Strategy Archives

How to Determine the Most Impactful Changes You Can Make to Your Business

Motivators to change come from three categories: competitive environment motivators, external environment motivators and internal environment motivators. Consultant Mike Vitale explains how identifying these origins can help distributors to choose the most effective path toward business transformation.

February 27, 2020

Operations

Houlihan Lokey Advises Kele Through Acquisition by The Stephens Group

This transaction highlights Houlihan Lokeys continued success advising market-leading specialty distributors of mission-critical parts.

February 26, 2020

Strategy

What to Do When Your Business Environment Changes

Todays business environment creates an imperative for change. But what exactly should you change in your business? Nothing, everything, something? Changing your distribution business is expensive and disruptive, and can be catastrophic if not properly planned and executed.

February 26, 2020

Strategy

Inside Every Threat There is Opportunity

Brand value is a huge asset for both manufacturers and distributors. With continued homogenization, investments made in developing ones brand starts to erode and price becomes the primary differentiator.

February 25, 2020

Strategy

What the Changing Role of the Master Distributor Means for the Industry

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February 25, 2020

Strategy

Commentary: Inside Every Threat There is Opportunity

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February 25, 2020

Strategy

10 Acquisitions in 2.5 Years: The Strategy Behind Cook & Boardman’s Growth

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February 25, 2020

Technology

4 Reasons to Adopt a Data-Driven Mindset

Increased competition from both traditional and non-traditional distributors coupled with technological advancements have put the power of analytics into distributors hands. Use your metrics to your advantage to measure company performance, make better decisions, understand customer activity and give customers exactly what they want.

February 24, 2020

Operations

Rockwell Automation Acquires Two Companies

Both transactions are expected to close in the spring of 2020.

February 20, 2020

Operations

Ferguson to Acquire Columbia Pipe & Supply

Columbia Pipe is an independent distributor specializing in PVF, commercial mechanical, commercial plumbing, industrial, valve automation, engineered products and hydronics.

February 20, 2020

Operations

Will the COVID-19 Coronavirus Infect the World’s Supply Chains?

Companies like 3M are prioritizing distribution for those most in need, and the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai predicts a direct impact on 2020 revenues.

February 18, 2020

Technology

MSC Enters Into Cooperative Research And Development Agreement

The two-year agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory is focused on improving milling performance on new Computer Numerical Control machine tools through the use of impact-testing software.

February 17, 2020

Operations

Where Does HARDI-Backed Legislation to Phase Down HFC Production and Import Stand?

A look at the legislative status of bi-partisan bill American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2019, its potential industry impactsincluding whether or not states will act to pass legislation on their own and the bills chances of reaching President Trumps desk.

February 17, 2020

Leadership

Graybar Taps Spirit of Innovation in Digital Transformation

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February 14, 2020

Strategy

4 Ways to Create a Human Resources Strategy

Already a growing strategy for larger global firms, small- to mid-size distributors can benefit the business by bringing HR into overall company planning. Distributors can start by rethinking the HR department label, bringing HR into safety initiatives, ensuring the right leaders are in place and embedding employee relations into recruitment and selection.

February 11, 2020

Strategy

Where Does Your Business Fall on the Commoditization Spectrum?

A sense of urgency in developing or enhancing a digital strategy for your business could be a core theme of 2020. The key word? Marketplaces.

February 10, 2020

Strategy

Commentary: Where Does Your Business Fall on the Commoditization Spectrum?

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February 10, 2020

Operations

The USMCA: What It Means for Distributors and Manufacturers

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February 10, 2020

Operations

LINC Systems Acquires R.V. Evans Company

The acquisition of RV Evans further diversifies LINCs business across customers and end markets, as well as geographically with the combined businesses now serving customers in 30 states.

February 6, 2020

Leadership

Martin Supply’s Doug Ruggles on the Secret to Family-Owned Success

While this privately held industrial supplier with more than 300 employees may not be a Harvard Business School case study in management structure, the three-brother leadership team has managed to buck the odds of many third-generation businesses by nurturing an entrepreneurial culture in an 85-year-old company. Listen to Doug Ruggles share whats worked to drive growth with a customer-centric solutions approach, with host Tom Gale.

February 6, 2020

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