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.

Throughout the pandemic, distributors have proven critical to saving lives and keeping the economy moving by reliably distributing food, medicine, PPE, and other vital supplies to every corner of America. As we enter a new phase where vaccines are making their way into the arms of millions of Americans, our industry has a critical opportunity to step up once again and accelerate the American recovery.

NAW and our member companies are partnering with the National Football League to support mass vaccination sites in stadiums across the country. When fully operational, these sites will have the capacity and vaccine supply provided by FEMA to vaccinate thousands of people each day. NAW is actively building a coalition of distributors who are committed to accelerating the administration of the vaccine and are able to help the NFL secure items needed to operate these mass vaccination sites. 

This week, NAW member companies have begun donating supplies to the Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Steelers to support the launch of their vaccination sites; we expect to speak with many of the remaining 30 NFL clubs shortly to understand their needs and connect them with distributors best positioned to meet those needs. 

If you would like to join us and have the ability to donate or serve as a source for purchase for any of the following items, please respond directly to me and NAW’s Chief Business Development Officer Dan Schuberth ([email protected], 732-585-3010):

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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From the NAW Blog:

Pricing is one of the most complex day-to-day decisions in any business environment, and the distribution industry is no exception. In fact, pricing is the most critical profitability lever for wholesaler-distributors due to their position in the supply chain, ever-increasing competition, and other business forces like commoditization and globalization.

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From Link Magazine:

For decades there has been the argument that much of the work taking place in large office spaces could be accomplished from home. Businesses were loath to test the theory for fear that there would be a reduction in employee productivity, but now, out of necessity, more and more businesses are realizing that the opposite is true. Employees are embracing the challenge; with Covid here for the foreseeable future, working from home effectively is one way to help your business survive.

Fastener Fair USA announced today the decision to postpone the show scheduled for June 22-24, 2021. The event has been rescheduled for November 8-10, 2021 (Conference: November 8 | Expo Hall: November 9-10) at the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland, Ohio.

“After extensive consultation and ongoing monitoring of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have made this decision with the wellbeing of all our customers and partners as our highest priority,” said Marie Brown, group vice president, Reed Exhibitions. “We are developing additional channels and digital tools to complement the live event in order to serve the industry, support our loyal exhibitors, and to ensure our attendees have access to find the solutions they need.”