Tariff Troubles & Supply Chain Scandals By Desiree Grace & Frank Hurtte The plot twists are enough to give you vertigo. Your friends are now your enemies, or are they frenemies? Your cousin next door is persona non grata, and your old arch-nemesis is now your bestie. The pairings and couplings get stranger and stranger. No, we are not talking about daytime drama, aka Soap Operas. It’s “Tariff-Time!” What to do? You can’t change the channel. Eating popcorn and sitting on your couch isn’t advisable, either. Let’s break down some of the challenges and talk about how to cope. While the numbers and countries impacted change by the hour, directionally, we know that products and components sourced from the bid C, China, are most impacted. This impact will flood downstream from manufacturers to distributors and end-users, with potential impact on rep agents, too.  Major issues and concerns – Manufacturers: • Manufacturers are concerned that tariff prices will impact their market ...

Kris Kringle, the jolliest boss of the North Pole, called a rare emergency meeting with his top elves. Why rare? Because the man believes in delegation and hot cocoa, not micromanagement. Yet, here we were: garland-lined gloom, cookie plates untouched, and Kris madder than a wet reindeer. The crisis? Supply chain chaos. Machines broken, parts delayed, sugar plums tasting suspiciously like spinach—classic holiday mayhem. And at the center of it all? A new procurement elf, Elf Pricedrop, whose cost-cutting suppliers had efficiency levels rivaling a hibernating polar bear. As Kris laid out the grim situation—Christmas potentially canceled—Elf Pricedrop took the floor, adjusting his fancy tie like he was about to drop some revolutionary wisdom. Instead, he dropped excuses. "We’ve saved money!” he cried. But the other elves weren’t buying it. Elf Evergreen, head of toy production, fired back: “We have machines down and parts are MIA. Your suppliers couldn’t deliver a sled in a snowstor...

Frank’s work has been featured on the Distribution Strategy Group website.  Here’s what they are saying:  Distributors who once relied on poaching new sellers from the competition have discovered that option has dried up. Frank Hurtte recently embarked on a mission to learn what the life of a new seller looks like today – and how distributors can better support them.     Delve into it  HERE . .

Little Johnny was a Bully in Third Grade, Now He’s a Purchasing Agent Are there Bullies in the Purchasing Department New Sellers are Falling Victim to Bad Guys Dressed as Purchasing Agents All three of these were considered as titles for this article.  I like them all, but I don’t like what purchasing people do to new sellers across our land. Throughout my life, I have dealt with hundreds if not thousands of purchasing departments.  Purchasing departments come with many different monikers – Purchasing, Procurement, Supply Chain Management, Sourcing Group, Resource Management, Indirect Supply Management, and probably a dozen more.  For simplicity, let’s call them purchasing people.  Their main role is to handle the administrative side of the products needed by their company with one large additional task.  Many purchasing people are also charged with buying those products at the lowest possible price.   Most purchasing people imply that they are ...

I doubt robots need an office The Importance of AI in Industrial Distribution A few months ago, I found myself in a late-night discussion of robotics.  My compatriots were a distinguished group of automation distributors, and our conversation was fueled by a perfect desert evening and copious amounts of Mexican Cerveza.  The conversation turned to robotics in off-the-wall applications.     Flippy, the burger-cooking robot, now works at White Castel and CaliBurger.  Little Caesars has pizza-making robots.  My local Checkers drive-through has a robotic voice order taker that handles my nearly daily request for two chili dogs.  The list went on for a very long time, when somebody jokingly shared this little gem, “With all this AI stuff, all of us will be replaced by some form of automation.”   I shared this thought with Jenny, who serves as my assistant and editor, and somehow it percolated to top of mind.  While waiting a few m...

We are well into January which means many of you have given up on your personal resolutions.  And maybe you gave up on your professional ones as well, but I have a feeling you didn't make any!   Wait, did I touch on a nerve there?  Never fear, I have some questions you can ask yourself to give you a jump on 2023.  Much like in 2022, we are still dealing with a "new normal" in a post-Pandemic world.  While some things in life are back to 2019 standards, many are not.  Some will never be the same and it's time we started seeing the good in that change...or at least try our best not to resist the changes.  I'm talking to those of you nearing retirement who thought you could just ride things out under the radar. But as your younger counterparts will tell you, adapting is critical to survival in the new year.  After all, buying eggs will set you back quite a bit these days! So here they are, Top 10 Distributor Questions that Demand Answers in 202...

  This week we have a feature article on IMARK Electrical Now! I have spoken and written at length about charging for services.  In the same vein, this article talks about considering the impact your services have on your customers and how to use that information to your advantage.   Go check it out! Short on time? Here are direct links to items mentioned in the article: My manifesto on Amazon about the subject A whitepaper written for The Distribution Strategy Group Frank Hurtte, Founding Partner of River Heights Consulting, shares his personal experiences with 7 28  years of "in the trenches" training and 17 years as a consultant.  He serves as a personal coach to industry leaders across many lines of distribution.  He has authored 5.5 books (one is almost done) and has written hundreds of articles for national trade magazines, including Industrial Supply Magazine. Frank is also a sought-after copywriter of marketing materials for technology companie...

Thinking about a Late-Night Conversation At the AHTD Fall meeting a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to join a group of young leaders in the automation industry.  Several points of discussion are worthy of further discussion.  Here is a recap of the earlier post.    Last night I joined a group of young leaders in our business for “one more round” and found myself listening intently to a discussion centering around eCommerce and the future of the automation industry.  Without giving away the entire conversation, the focus of the chat involved: ·         Does an “online only” distributor truly create a market for manufacturers serving this industry? ·         What is the difference between being a solution provider and a market server via a webstore? ·         How do customers, especially Millennial customers, use the internet in making buying decisions? ·...