Lindsay Konzak, Author at Modern Distribution Management

Cooper Industries and Danaher Corp. recently announced they would be merging their tool businesses in a joint venture. The soon-to-be CEO of the new joint venture, which is expected to close by the end of the second quarter, spoke to MDM about why the tool businesses were a good fit, and how the deal will impact distributors.

Danaher Corp. and Cooper Industries will be entering a joint venture to combine their Danaher Tool Group and Cooper Tools businesses. Danaher Tool Group executive Steve Breitzka, who will lead the joint venture when it closes at the end of second quarter, said that current market conditions provided …

April 10, 2010

Free

MSC Industrial Direct’s ‘Land Grab’

The MRO supplies distributor says 'share-gain opportunities' are more compelling now than in the recession.

April 8, 2010

Free

BMC Select’s Approach to Best Practices

And why distributors need to take care when looking to a best practices approach for improvement.

April 2, 2010

Technology

Ferguson Touts Benefits of Online Platform

Leadership: Web site is opportunity to show customers more.

March 31, 2010

Plumbing Products & PVF Distribution

Wolseley’s Recovery Strategy

Under new CEO Ian Meakins, distributor divides business units into three categories.

March 22, 2010

Free

Announcing a New MDM-Baird Benchmarking Survey

The goal: to provide MDM readers with more data on the state of the industry.

March 15, 2010

Paper Products & Packaging Distribution

Why United Stationers Bought a Software Company

MDM recently spoke with United Stationers President and CEO Dick Gochnauer about why the master distributor bought MBS Dev, a small Denver-based software provider for distributors. The move was part of a long-term strategy to help both its resellers and the technology providers that serve them to stay on top of capabilities necessary to stay competitive in today's online environment.

In February 2008, United Stationers President and CEO Dick Gochnauer told MDM the master distributor was well on its way to better integrating its customers – which it calls "resellers" – electronically through e-commerce, online marketing, and data tools and services.

The Deerfield, IL-based distributor of office, jan-san, and industrial

March 10, 2010

Paper Products & Packaging Distribution

How to Sell More to Shrinking Customers

Master distributor United Stationers is helping its office supplies resellers do just that.

March 10, 2010

Economic Trends

Canada Building Permits Decline in January

But number of permits issued in Canada is still up from January 2008.

March 4, 2010

Human Resources in Wholesale Distribution

Companies Aim to Stay Lean Despite Improving Demand

Instead, distributors have consolidated tasks left behind by laid-off workers.

March 2, 2010

Plumbing Products & PVF Distribution

Top 100 Distributors to Watch

This is your invitation to participate in MDM's Market Leaders report.

March 2, 2010

Economic Trends

Why Some Small Business Requests for Credit Are Being Denied

Recent report outlines some of the more common reasons for rejection.

February 26, 2010

Technology

The Business Case for Better Data

Distributors and their suppliers want to improve efficiencies, save time and money, and reduce errors. One way to do this is to improve and standardize the way they use and send data. This article is the first of a series of MDM articles on current trends in doing business electronically.

About five years ago, PTDA member Baldwin Supply Co., Minneapolis, MN-based distributor of mechanical power transmission and electrical control products, adopted the association’s recommended format for receiving product data changes from its suppliers.

“It used to take us a month to update a price increase with some of our bigger manufacturers. Now we can do it in an hour or so,” says Baldwin Supply President Ron Herem, the Power Transmission Distributors Association board liaison to the Industry Relations Committee, which in collaboration with other associations developed the Product and Price Information Format.

“(PPIF) drastically reduced the time it took to do a pricing update. We used to have 2 and a half people – and that was pretty much all they did, and it was done manually.”

Baldwin’s experience is just one example of the impact of one of many data standardization initiatives taking place right now in distribution.