Technology Archives

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Moneyball for Growth

David Gordon Posted On February 16, 2016

If you are stymied with geographical growth and think that many of your customers are not buying all they can from you, the odds are stacked in your favor that they aren’t. Why? Because you don’t know. Unless you have […]

Channel Strategies / Distributors / Growth Strategies / Lighting / Lighting2 / More Insights / Profitability / Sales Channel / Supplier / Products / Technology

Selling Lighting or Selling Data?

David Gordon Posted On February 16, 2016

Recently we touched on how the emergence of connected lighting is opening new opportunities for manufacturers and could for distributors. The reason for “could” is that the opportunity potentially can be much more than selling fixtures. It could explode into […]

Branding / Channel Strategies / Customer Segments / Customer Service / eBusiness / eMarketing / Growth Strategies / Industrial Market / Industry Consolidation / Industry News / Lighting / Lighting2 / Marketing / More Insights / Pricing / Productivity / Profitability / Purchasing / Sales Channel / Technology

16 Distribution Industry Trends for 2016

David Gordon Posted On January 27, 2016

Over the past month, Allen and I have discussed our observations regarding the industry and shared trends we see that we think will impact business for distributors and manufacturers in 2016. We’ve agreed upon 16 sales, marketing, profitability and operations opportunities that we’d […]

Channel Strategies / eBusiness / eMarketing / Growth Strategies / Marketing Groups / More Insights / Sales Channel / Technology

2016 eCommerce Goals, Electrical Initiatives

David Gordon Posted On December 13, 2015

Interesting article here from Internet Retailer regarding eCommerce goals for 2016 and written by Forrester Research. With the emergence of many electrical ecommerce initiatives for distributors, much bears watching. The following could be of interest for those invested, investing or considering investing […]

Channel Strategies / eBusiness / Growth Strategies / Logistics / More Insights / Productivity / Sales Channel / Technology

Learning from Amazon and Generating Ideas

David Gordon Posted On December 6, 2015

Over the past couple of years there has been a number of initiatives, as well as much time and money invested, into ecommerce. While essentially everyone feels that this is an essential service to offer for longer-term growth (or survival), […]

More Insights / Productivity / Profitability / Technology

Excel … The Pervasive Hidden Tool

David Gordon Posted On November 8, 2015

As ERP’s age and new ones come on line for on-site install and Cloud, there is one piece of software coupled with a package that has become a de facto standard for most distributors to upload price matrix. Excel is that […]

Customer Service / Logistics / More Insights / Productivity / Profitability / Technology

Extending Automated Inventory Management

David Gordon Posted On September 7, 2015

As we’ve talked to distributors over the summer a recurring theme has been the need to improve inventory management. Part of the reason is that the frequency of new products has increased, another issue is the stocking of LED products […]

Awards / Distributors / More Insights / Productivity / Technology

I.B.I.S. Inc. Named Top Microsoft U.S. Distribution Partner

David Gordon Posted On August 27, 2015

This press release announcing that Microsoft recognized I.B.I.S. as its US Distribution Partner of the Year came across our desk the other day and basically it’s interesting because I.B.I.S., Inc. was just one of the companies we featured in our Tech […]

Channel Strategies / Customer Service / eBusiness / Growth Strategies / Logistics / Manufacturers / More Insights / Productivity / Profitability / Purchasing / Supplier / Products / Technology

Benefits of VMI … More Than Inventory Management

David Gordon Posted On August 19, 2015

Last week we received a press release, which was published in multiple outlets, from Datalliance announcing that Legrand’s Wiremold line, Hoffman and ILSCO “are continuing to expand their Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) programs with a growing list of distributors and utilities […]

Channel Strategies / Customer Service / Distributors / eBusiness / eMarketing / Growth Strategies / Logistics / More Insights / Pricing / Productivity / Purchasing / Technology

ElectricalTrends Tech Vision Series: IBIS Enters Electrical Distribution: Advanced Supply Chain Software™ and Microsoft

David Gordon Posted On July 12, 2015

This week we’re continuing with our ElectricalTrends Tech Vision Series. One of the most, if not the most, important piece of technology within a distributor is their ERP system. It essentially is the central repository for a distributor to develop […]