From the NAW Blog:

It’s no secret that for years most distributors have neglected core sales skills training for their sellers. There are several reasons for this benign neglect of sales skills investment. First, historically, industrial B2B buyers didn’t necessarily need a highly skilled seller. Their purchases were largely needs-driven — not discretionary — and so the core need was product or technical expertise and order fulfillment. For this reason, virtually all systematic sales training in distribution was focused on products and applications (not selling skills or competencies).

From the NAW Blog:

During and after extreme disruption, such as that caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the thought of doing a performance assessment can be overwhelming. However, taking a microscope to performance in a time of crisis can tell us more about our core underlying capabilities than in a time of stability.

From the NAW Blog:

In our book for NAW, "Optimizing Distributor Profitability: Best Practices to a Stronger Bottom Line," we present 47 best practices for distributors to apply in their businesses, along with plentiful resources and examples for mastering the process. However, we’re aware that just crossing the starting line can be a challenge — especially in such uncertain times.

From the NAW Blog:

In recent years, inside sales has emerged as a highly profitable channel for distributors. “When appropriately utilized, inside sales reduces cost-of-sales by 40%–90% relative to field sales, while revenues may be maintained or even grown,” according to the Harvard Business Review. Selling more while spending less sounds great, but it is much easier said than done.

From the NAW Blog:

By adopting a new mindset, distributors have the opportunity to break free of the chains that bind them to meager margins and feeble brands. That mindset is about believing that they can do more than survive. Distributors can dominate!

From the NAW Blog:

As modern buyers have embraced self-service (via internet searches, social media and e-commerce platforms) for much of their buyer journey, the need for traditional sellers who provide product information — and even application insights — has dropped radically. Buyers complete 70 percent of their journey before they even engage with sellers. COVID-19 has accelerated the pressures to boost productivity and elevate sales teams’ value-add.

SPIROL is pleased to introduce a new, high-performance series of Molded-In Inserts for plastics assemblies. The rugged design of the Series 63 Through Hole Inserts and Series 65 Blind End Inserts consists of multiple bands of helical knurls to maximize torque resistance, balanced with radial undercuts to achieve high pull-out (tensile) force. These Molded-In Inserts are designed to be placed in the mold cavity prior to plastic injection, and offer exceptional performance due to unrestricted plastic flow into the retention features on the outside diameter of the Inserts.

These lightweight, lead-free Threaded Inserts for Plastics are manufactured from 2024 grade aluminum which provides the best combination of strength, corrosion resistance, machinability and cost. The Series 63 and Series 65 Molded-In Inserts are lead free, 40% stronger than brass, and 1/3 the weight of the same Insert manufactured from brass. Standard metric thread sizes include M4, M5, M6, and M8, and standard inch threaded sizes include 8-32, 10-24, 1/4-20, and 5/16-18.

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI – February 18, 2021.

EFC International is pleased to announce its expanded focus on the world-wide distribution of genuine parts made by Research Engineering & Manufacturing, Inc. (REMINC) Authorized Licensees. EFC’s team of application engineers support customers with advanced engineering assistance, direct factory relationships and rapid prototype solutions, as well as extensive value analysis and value engineering services. Matt Dudenhoeffer, President and CEO of EFC, states, “EFC, REMINC and REMINC’s Licensees look forward to this partnership knowing that end-users will benefit from our combined strengths.”

February 2021

Fastener Fair Italy 2021 postponed: 3rd International Exhibition for Fastener and Fixing Technology will take place from 30 November – 1 December 2022 at Fiera Milano City, Italy.

Fastener Fair Stuttgart 2021 postponed: 9th International Exhibition for the Fastener and Fixing Industry will take place from 9 – 11 November 2021 in Stuttgart, Germany

Mack-Brooks Exhibitions has today announced the postponement of Fastener Fair Stuttgart, which was scheduled to take place at the Stuttgart Exhibition Grounds in Germany from 18 to 20 May 2021. The next Fastener Fair Stuttgart, 9 th International Exhibition for the Fastener and Fixing Industry, will run from 9 – 11 November 2021. This decision was taken in light of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and following conversations with all exhibitors and visitors that have taken place over the past weeks and months. Uncertainties around continued travel restrictions were also a contributing factor to this decision due to the truly international character of the Fastener Fair Stuttgart show.

This article, prepared by Benchmarking Analytics, compares the performance of NFDA members with other lines of distribution in 2019.

Read the full article

From the NAW Blog:

How do you plan when all certainty has gone out the window more than once in the past year? Even with an end to the pandemic in sight, distributors may be looking at their 2020 business plan and wondering if it’s even worth putting a plan together for 2021. It’s tempting to stay light on your feet and be ready to pivot.

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DIN Rail is the solution widely used in electrical installations for industrial control applications. Products such as terminal blocks, contactors, and timers are easily and efficiently mounted using DIN Rail.

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Beacon Fasteners and Components is excited to announce Tom Buddenbohn of Budd Sales as a manufacturers’ representative for the states of Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.

“With more than 40 years of industry sales experience and technical expertise, Tom will be a great connection to our south-central customer base and a valuable resource to our team,” said Kameron Dorsey, national sales manager at Beacon. “He shares our drive for excellence and is focused on creating outstanding experiences for every customer. We look forward to growing and strengthening these valuable partnerships together.”

SANTA CLARITA, CALIFORNIA – The Fastener Training Institute (FTI), the leading nonprofit provider of fastener training opportunities, announced the appointment of Greg Rawlings as its newest Board of Directors member.

Rawlings is the current president of Nylok LLC, a Marmon Holdings company that is part of the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. group. Nylok is a value-added solutions provider of resin, adhesive and lubricant coatings for threaded fastener applications with five facilities in North America and business partners in 31 different countries across the globe. He has served in various roles at the company over the past 12 years including sales, engineering and management positions.

From the NAW Blog:

As companies build their plans for growth in this new year, it’s a good time to leverage sales analytics to build actionable sales goals. Sadly, for many distributors, sales planning has historically been anecdotal, intuitive and virtually data-free. Aside from knowing what a customer (or group of customers) bought last year, and then guessing at how that might change this year, there is painfully little insight to identify, organize, drive and measure the daily activities that actually accelerate profitable, organic growth.

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