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Distribution Industry News Archives:
News from the week of May 24, 2004

Durable goods orders drop in April
Web site helps companies find products made in U.S.
NetSuite unveils ERP software features
PIP wins Frost & Sullivan award
Gillani releases ASP versions of software
I.D.A./ISMA members approve consolidation
ISA introduces new executive vice president
Harrington Hoists names new president and CEO
Hughes Supply sees record sales growth

Durable goods orders drop in April
New orders for manufactured durable goods in April decreased $5.7 billion or 2.9 percent to $191.3 billion, according to the Department of Commerce. This followed a 5.7 percent March increase.

Excluding transportation, new orders decreased 2.1 percent. Excluding defense, new orders decreased 2.4 percent. Year-to-date, new orders for 2004 are 12.4 percent above the same period a year ago.

Transportation equipment, down following two consecutive increased had the largest decrease, at $2.7 billion or 4.7 percent to $54.5 billion. Computers and electronic products, down following four consecutive increases, decreased $1.4 billion or 4.1 percent to $31.7 billion.

“After the extraordinary gains recorded in February and March, the April decline in durable goods orders reported by the Commerce Department today was predictable and not a source of concern,” said David Huether, chief economist of the National Association of Manufacturers. "I remain convinced that manufacturing will likely outpace the overall economy in 2004 for the first time in half a decade.”

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Web site helps companies find products made in U.S.
Before retailers and consumers invest their dollars into foreign-made products, they may want to visit BuyDirectUSA.com. The site was launched in an effort to help Americans and American retailers locate products produced by manufactures located in the United States.

"American workers do not have time to wait for the politicians to figure out ways to keep jobs here in America and to balance out our huge trade deficit," said BuyDirectUSA.com owner Danielle Csekits.

BuyDirectUSA.com is a new company, but it is not new to business. It operated e-commerce Web sites offering gifts and collectibles since 1999. The company noticed how many of the items it sold came from outside the U.S. and decided it was time to help balance things out.

"We don't have an issue with free trade; what we are hoping to do is to help create a more balanced trade," said Csekits. "Too many jobs have been lost due to outsourcing and moving manufacturing jobs to foreign countries. If we can convince more consumers to buy American and retailers to carry more American-made products, then I believe that we can help make a difference."

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NetSuite unveils ERP software features
NetSuite Inc. unveiled a set of enterprise resource planning (ERP) features that will help deliver advanced back-office application software via the Internet.

The new features include revenue recognition, allocations, advanced budgeting, advanced billing and substantial multi-currency capabilities.

Additionally, new features including lot tracking, advanced inventory commitment, inventory re-ordering, and special orders expand NetSuite’s offering in the wholesaler and distributor markets.

NetSuite’s products include NetSuite, NetCRM, NetERP and Oracle Small Business Suite. The Oracle Small Business Suite name is used under license from Oracle Corp. For more information, please visit www.netsuite.com.

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PIP wins Frost & Sullivan award
Glove supplier Protective Industrial Products received the 2004 Environmental Health & Safety Company of the Year Award from Frost & Sullivan. PIP was honored at Frost & Sullivan's annual Excellence in Industrial Technologies Awards banquet in Miami for its commitment to providing multi-faceted solutions to the needs of its customers.

In announcing the award, Frost & Sullivan described PIP as one of the country's fastest growing suppliers of industrial work gloves. "PIP is now expanding its impact and influence within the industry as a whole with a series of key acquisitions, expanding core competencies, and building new ones. PIP recently announced the formation of an entirely new division, Alliance Fire & Rescue, an organization created to sell personal protective products that meet the specific needs of fire fighters and first responders."

"In this highly competitive environmental health and safety market, where most of the industry has shifted away from the role of safety specialist, PIP continues to translate its responsiveness and creativity into increased market share and revenues. Frost & Sullivan is pleased to present the 2004 Environmental Health & Safety Company of the Year Award to Protective Industrial Products."

PIP is headquartered in Guilderland Center, N.Y.

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Gillani releases ASP versions of software
Gillani Inc. announced the availability of iDistribute and Gillani Financials in an application service provider (ASP) model. The Gillani ASP model provides distributors with full functionality of a complete supply chain management solution, including:

No installation, maintenance or upgrades required on client machines
Automatic availability of application support services
Outsourced server infrastructure and IT support
Economies of scale previously available only to larger enterprises

Gillani also offers a lower-priced onsite client offering for small and medium-sized businesses.

"Gillani feels that the small and medium businesses are in dire need of streamlining their business processes to meet today's challenges. We want to make it easy and flexible for these businesses to acquire a world-class ERP and Supply Chain Management solution, and start utilizing it quickly to address changing customer requirements, business growth and an evolving market," said Syed Kamal, CEO.

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I.D.A./ISMA members approve consolidation
Voting members of the Industrial Distribution Association and the Industrial Supply Manufacturers Association approved a consolidation of the two organizations. "The responses were overwhelmingly in favor of consolidation," said Jim Beckstein, I.D.A. president. "This is a clear mandate from the members of both associations," added Ray Reynertson, ISMA president.

Beckstein and Reynertson announced overwhelming approval of the historic merger at ISCON 2004 in Orlando, formerly known as the ISMA/I.D.A. Spring Convention. Tom Berger of Fuchs Machinery in Omaha, Neb., will serve as the Industrial Supply Association's first president, and Tim Tevens of Columbus McKinnon Corp. in Amherst, N.Y., was named vice president. The office of the president will rotate between a distributor member and a manufacturer member each year.

"With this vote, the members of I.D.A. and ISMA have built a strong foundation for the future of the manufacturing and industrial supply industries," said Berger. "The two organizations truly will be stronger as one."

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ISA introduces new executive vice president
The newly formed Industrial Supply Association (ISA) named John Buckley as its new executive vice president. A resident of New York City, Buckley has several years of experience in managing trade associations, including the National Paper Trade Association, where he was president.

"I'm excited about this opportunity and look forward to getting to meet the distributor and manufacturer members of the association to learn about their businesses and how we can continue to serve their needs," Buckley told Progressive Distributor.

A special task force on industry planning and design, made up of members from ISMA and I.D.A., conducted a nationwide search for an executive to lead the newly merged association. The task force kept Buckley's identity under tight wraps until introducing him during the opening session of ISCON 2004 in Orlando May 23.

"They told me to hide in my room until they introduced me," he joked.

Buckley said his primary objective as he begins his tenure at ISA will be to focus on membership retention and recruitment, and to promote greater attendance at the association's conventions.

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Harrington Hoists names new president and CEO
Harrington Hoists named Edward (Ned) Hunter president and CEO effective May 3. He has extensive experience in the industrial distribution industry, including executive leadership in sales, marketing, operations and general management. Naming Hunter in the senior leadership position is the final step in a management restructuring process at Harrington that began in August 2003, when Carlo Lonardi was named vice president of sales. In January of this year, the company named Scott Miller vice president of operations and Eiji Yoda controller.

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Hughes Supply sees record sales growth
Orlando, Fla.-based Hughes Supply had sales of $992.8 million in the first quarter of 2004, a 27 percent increase from $782.8 million in last year's first quarter. Same-store sales increased 14 percent; the December 2003 acquisition of Century Maintenance Supply helped fuel the increase.

Net income for the quarter grew 153 percent, to $29.8 million compared to $11.8 million in the prior year's quarter.

"I am very pleased with our outstanding performance this quarter and with our associates' abilities to seize opportunities in the marketplace and to translate that into record results for our company," said Tom Morgan, president and CEO.

The MRO segment, including the Century acquisition, posted same-store sales growth of 6 percent; the industrial PVF segment grew by 13 percent.

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