The Distributor Channel

Let me start with a loud proclamation, I believe it makes sense  for distributors to have a value-add shop.  I see value-adds as a competitive differentiator.  They provide the distributor with an easy way to sell logistically focused customer convenience, programming expertise, multiple part subassemblies, and when appropriate, complete solutions.  In the case of products like linear bearings, bus bar, strut, and T-slot extruded aluminum systems, work done in the shop enables smaller customers to apply the product without purchasing the specialty tools required to create a customer solution of their own.  With all these great things in mind, why start an article with the heading “Does your shop cost your company new business?”   In the past three or four weeks, I have come across at least a dozen examples of distributor shops serving as a hindrance rather than an accelerator of business.  All but two of these came from sellers.   The situation as seen through the eyes of the sellers i