May 31, 2010

MDM has covered the evolution and competitive landscape of integrated supply for more than 20 years. This article, an update to the 2005 analysis, looks at how integrated supply fits into the distribution landscape in 2010, as well as ways distributors continue to refine the model to meet evolving customer needs for a unique set of distribution services.

Nearly everyone MDM has asked about the role integrated supply in recent years has replied in the same way. First: "How do you define integrated supply?" And then comes the answer that has been around since the beginning: "If you've seen one integrated supply contract, you've seen one."

Different distributors call different services integrated supply, and there is still no strict agreement on the breadth or depth of services the model entails. The focus of …

For a company to recover from a severe broad-based economic downturn, the markets it serves must also recover or new markets must emerge. But the latest recession is making both a challenge for distributors as the U.S. moves into recovery mode.

"It's about redefining success in the new marketplace," says Julia Klein, president and CEO of specialty building products distributor C.H. Briggs, Reading, PA. "An adviser recently said to me, 'If you're a C student when the rest of the class is failing, you're top of the class.' And I think that's a great way to look at it today."

Here's a look at what distributors MDM spoke to for this report are seeing in their major end-markets as of the first half of 2010. …