How the European crisis will affect U.S. and Canadian economies.
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Posts By Lindsay Konzak
Technology can help resolve simple issues, but it can also push customers away.
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North America is now ERIKS’ “single most important market.”
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MDM is featured in interview on challenges, opportunities for distributors and manufacturers in today’s markets.
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According to Paul Miller, vice president of e-commerce for Grainger, the lines are blurring between B-to-C and B-to-B e-commerce. Because most people have bought something online, B-to-B customers are increasingly carrying expectations from retail to B-to-B websites.
Related: MDM Interview, Part 2: Grainger's Growth Drivers
Miller spoke at Grainger’s recent Annual Analyst Meeting. More than 25 percent of Grainger’s sales are …
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Jeff Crane, CEO of industrial rubber products distributor Lewis-Goetz and Company says the distributor will remain focused on its growth strategy after being recently acquired by ERIKS. This article looks at how Lewis-Goetz’s strategy fits in with the European distributor’s plans for fast expansion in North America.
The recent acquisition of industrial rubber products distributor Lewis-Goetz and Company by ERIKS NV, a Netherlands-based industrial distributor, puts Lewis-Goetz in a new position both financially and strategically.
Lewis-Goetz was owned by The Audax Group, a private equity firm who has invested in and grown many industrial distributors over the past several years.
Lewis-Goetz CEO Jeff Crane spoke with MDM …
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In part 2 of MDM’s interview with Grainger U.S. President Mike Pulick, Pulick talks about growth drivers, e-commerce, and inventory management services, and about targeting small and mid-sized customers.
Part 1 of this interview was featured in the Nov. 10, 2011, issue of MDM. Read: MDM Interview, Part 1: Grainger's Take On the Market
MDM: You have increased your focus on inventory management programs, specifically your program KeepStock. Why do you believe you are seeing increased demand for these services? What kinds of customers are you targeting with inventory management programs?
Mike Pulick: Our KeepStock program is really an important part of our business, and it continues to grow very rapidly. It all gets back to the MRO purchasing process, which is usually very cumbersome. They use many, many different suppliers and there are a lot of ways that we can help them take waste out. But there is also …
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Distributors are challenged to determine the role catalogs will play in an increasingly digital world.
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Grainger U.S. President Mike Pulick tells MDM economy provides opportunity to discuss MRO costs with customers.
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Chicago-based W.W. Grainger reported sales in the third quarter were up 11 percent, and sales in the U.S. up 7 percent, an ongoing positive trend for the distributor of MRO products. MDM Editor Lindsay Konzak spoke with Grainger Senior Vice President and U.S. President Mike Pulick about how the distributor views current market conditions, where it sees strength, product line and sales force expansion, and the impact of the recession on the role of the distributor.
MDM: How is the year going for Grainger?
Mike Pulick: Grainger’s having a great year. Overall in the U.S., our sales are up 8 percent year-to-date, and I really attribute that to the investments that we made during the downturn. These were investments that we made by adding more sellers. We’ve been rapidly expanding our product line and more importantly, I think, we have really protected our service to …
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At recent HARDI conference, distributors and suppliers said they saw big opportunities in geothermal in particular.
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Robert W. Baird & Co., in partnership with Modern Distribution Management, conducted a survey of nearly 500 distributors and manufacturers to gauge business trends and the outlook for the distribution industry in diverse sectors. Here is a summary of third-quarter results.
On average, respondents to the latest quarterly MDM/Baird survey said third-quarter revenues were up 8.9 percent year-over-year. In the second-quarter survey, respondents indicated…
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At HARDI convention, Mike Workman talks about what keeps distributors from effectively implementing strategy.
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Despite interest, many consumers in the U.S. have not taken steps to become energy-efficient.
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That’s the question MDM-Baird survey respondents ask, despite ongoing growth for their businesses.
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This is the fourth article in MDM’s Emerging Technologies Series. This article examines trends in business intelligence and how distributors are using these tools to get smarter about sales, marketing and overall strategy.
Full Emerging Technologies Series is available here.
Distributors have questions, and many are looking to business intelligence technology tools to get the answers.
- Why are customers unprofitable?
- How can we work more closely with vendors to reduce costs?
- Why was margin off this quarter?
- Which salesperson is contributing most to Gross Profit? Least?
Data from the past is helping them gain a better understanding of trends to help improve the future.
“It’s more than just pulling the data out and viewing it,” says Kelly Squizzero, director of product management for Infor Distribution. “It’s being able to …
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IT director provides insight into how his company worked to make the transition to SAP flow smoothly.
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In presentation, Grainger also provides updates on sales force expansion and e-commerce plans.
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This is an exclusive summary of the latest episode of the MDM Executive Briefing webcast series, available on-demand at www.mdm.com/executivebriefing. In this episode, Bob Conti of The Alexander Group and Sales Apex defines partnership, the importance of leveraging strengths and understanding your partner’s motivations, and one tool channel partners can use to uncover profitability opportunities.
The word “partnership” may be one of the most overused terms these days when referencing a relationship between a manufacturer and distributor. Building a true partnership was the subject of the September MDM Executive Briefing webcast episode.
In the program, Bob Conti of The Alexander Group and Sales Apex, says that building a partnership is a big task and recommends distributors and manufacturers start small, working with a limited number of …
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Is the company at risk of becoming a business school case study of what not to do?
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