Jenel Stelton-Holtmeier, Author at Modern Distribution Management - Page 19 of 36

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Posts By Jenel Stelton-Holtmeier
Data & Analytics
Minding the Gap Between Data & Action

Business intelligence does not necessarily translate into executive intelligence, and often the gap between the two is large, according to Indian River Consulting Group’s Mike Marks. Marks recently spoke about that “reality gap” and how to overcome it in a recent MDM Webcast, The Link Between Business Intelligence and Profitability, available at mdm.com/business-intelligence.

When it comes to distribution technologies, a lot of attention is frequently paid to the latest and greatest, such as e-commerce and mobile.

While these may pay off for distributors in the long run, the most immediate return on investment may come from technologies that have been around for a while – solutions that help distributors profit from the data already in their systems. Still, business intelligence does not necessarily translate…

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Sales & Marketing
Commentary: Shifting Landscape, Shifting Relationships

If there’s anything I’ve learned in my time covering the wholesale distribution industry, it’s that distributors hold one thing above all else: relationships. Even in the shifting competitive landscape, relationships have an important role in this industry.

Sure today’s distributor may look a lot different than distributorships of the past. Once-local businesses are being bought up by larger national or …

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AmazonSupply
eCommerce
Beyond Amazon: E-Commerce’s Impact on Wholesale Distribution Markets

This article is part of the MDM series: The Shifting Competitive Landscape.

E-commerce in distribution is no longer just “nice to have”: It’s “need to have.” And the proliferation of e-commerce as an essential part of doing business – from the simplest forms to complex systems – has changed how some distributors view the market. This article examines the impact of e-commerce on the wholesale distribution channel.

There’s general consensus in the business-to-business space that e-commerce is now a “need-to-have” platform as opposed to just “nice-to-have.” Acceptance and adoption of e-commerce in distribution has grown over the past three years, but today’s e-commerce – and the role e-commerce plays in distribution – is different.

Today’s e-commerce platform goes beyond placing orders online,

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12TrendsForDistributionIn2013
Research & Analytics
12 Trends in Distribution for 2013

This article, based on interviews with distributors and manufacturers and the 2012 MDM Reader Survey, outlines and analyzes key trends and issues affecting how distributors will do business in 2013.

The year 2012 was marked by uncertainty. It’s a word we heard over and over again as we approached the presidential election in November. But despite that uncertainty, we saw movement in several areas this year. Mergers and acquisition activity picked up significantly in wholesale distribution, and technology was a key driver of many of the top trends going into 2013.

Here are 12 trends affecting distribution in 2013: …

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Electrical
Collaboration Case Study: Sharing Branches, Best Practices

This article is part of the MDM series: The Shifting Competitive Landscape.

One of the most popular examples of a collaboration between distributors that has worked is that of APR Supply, Schaedler Yesco and Industrial Piping Systems in Pennsylvania. The three have 11 locations together, and continue to uncover new opportunities to benefit from the arrangement. They’ve inspired a new program from Affiliated Distributors called Co-Ventures. This article looks at why the distributors’ collaboration has worked and what to consider when going down a similar path.

Jim Hoffman saw a common thread in his first three clients after he launched his consulting business. “By the end of my first year working in those three companies, I thought, ‘Except for what’s in the boxes, they’re in the same business,’” he said. If he could get them to work together, he thought they could accomplish great things.

More than six years later, the co-venture between plumbing supplies distributor APR Supply Co., electrical distributor Schaedler Yesco and PVF distributor Industrial Piping Systems continues to grow. The three distributors also continue to uncover new ways to benefit from working together.

Today, the companies have 11 shared branches

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