Employee-owned distributors tout the benefits of creating an 'ownership culture.'
Posts By Jenel Stelton-Holtmeier
Survey reveals more optimism for labor market in 3Q.
Leaders in industrial, electrical, HVAC/plumbing/PVF, building materials, and power transmission/bearing sectors are named in new report.
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. …
This is part of the 2010 Distribution Landscape Report, looking at current trends and issues faced by distributors in diverse sectors. Non-subscribers can purchase the full report for $195 by clicking here.
One of the stated goals of the Troubled Asset Relief Program was to reopen credit channels that effectively closed when the financial markets collapsed in the fall of 2008.
One of the stated goals of the Troubled Asset Relief Program was to reopen credit channels that effectively closed when the financial markets collapsed in the fall of 2008.
However, 18 months later, many distributors – particularly those in the building materials market – are continuing to struggle to get the credit necessary to conduct business. And that is making investment for growth more challenging …
Recent Harvard blog says that it may be and that improved productivity may not be sustainable.
Recent survey shows that poor sales and credit availability continue to be a challenge.
MDM spoke with leaders from the fast-growing US LBM Holdings to learn more about the new holding company’s business model and its growth by acquisition of building materials and lumber distributors.
The new player in the building materials world hasn’t wasted any time making its name known. US LBM Holdings was created in October 2009 when private equity firm BlackEagle Partners stepped in to purchase three markets that Stock Building Supply had slated for closure. Those three markets had 13 locations.
L.T. Gibson, president and CEO of US LBM Holdings, had worked with Stock Building Supply for around 20 years, most recently as the vice president of the north and central divisions, when the closures were announced. “I started talking with private equity firms to see if there was someone who wanted to take advantage of the opportunity that was being created,” he said.
Questions and even confusion persist as to the role online catalogs and online selling should play for distributors. This article examines those questions and the challenges that come with moving business online.
This is part of an occasional series of MDM articles on doing business electronically.
Over the past five years, more distributors and manufacturers have moved more of their business online, from offering product catalogs online to selling a broad range of items through electronic storefronts. And more customers are doing their research online before ever calling a distributor's sales department.
According to a recent survey conducted by Robert W. Baird …
M&A community grows more optimistic, according to recent surveys.
Commodity prices have seen sharp ups and downs over the past two years. MDM spoke with experts to gain a broad perspective on current trends in key commodity price shifts and forecasts that impact distributors across many sectors. Included in this analysis: copper, iron ore (steel), lumber and gypsum.
Two years ago prices for finished steel and the products needed to manufacture it reached record highs. Price contracts couldn't keep up with spot price increases and were often abandoned by suppliers.
After just a few months, prices plummeted to lows that made "breaking even" questionable …
PricewaterhouseCoopers survey highlights renewed confidence in economy.
Processes and incentives for sharing information can improve productivity, results.
Grainger has long been known as ahead of the curve in its e-commerce initiatives. Here's an in-depth look at the $6.2 billion MRO distributor's journey and the lessons it learned along the way. This is part of an MDM series on trends in doing business electronically.
Today, Grainger is widely recognized as a leader among distributors in B2B e-commerce. But that wasn't always the case.
The launch of Grainger's first electronic catalog in 1995 marked a shift for the now $6.2 billion distributor of maintenance, repair and operations supplies. After all, the payback of such a move was still unknown, and that uncertainty could have prevented the heretofore "conservative" company from delving into that arena.
"The fact that [Grainger commissioned a team] to do this was unheard of at the time,"
These days, companies should have informative, easy-to-use, customer-focused Web sites.
This is the MDM Public Distributor Report, provided on a quarterly basis to subscribers of Modern Distribution Management. This report includes an overview of public distributor earnings calls, Airgas and Air Products acquisition talk, and financial metrics for publicly traded distribution companies.
Just saying your company is 'green' or sells 'green products' is no longer enough to differentiate.
Temporary hiring gains have not yet lead to permanent increases, post-recession.
Some companies are using social networks as another way to track and respond to customer concerns.
Recent study shows emerging economies may be a step ahead on the road to recovery.
