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While the basic concepts for effective channel management haven’t changed, new competitive pressures have changed the focus to channel profitability. Here’s an analysis of the key shifts taking place in independent distribution channels. Part 2 of this article will outline manufacturer-distributor emerging best practices in channel management.

Relationships between manufacturers and distributors have been a topic of conversation at conventions for decades. The tension has always been there,” says Marshall Jones, a past president of the Specialty Tool and Fastener Distributors Association. “But the sources of that tension have changed.

Distributors and manufacturers are navigating uncharted territory and areas that until now maintained some …