Power Transmission Distributor Association (PTDA) Posts Increase

By -
The year for industrial based-distributors continues to be a bit "bouncy". Power Transmission distributors lie dead center in the world of industrial supply. Their products range from belts and pulleys to complex Automation and electronic Motion Control devices. June sales trended up, other months have been smooth or slightly down. It has been that kind of year in the North American market.

One very interesting development this month comes in the down turn in Variable Frequency Drives and Linear Motion products. These categories have been shining stars in past months and one can only wonder if next month will see a corresponding upturn.

Here is the press release from PTDA -

Chicago, Ill. — August 6, 2008 — The Power Transmission Distributors Association (PTDA) today released June 2008 month-end trend data for distributors and manufacturers of power transmission/motion control (PT/MC) products.

U.S. distributors’ overall sales of PT/MC products rose 2.7 percent in June 2008 compared to May 2008. When matched up against sales in the same month last year, sales in June 2008 were up 2.1 percent. Accounts receivable collection days dropped 2.3 percent since May 2008. The confidence index of U.S. distributors for June remained flat at 5.6 (on a 10-point scale).

U.S. manufacturers’ sales increased in June 2008, with a 6.6 percent gain compared to May 2008. Sales in June 2008 climbed 5.6 percent compared to the same period last year. Orders in June 2008 were down 5.0 percent over May 2008. The confidence level of U.S. manufacturers remained flat at 5.3 (on a 10-point scale) for the second month in a row.

Product-by-product sales between May 2008 and June 2008 reflect the overall increase in sales experienced by U.S. and Canadian manufacturers. Only three of nine product categories for U.S. manufacturers—variable speed drives, mechanical drive systems and other PT products and positioning systems/ linear motion products—posted drops in sales. For Canadian manufacturers, four product categories posted a loss—clutches & brakes, variable speed drives, mounted bearings and unmounted bearings.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

50 Questions for Distributors

By -
Image
Last week I wrote an article titled “Six Questions that Demand an Answer.”  Sharing the article with a few trusted advisers, I received one consistent bit of feedback best summarized by this response. “Frank, I agree these are questions we must ask ourselves; they caused me to pause and ponder.  I used them as an exercise with my team to think about our overall strategy.  I believe taking the time to think about our business from an outside perspective to be justified and worthwhile.   Sometimes it’s hard to do this subjectively.  I would like to see more questions just like these.” The following is my first round of questions.  I have put them into categories to make them easier to digest.  Some will apply to your position, some will not.  I suggest spending a moment visiting these topics with members of your own team. A note:  The readers of this blog come from a variety of backgrounds, hold a diverse collection of positions within distribution and come from a number of
Read more

Ship and Debit Programs

By -
Image
Special Pricing Agreement and Thoughts about Ship and Debit Programs Click here for a brief tutorial on Ship and Debit Programs. Special Pricing Agreements (SPA) have been around for a very long time. The concept is simple; a manufacturer uses their distribution channel as a vehicle to service a customer who requires very low pricing to match some commercial situation. The details of the commercial situation aren’t really all that pertinent. They can arise due to customer potential, competitive pricing pressure, or supply contracts driven with large mega-corporations. The point is normal distributor margins no longer support the selling price and the distributor plays a critical role in providing some service to the customer. In years gone by, distributors involved in these situations purchased products earmarked for the special priced customer at sub-distributor price levels. The freshly purchased (at lower than normal cost) products were either brought “into stock” to sell
Read more

Where are the Sales Calls?

By -
Image
Sales managers are under pressure to increase sales calls and productivity. This leads to scrutiny of call reports, which often reveal poor results.  To improve their reports, salespeople are counting drop-by visits with no customer contact as sales calls, which is ineffective. Several factors contribute to the lack of customer visits: poor time planning, inefficient travel, failure to make appointments, getting caught up in trivial tasks, excessive focus on customer emergencies, and complex individual situations.  To address these issues, you need a coaching plan. Over a 6-8 week period, sales managers should review each seller's planned activities for the upcoming week, log data on their plans, and compare them with the actual results. This allows for the identification of: • Scheduling issues.  Are they really planning ahead? • Issues with setting appointments.  Do they need some coaching here? • Emergencies that took them out of the field.  Are they justified or just con
Read more