Many distributors assume that they can handle one more warehouse order for free. Aren’t – all warehouse operational-costs fixed in the moment? And, isn’t – keeping people busier good? Alas, no! Let’s look at the cold statistics for a contractor-supply distributor’s monster, Central Distribution Center (CDC).
Continue reading 234. Automate the Picking of Your Losing, Small-Dollar SKUs
Unless you were unplugged, the week of Feb 8th had chaos on many fronts: pandemic, impeachment, short squeezes, money printing, etc. With the distractions of the news and the exponential infoglut at your fingertips and dinging from your smartphone, where should your company be focusing its attention?
What do the trends for three percentages of sales – gross margin, op. profit, and net profit -do for: GWW, GPC and FAST?
Continue reading 232. 15-Year, Margin-Trend Insights for: Grainger, Genuine Parts, Fastenal
What are the backstories, and what do they have to do with distributors?
Have you seen teams take the lead with little time left? They then switch to prevent play and try to milk the clock. But, the other team goes up-tempo, takes nothing-to-lose risks and wins. Why not play relentlessly to win and beyond by being a perpetual innovator?
Continue reading 230. Play to Win at Digital-Channel Change. Or, Play Not to Lose?
Most “merchant” distributors cannot answer this question effectively. So, they fear the unknown, economic boundaries for:
Continue reading 229. Distributors Create a 3PL, Systems Division