Aspirations direct our distributor innovations, so let’s aim high and build a supply chain worthy of our future. Mark Dancer advises in the third part of his Facing the Forces of Change initiative with NAW.
Posts By Mark Dancer
Can these modern-day disruptors displace the value chain, or do all three have more in common than we think?
Can B2B innovators apply a world-class innovation concept — as applied in B2C — and tailor it to fit the changing needs of the business buying community?
Can distributors overcome constraints of traditional gross margin-based sales models to form better systems and achieve breakthrough performance?
Explore state-of-the-art innovation practices and make them your own, recommends Mark Dancer.
Distributors have been through cycles of challenge and response before, but change is different in the digital age. Past challenges came from industry insiders with game-changing business models built around leveraging scale and removing redundancies across the value chain. Examples include big-box retailers, high-share consolidators, integrated suppliers, disintermediators and vertical integrators. The challenge for distributors was real, but the changes were familiar. New rules of competition emerged, but the fundamental roles of manufacturers, distributors and customers remained.
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Digital technologies have opened the door for distribution leaders to achieve dramatic improvements in productivity and create compelling customer experiences. Many leaders are leveraging digital tools as a foundation for continuous improvement and some are hoping to go much further by innovating the traditional distributor business model. Either way, the adoption of digital tools is prompting leaders to focus on strengthening their companys abilities to remain competitive and lead.
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