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SPRING 2012

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Distributor's Link Magazine Spring Issue 2012 / VOL 35 / NO.2

28 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S

28 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK Robert B. Footlik Robert B. Footlik is a licensed professional engineer. A graduate of Illinois Institute of Technology, he has worked extensively in the fields of material handling, plant layout, packaging and management systems. The firm of Footlik and Associates serves as staff warehousing and materials consultants to six trade associations. Footlik writes for 12 trade and professional journals. Footlik and Associates is located at 2521 Gross Point Road, Evanston, Illinois 60601; phone 847-328-5644. PREPARING THE WAREHOUSE FOR A NEW FRONTIER For many years we have contended that in a distribution business the warehouse is a marketing tool. Taking this approach implies that the warehouse should evolve as the marketing and philosophies of the distributor change. Today we are on the cusp of another huge paradigm change for the Fastener Distribution industry. With the growing proliferation of tablet computers and “cloud” based business software it is now possible to maintain and access virtually unlimited amounts of data, product information and “paperwork.” Think of the cloud as an off site resource where you can store all the information required for day to day business functions instead of using a limited on premises central server. While doing this is a huge step in terms of trusting that there will not be unauthorized access to the heart of your business there is no question that cloud storage is both viable and valuable…if used wisely. For around per year Google Applications business software provides more than adequate capacity for many Distributors for Email, collaboration, document storage, catalogs, quotations (including Engineered proposals) and price sheets. All of this is accessible using an iPad, Google Android based tablet or similar computer anywhere and everywhere a Wi-Fi or cellular connection is available. This means that every sales representative potentially has 24/7 access to all of the information required to successfully market and manage all their accounts for 0 or less. And if they should lose or break their device a trip to the local Best Buy, Radio Shack or an Internet vendor and 10 minutes with a free high speed connection at Starbucks will put them back in business. They can even access (on a limited basis) all their information using their cell phone. By adding links to vendor websites and scans of documents such as orders and correspondence everything a sales rep needs to actively service their customers in immediately available. Warehouse and inventory information availability is an obvious next step in this evolving process, but this requires a full commitment to controlling every aspect of the operation. Tapping into the Warehouse Management System (WMS) or computerized inventory is becoming more common and so is the need for reliability because any gap between the information and reality is glaringly obvious to both the sales staff who are making promises and the customers who expect those promises to be met…or exceeded. Quality Standards Internet providers have learned the hard way that satisfying customers is vital. With rating systems and on line forums, customers have a huge impact of success or failure in a massive potential marketplace. This raises the “bar” on quality enormously. Most Fastener Distributors are quite pleased with an accuracy rate of 98% and in the past this was attainable with relatively little effort. From the customer’s perspective this means that out of 100 orders two will be please turn to page 164

THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK 29

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    96 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK John R.

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    THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK 101 QUESTI

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    128 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK NATION

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    THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK 137 BUSINE

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    THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK 141 Trinit

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    THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK 143 Fascom

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    THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK 149 J.W. W

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    THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK 153 Elgin

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    THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK 163 Recent

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    166 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK REVIEW

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    178 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK NEFDA

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    THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK 181 Modern

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    186 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK LESSON

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    THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK 189 Screw

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    THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK 191 FASTEN

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    210 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK WHY

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    216 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK Allegh

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    PORTEOUS FASTENER COMPANY OPEN HOUS

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    THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK 221 MFDA

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    224 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK US LEG

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    230 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK FASTEN

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    234 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK B cont

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    240 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK S SARJ

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