FALL 2023

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THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK
Jim Truesdell
James Truesdell is Chairman of Brauer Supply Company, a distributor of specialty
fasteners, insulation, air filtration, and air conditioning with headquarters in St. Louis.
Mr. Truesdell is adjunct professor at Saint Louis University and Webster University.
An attorney and frequently published writer, he is the author of “Total Quality
Management: Reports From the Front Lines”.
DISTRIBUTORS MOVE FORWARD WITH MARKET
CHANGES BROUGHT BY PANDEMIC
Through the pandemic many hard goods distributors
kept up business as usual with safety protocols dictating
in-person interactions. While the bulk of society was
buttoned down and sheltering in place, distributors
needed to put essential goods on the shelves, to deliver
material to contractors who were keeping the wheels of
civilization turning, and to provide supplies to service
providers who were on the front lines. This function could
not be done remotely with every distribution employee
calling it in from their home. The physical goods had
to be moved from point A to point B and that required
warehouse people, truck drivers, and counter personnel
and others who received the material and filled orders and
put it in contractors’ pick-up trucks or delivery vehicles to
send it off to job sites and retail shelves.
Distributors now find themselves a couple of years
later dealing with the fallout and changes from the
pandemic experience. There are a lot of technological
leaps forward and market changes that came about
because of the pandemic experience, but wholesalers
are finding themselves at an increased disadvantage in a
number of areas:
[1] A significant number of talented workers have
decided they like working remotely, and companies
whose business requires them to have people on site
in plants and offices are losing out on talent. Applicants
CONTRIBUTOR ARTICLE
are bypassing jobs which requires them to commute and
show up regularly at a company location.
[2] The nature of the supply chain itself has changed
as customers are demanding faster order completion. A
small number of large on-line sellers have centralized the
distribution function for universal ranges of products. This
could threaten specialty retailers and their wholesalers
with obsolescence.
[3] Customer service from the many manufacturers
and support service providers with whom distributors deal
has sometimes plummeted as many of these providers
have gone remote or hybrid in their own offices. This often
means response time is stretched out when a distributor
needs prompt information or help in resolving problems.
How are Distributors Dealing With
These New Realities?
Though “hands on” businesses do need people
on-site every workday they can introduce new elements
of flexibility to their work environment. This may not
be a stretch for the many family businesses who often
treated their workers as one big family, allowing people
to attend to family needs and emergencies as long as
job responsibilities were being met. As the working world
became more competitive and demanding, some of those
“patriarchal” management styles faded.
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