Distributors as Bankers? High interest rates must be on a lot of peoples’ minds these days. During the past month I have received several emails asking my opinion on the distributor’s role as the extender of credit; the organization providing some of the funds necessary for their customers’ operating capital. Let’s look at the current situation: customers who expect extended terms seem to be multiplying like cockroaches in a roadside diner. In the good ole days, customers paid their local supply house distributor at the end of the next month. Some of us even offered special discounts for those who paid by the 10th of the month. Somewhere in the late 1990s, a number of large companies (reportedly led by GE) unilaterally made the decision to pay their local distributors in 60 days rather than the normal 30 days. The conversation went something like this: “The time and effort required to process your invoices takes us longer than 30 days. So, we’re going to start paying in...