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.

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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.

IFE Americas is proud to announce that we are now working in cooperation with R.L. English to offer a high quality range of fluid system components with a first class service level.

Marty Nolan runs the R.L. English Co., a manufacturers rep group located in the Cleveland, Ohio area. Marty is a 35 year veteran of the fastener industry and has been involved with several fasteners associations locally and nationally over the years. In 2019, Marty was inducted into the Fastener Hall of Fame. His company covers Ohio and the surrounding states as well as some national accounts. 

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.”

From the NAW Blog

It has become a universally accepted truth that the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated customer expectations for buying online. Many distributors report a dramatic shift toward customer orders placed on e-commerce platforms. This trend has confirmed what many have said for several years: distributors must invest in modern e-commerce platforms to remain a viable source for meeting customer expectations. But is doing so enough? Is there a more vital lesson that many distributors are missing? Will distribution miss a critical opportunity for locking in unbreakable customer loyalty if they remain blind to the bigger picture? 

From the NAW Blog

2020 has been a tough year for most distribution sales teams. In certain markets — such as janitorial and sanitation, HVAC, home improvement and landscaping — shifting consumption patterns have spurred rapid growth. Customers increasingly engage with suppliers through e-commerce, market platforms such as Amazon and Alibaba, and virtual meeting platforms. These new, emerging buyer and seller engagement models present compelling value and efficiencies that are certain to endure beyond the pandemic.

From the NAW Blog

In our playbook for distributors to SURGE ahead using customer stratification, we outlined ways distributors could segment customers to boost profitability — particularly to mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. We believe it is a foundational analytics practice for any distributor. And its applications in the pursuit of profitable growth are almost endless.

S.W. Anderson Company, a specialty and class C component distributor, has acquired OEM Fastening Systems, a specialty fastener distributor in Lawrenceville, Georgia.

"We're excited to welcome the OEM Fastening Systems employees to the S.W. Anderson family" stated Jim Degnan, president of S.W. Anderson. "OEM's reputation in the southeast U.S. as a customer-focused product expert aligns closely with S.W. Anderson's value proposition. We look forward to working with our new team members to extend our products and services to OEM’s customer base. "

Buckeye Fasteners and its affiliated companies have a new mobile app that will give users direct access to five manufacturing plants in North East Ohio:

• Brainard Rivet
• Buckeye Fasteners
• Joseph Industries
• Ohio Nut & Bolt
• Plan-E-Tech Tool and Die

You can use it to request a quote and can include your agent if you have one. The app will be useful in the field or in your office.

From the NAW Blog

One of the most valuable resources distributors have is their data. Data can reveal what your customers are likely to buy, what growth opportunities you’re missing out on and where you can cut costs. Distributors with the right data can meet customer needs and dominate competitors. But acquiring and handling data properly is no easy task.

Epicor has just released its newest version of Prophet 21. Some of the new enhancements include:

• Access to Prophet 21 remotely using any device in the P21 Web App
• Epicor Commerce Connect (ECC) brings you a full line of eCommerce offerings
• Epicor Rentals Management makes the rentals process more efficient
• Automate work, increase customer satisfaction, and grow service revenue with Service Pro
• Process shipping transactions quickly and efficiently with Epicor QuickShip
• Create budgeting, forecasting, and planning reports/dashboards with Epicor Data Analytics (EDA)
• Allow each user to create more intuitive reports with Prophet 21 Report Studio

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