For those of us selling into the industrial sector, the economy has turned tough.  One of the gauges of business levels comes from large manufacturers of industrial products.  Numerous end of quarter reports point to slumping sales.  We’ve seen everything from no growth to decreases from three to six percent being typical.   At the same time, a few large industrial corporations have announced plans to “revisit, reevaluate and rethink” their supply chains.  Their strategy is simple:  The economy is slowing and they plan to squeeze a few points out of their suppliers to offset other slides in profitability.  In the past 45 days or so, distributors have shared feedback on margin squeezing moves by key customers.  Longer payment terms (How does 105 day payment sound?) and requests for across the board price reductions are common.  In the past month alone, at least a half dozen distributors report moves to “eliminate the middleman” with cus...