster also address Wolseley's quick-paced acquisitive
strategy: "For the next year, our priority will be on bolt-on
acquisitions, spending around £450 million. That’s what
we’re looking to do over the next year."
More...
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One shop selling NASCAR racing
paraphernalia is closing its doors after its wholesaler shifted its
strategy away from retail businesses. According to the shop's owners,
the wholesaler is increasingly focusing instead on other channels,
especially the QVC home shopping network. The shift in strategy was made
after a merger in 2005.
More...
Most Popular Stories at mdm.com
Private Equity Firm Buys Conney Safety
WinWholesale Continues Expansion
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Graybar Opens New Location in Illinois
Air Liquide Subsidiary to Buy Scott Specialty Gases
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