News
Breaking news in Wholesale Distribution
An overview of construction spending in the first quarter 2007 by sector, compared with the same period a year …
Economic growth in the U.S. is sustainable throughout the remainder of 2007, say the nation’s purchasing and supply executives in their spring 2007 Semiannual Economic Forecast. Expectations for the remainder of 2007 are encouraging in both the manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors. These projections are part of the forecast issued by the Business Survey Committee of the Institute for Supply Management& trade; (ISM).
Manufacturing Summary
The survey panel of purchasing and supply management executives remains optimistic with 62 percent of respondents predicting revenues to be greater in 2007 than in 2006. This is reflected in their expectations of a 5.6 percent net increase in revenues for the period. To support the revenue growth expectations, …
Distributors have had wildly varying degrees of success in updating their legacy systems. Service Oriented Architecture provides an opportunity to preserve the value of legacy systems but doesn’t pigeon-hole a distributor into an exclusively Web interface or Windows-based application. It also allows your system to adapt to technology that has yet to surface. Here’s an overview.
It’s 2007 and legacy systems have beaten the odds. Here we are, still plugging away on our green-screen applications, improving them, expanding them and making them work harder than ever before. How did this happen?
Dozens of silver-bullet green-screen-to-GUI tools have wandered into and back out of the marketplace. Many conversions have been performed, but there have been wildly …
As customer bases shift, competition intensifies and commodity prices seesaw, it's more crucial than ever for distributors to maximize profitability by magnifying the value they provide for their customers and not competing on price alone. Increasing prices by 1 percent without hurting volume can improve profits as much as 11 percent, according to one pricing consultant.
Distributors looking to boost profitability and refocus on value should analyze and redesign their pricing strategy.
"If a sales force is out negotiating deals, there's very little control. They come back and say, 'I've got a deal at $90. I know our price is $100, but if we don't give them $90 we won't get the deal.' And everyone feels as if they are being held for ransom, says …
Economic growth in the U.S. is sustainable throughout the remainder of 2007, say the nation’s purchasing and supply executives in their spring 2007 Semiannual Economic Forecast. Expectations for the remainder of 2007 are encouraging in both the manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors.
  ;
These projections are part of the forecast issued by the Business Survey Committee of the Institute for Supply Management.
  ;
Manufacturing Summary
The survey panel of purchasing and supply management executives remains optimistic with 62 percent of respondents predicting revenues to be greater in 2007 than in 2006. This is reflected in their expectations of a 5.6 percent net increase in revenues for the period. To support the revenue growth expectations, …
RONA, Canadian retailer and distributor of home improvement, hardware and gardening products, reported sales were up 10% in the first quarter 2007 from the year-ago period. Profit was $9 million, compared with $16.4 million in 2006.
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RONA had sales of nearly $6 billion in 2006. …
Barnes Group, Bristol, CT, sales rose 20% to $361 million in the first quarter 2007. Profit was up 50% to $27.7 million from the year-ago period.
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Sales at Barnes Distribution were $152.5 million in the first quarter 2007, up 23% from $124.4 million in the same quarter a year ago, as a result of $22.7 million of incremental sales from the KENT acquisition and organic sales growth of $3.7 million.
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Organic sales grew in large part as a result of price increases and continued growth in Corporate and Tier II accounts. Foreign exchange positively affected sales by $1.7 million in the first quarter 2007.
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Sales at Barnes Aerospace were $91.2 million in the first quarter 2007, up 36% from the same period a year ago as original equipment …
84 Lumber Company, Eighty Four, PA, has purchased two Denver-area companies to add its network of more than 475 stores and 22 truss manufacturing plants.
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JAC & Company is a seven-year-old company which provides installation services, such as framing and trim, to professional contractors. Front Range Panel is a wall panel component manufacturing plant which supplies the professional home building and construction market.
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The two companies will now operate under the 84 Lumber banner as an 84 Lumber component manufacturing plant and as an 84 Lumber installed services hub.
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This strategic acquisition allows us to greatly expand the services we offer to the professional contractor market in the Denver Metropolitan area,” said Frank
Cicero, …
Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc., Peabody, MA, reported sales in the second quarter 2007 dropped 11% to $286.9 million. The decline was partially offset by acquisitions made since the second quarter of last year.
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Declines occurred across three major product lines: residential, non-residential and complementary products. Complementary product sales declined the least at 5.1%.
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The existing market sales decline can be attributed to harsher winter conditions this year in the Northeast, Midwest and Canada, reduced new home construction activity in certain markets, and a flattening of inflation. In addition, Beacon reported a significant slowdown in reconstruction and reroofing activities in the markets that experienced damages from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
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Sales
March 2007 sales of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’sales branches and offices, after adjustment for seasonal variations and trading-day differences but not for price changes, were $346.3 billion, up 1.8 percent (+/-0.5%) from the revised February level and were up 8.4 percent (+/-1.3%) from the March 2006 level. The February preliminary estimate was revised downward $0.6 billion or 0.2 percent.  ;
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March sales of durable goods were up 2.1 percent (+/-1.0%) from last month and were up 6.6 percent (+/-2.0%) from a year ago.  ; Compared to last month, sales of computer and computer peripheral equipment and supplies were up 6.1 percent and sales of lumber and other construction materials increased 5.9 percent.  ;
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March …
