May 10, 2009 - Modern Distribution Management

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May 10, 2009

Protecting Your Knowledge Base

Features, Human Resources in Wholesale Distribution, Management, Operations, Strategy, Subscriber Only /

MDM recently spoke with experts on the topic of institutional knowledge retention, and the importance of putting into place a framework for making knowledge transfer part of the company culture. This article looks at the key elements to keep in mind.


Many companies are running leaner these days.

The situation – driven by downsizing and retirements – can trigger a loss of knowledge critical to the business, an issue many managers are facing. That’s something that managers everywhere in every industry overlook frequently when adjusting their work force, says David DeLong, author of “Lost Knowledge: Confronting the Threat of an Aging Workforce.”

Factor into the equation higher turnover among younger …

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Commentary: New Skills for the Times

Free, Human Resources in Wholesale Distribution, Management, Operations, Perspective, Strategy, Subscriber Only /

The nation’s largest banks are undergoing stress tests right now to determine their degree of leverage and financial health. On one level, it appears a little like getting the 300-pound heart-attack victim who has been eating jelly doughnuts for 20 years onto a treadmill. A five-minute exercise on a machine you’re not used to won’t solve the core problem. I think there’s a lesson for our industry.

Distributors and manufacturers have been undergoing stress tests of a different nature for at least the past 12 months. Nearly every company we talk with has had to make significant structural changes in their organization, including layoffs. Some let employees go for the first time in decades. Your current team has had to adapt and take on more complex …

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MDM May 10, 2009

Subscriber Only /

This is the pdf of this issue of Modern Distribution Management. Apply the full $24.95 pay-per-view cost toward an annual subscription (within 30 days of purchase), which includes two issues a month plus access to more than seven years of online archives and market data. Call 1-888-742-5060 or email info@mdm.com to …

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MDM Industrial Inflation Index: March 2009

Economic Trends, Research & Analytics, Subscriber Only /

Modern Distribution Management’s March Inflation Index, which measures a cross-section of industrial supplies, was up 0.01% from the previous month, and up 6.34% from March 2008.
 
Please click below to view a print-ready pdf of the MDM Inflation Index for March 2009, listing the 10 individual product categories that make up the …

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MDM News Digest 3909

Subscriber Only /

Kennametal, Latrobe, PA, has acquired ROMICRON technology and manufacturing from Industrias Romi S.A. Kennametal has been the global distributor of ROMICRON for the past 14 years. The ROMICRON technology and manufacturing will be integrated into Kennametal’s Indaiatuba, Brazil, location and will help to strengthen the company’s holemaking and precision hole finishing portfolio.

DXP Enterprises, Houston, TX, reported sales fell 6.5 percent to $157.6 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009. Excluding sales by three acquired businesses, sales for the first quarter of 2009 decreased 14.9 percent from the first quarter of 2008 on a same-store sales basis. Profit was $3.17 million, down from $5.4 million in the same period a year ago.

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ISM Semiannual Economic Forecast: Expectations Weaken

Economic Trends, Research & Analytics, Subscriber Only /

Manufacturing purchasing and supply executives expect the economic decline in the U.S. to continue through the remainder of 2009, according to the latest semiannual forecast issued by the Business Survey Committee of the Institute for Supply Management.

While 15 percent of respondents predict revenues to be 13.7 percent greater in 2009 than in 2008, an overall revenue decrease of 14.7 percent is expected for manufacturing as 67 percent expect a 25.2 percent decline, and 18 percent expect no change. This represents a significant decline in expectations from December 2008 when the panel of supply management executives predicted a 1.1 percent decrease in 2009 revenues compared to 2008.
 
Here’s a breakdown of the survey …

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MDM Interview: Partnering with Private Equity

Companies, Features, Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions, Subscriber Only, Top Distributor Sectors /

Anixter International’s former president and CEO, Bob Grubbs, is using his 30 years in the distribution business in a new role with Irving Place Capital; the private equity firm is looking to increase its focus on investments in distribution companies.

Grubbs says he was attracted to the firm because it is committed to understanding the industry. “The model made a lot of sense to me,” he says.

Among the 50 investments Irving Place Capital has made: Aearo Technologies (sold in 2006 to Permira Advisers, which sold it to 3M in 2007); MultiPackaging Solutions (which recently completed a sixth add-on acquisition); and ReddyIce, a manufacturer and distributor of packaged ice products.

Anixter, where Grubbs has spent his entire career, …

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The Chrysler Bankruptcy Ripple Effect

Features, Research & Analytics, Subscriber Only /

Distributors that serve the auto industry and related sectors say that the bankruptcy of the first of the Big Three automakers will have a broad impact; they anticipate some distributors may even fail as a result. This article looks at what some distributors say could occur.

Following the bankruptcy filing by Chrysler LLC and the potential filing by General Motors at the end of May, many distributors are preparing to turn to Washington to make the government aware of the broad impact these actions will have on the hidden industry of wholesale distribution.

"Chrysler's bankruptcy is going to have a much wider effect than people realize," says Drew Tucci, director of marketing and sales at Eastern Bearings Inc., Waltham, MA, and …

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Behind the Motion Industries-General Tool Deal

Companies, Features, Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions, Subscriber Only, Top Distributor Sectors /

Motion Industries has purchased another industrial supplies distributor, once again broadening its reach in the sector. The acquired company’s leadership talks in this article about how they came to the decision to sell their business to the fast-growing Genuine Parts Co. subsidiary.
 
Motion Industries continues to grow its industrial supplies business, this time expanding its reach in the West. The $3.5 billion power transmission/bearings distributor, a subsidiary of Genuine Parts Co., announced May 7 it has acquired General Tool & Supply Co., Portland, OR. It is one of many industrial supplies-focused acquisitions the company has made in the past few years.

The acquisition of General Tool & Supply includes its sister company, Tucson, …

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YTD, Machine Tool Consumption Off 68.6% in 2009

Economic Trends, Free, News, Research & Analytics, Subscriber Only, Top Distributor Sectors /

March U.S. manufacturing technology consumption was $162.94 million, according to the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association, and the Association For Manufacturing Technology. This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTC program, was up 22.3% from February but down 71.9% from the total of $579.73 million reported for March 2008. With a year-to-date total of $397.56 million, 2009 is down 68.6% compared with 2008.

These numbers and all data in this report are based on data reported by companies participating in the USMTC program.

We are pleased that the monthly totals have continued to increase since the historic lows that we saw in January, said Peter Borden, AMTDA president. “This bounce may have been due to …

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