Additional articles of interest may be found in our Industry News Archives and Wholesale Distribution Industry Links.
Best Practice: Process Improvement
"Managing in an Uncertain Economy" - "Distributors have made little progress in improving most of the warehouse processes, primarily because it's difficult to determine the return-on-investment associated with any type of warehouse process improvement," writes the team from the Council for Research on Distributor Competitiveness. Their latest blog post explains the importance of warehouses in the supply chain and outlines steps for process improvement. (01/05/2010)
Distributors can use key financial metrics during recession
Almost 70% of distributors expect the recession to last at least six months longer, according to a December survey from Industrial Distribution. In a webcast hosted by Modern Distribution Management, Brent Grover supplied a 15-point checklist of financial metrics distributors can use to spot trouble within their operations. Source: Modern Distribution Management (01/14/2009)
Economy's impact on B2B market analyzed
Three business professors analyzed the effect of the economic downturn on the business-to-business marketplace, at a recent conference at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. The moderator, Pembroke Consulting President and NAW Institute for Distribution Excellence Fellow Adam J. Fein, Ph.D., underscored the speakers' emphasis on the need to anticipate where things are heading and how consumers are going to behave. (free registration) Source: Knowledge@Wharton (10/29/2008)
Improve profit management, gross margin with key strategies
Perform a cost analysis of your account base to get the ball rolling on gross margin improvement. Implementing a "margin hold" system that requires management to approve orders that come in below a minimum gross-margin percentage can also help. Source: CEO Strategist (10/03/2008)
Taking Stock of Inventory Practices
Distributors are utilizing more tools in bettering their inventory management practices. Source: Modern Distribution Management (09/02/2008)
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