December 10 2008
Volume 38, Issue 23 - 12/10/2008
38
23
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The slowdown in the auto industry is being felt well beyond the Big Three automakers currently appealing to Congress for help. Distributors and manufacturers that serve the automotive industry are struggling to keep their own businesses solvent; business for many of them has dropped precipitously over the past few months.
Jeff Stohr, president of Conveyer and Caster -Equipment for Industry in Cleveland, OH, says he began noticing a slowdown in automotive about five years ago, but the real turning point was Nov. 1 of this year.
Our business at that time was a fraction of what would be considered normal,”Stohr says. The distributor of material handling products, casters and conveyor systems has annual revenues of $10 million to $15 million, with the automotive …
- Premium
Some distributors have been reluctant to deploy and train their employees on email because it carries technical and management issues with how to use it appropriately and effectively.
It’s time to rethink email as a tool. Email does not Spam people; people Spam people. Your competitors are using email to not only reach your customers, but they are using it as the most efficient and cost-effective way to reach your customers. Can you say the same? If you argue that your customers don’t spend time online, it may be true that they don’t visit your Web site to shop for their supplies. But do they use email? Do they have mobile devices?
Email marketing expertise and tools are evolving at a fast rate. Some distributors are able to segment their email database into key …
- Premium
In Part 2 of this interview with Motion Industries President and CEO Bill Stevens, he delves deeper into trends he is seeing in Motion’s core markets, as well as issues distributors face going into 2009.
MDM: What opportunities do you have in the current market?
Bill Stevens: The exciting thing to me is the MRO market in North America is still very large. As long as there are manufacturing plants, some of what we sell is needed and that is an encouraging thought. My greatest concern is the instability of our economy. Our customers are most definitely affected by the deepening economic downturn.
How many people thought companies like Lehman Brothers and others would go like they did as quickly as they did? I think we all thought they …
- Premium
Canadian economists are saying the country will follow the U.S. into a recession. The severity of that recession -which is currently expected to be short -is dependent on how far the U.S. falls. Here’s an overview of the current situation.
While conditions in Canada no more than a few months ago pointed to a downturn, a recession was not necessarily yet in the cards thanks to strong domestic demand and high commodity prices.
But with the U.S. economy officially in a recession, Canada is facing the same prospect. Demand for its products in the U.S. continues to fall despite a weakening of the Canadian dollar -which in any other year might make Canadian products more attractive to U.S. companies.
What’s more, commodity prices and demand for raw materials have …
- Premium
October 2008 sales of merchant wholesalers were $377.4 billion, down 4.1 percent from the revised September level, but up 2.7 percent from the October 2007 level, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The September preliminary estimate was revised downward $2.4 billion or 0.6 percent. October sales of durable goods were down 4.2 percent from last month and were down 1.6 percent from a year ago. Sales of metals and minerals, except petroleum were down 5.2 percent from last month and sales of motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and supplies were down 4.5 percent. Sales of nondurable goods were down 4.1 percent from last month, but were up 6.5 percent from last year. Sales of petroleum and petroleum products were down 11.2 percent from last month and sales of farm product raw materials were …
- Premium
For executives at 3M, St. Paul, MN, coming out of the current recession as a healthy company requires more than the usual cost cutting measures; it also means changing the mentality with which one views the recession. That was the message presented by George W. Buckley, president and CEO, and Patrick Campbell, senior vice president and CFO, during a recent conference call to present earnings guidance for 2009.
When there’s a 2 percent turndown, there’s 98 percent of the market left,”Buckley said.
In keeping with this idea, Buckley and Campbell emphasized that 3M intends to maintain its research and development budget even while cuts are being made in other parts of the company. 3M recently announced layoffs of 1,800 people and plans to cut an additional 500 …
- Premium
Praxair, Danbury, CT, will be laying off 1,600 employees and closing underperforming and non-core product lines and businesses in response to a substantial decline in demand for the fourth quarter. The company saw a fall-off in demand in November and is expecting additional customer plant closings in December. More
Applied Industrial Technologies, Cleveland, OH, has acquired Cincinnati Transmission Company, a single location, regional distributor of power transmission and motion control products as well as gearbox repair solutions in Cincinnati, OH. More
NESCO-Needham Electric Supply, Canton, MA, has acquired Gettens Electric Supply Co., Inc., …
- Premium
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 six years of online archives and market data. Call 1-888-742-5060 or email info@mdm.com to …
- Premium
The slowdown in the auto industry is being felt well beyond the Big Three automakers currently appealing to Congress for help. Distributors and manufacturers that serve the automotive industry are struggling to keep their own businesses solvent; business for many of them has dropped precipitously over the past few months.
Jeff Stohr, president of Conveyer and Caster -Equipment for Industry in Cleveland, OH, says he began noticing a slowdown in automotive about five years ago, but the real turning point was Nov. 1 of this year.
Our business at that time was a fraction of what would be considered normal,”Stohr says. The distributor of material handling products, casters and conveyor systems has annual revenues of $10 million to $15 million, with the automotive …
- Premium
Some distributors have been reluctant to deploy and train their employees on email because it carries technical and management issues with how to use it appropriately and effectively.
It’s time to rethink email as a tool. Email does not Spam people; people Spam people. Your competitors are using email to not only reach your customers, but they are using it as the most efficient and cost-effective way to reach your customers. Can you say the same? If you argue that your customers don’t spend time online, it may be true that they don’t visit your Web site to shop for their supplies. But do they use email? Do they have mobile devices?
Email marketing expertise and tools are evolving at a fast rate. Some distributors are able to segment their email database into key …
- Premium
In Part 2 of this interview with Motion Industries President and CEO Bill Stevens, he delves deeper into trends he is seeing in Motion’s core markets, as well as issues distributors face going into 2009.
MDM: What opportunities do you have in the current market?
Bill Stevens: The exciting thing to me is the MRO market in North America is still very large. As long as there are manufacturing plants, some of what we sell is needed and that is an encouraging thought. My greatest concern is the instability of our economy. Our customers are most definitely affected by the deepening economic downturn.
How many people thought companies like Lehman Brothers and others would go like they did as quickly as they did? I think we all thought they …
- Premium
Canadian economists are saying the country will follow the U.S. into a recession. The severity of that recession -which is currently expected to be short -is dependent on how far the U.S. falls. Here’s an overview of the current situation.
While conditions in Canada no more than a few months ago pointed to a downturn, a recession was not necessarily yet in the cards thanks to strong domestic demand and high commodity prices.
But with the U.S. economy officially in a recession, Canada is facing the same prospect. Demand for its products in the U.S. continues to fall despite a weakening of the Canadian dollar -which in any other year might make Canadian products more attractive to U.S. companies.
What’s more, commodity prices and demand for raw materials have …
- Premium
October 2008 sales of merchant wholesalers were $377.4 billion, down 4.1 percent from the revised September level, but up 2.7 percent from the October 2007 level, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The September preliminary estimate was revised downward $2.4 billion or 0.6 percent. October sales of durable goods were down 4.2 percent from last month and were down 1.6 percent from a year ago. Sales of metals and minerals, except petroleum were down 5.2 percent from last month and sales of motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and supplies were down 4.5 percent. Sales of nondurable goods were down 4.1 percent from last month, but were up 6.5 percent from last year. Sales of petroleum and petroleum products were down 11.2 percent from last month and sales of farm product raw materials were …
- Premium
For executives at 3M, St. Paul, MN, coming out of the current recession as a healthy company requires more than the usual cost cutting measures; it also means changing the mentality with which one views the recession. That was the message presented by George W. Buckley, president and CEO, and Patrick Campbell, senior vice president and CFO, during a recent conference call to present earnings guidance for 2009.
When there’s a 2 percent turndown, there’s 98 percent of the market left,”Buckley said.
In keeping with this idea, Buckley and Campbell emphasized that 3M intends to maintain its research and development budget even while cuts are being made in other parts of the company. 3M recently announced layoffs of 1,800 people and plans to cut an additional 500 …
- Premium
Praxair, Danbury, CT, will be laying off 1,600 employees and closing underperforming and non-core product lines and businesses in response to a substantial decline in demand for the fourth quarter. The company saw a fall-off in demand in November and is expecting additional customer plant closings in December. More
Applied Industrial Technologies, Cleveland, OH, has acquired Cincinnati Transmission Company, a single location, regional distributor of power transmission and motion control products as well as gearbox repair solutions in Cincinnati, OH. More
NESCO-Needham Electric Supply, Canton, MA, has acquired Gettens Electric Supply Co., Inc., …
- Premium
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 six years of online archives and market data. Call 1-888-742-5060 or email info@mdm.com to …
