The real thing

Posner Industries operates in the finest tradition of industrial distributors, keeping a close eye on customers without losing sight of the changing marketplace

By -- Industrial Distribution, 6/1/2000

It's difficult for an outsider to view the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area as anything other than a hotbed of national and international political contention. But according to Don Posner, the area has long been a rich source of business opportunities for his industrial distributorship, Posner Industries. "They're constantly knocking something down and rebuilding it in Washington," Posner says.

Posner Industries has carved out a niche by providing steel and industrial tools and accessories to the contractors and subcontractors who quietly go about their business of building and rebuilding this town known more for its affairs of state than its industry.

Posner Industries operates in the best traditions of an industrial distributor-focusing on providing top-notch service to the customer, using training and social events to strengthen its position as the key connection between end users and suppliers, and stocking a wide breadth of inventory. With its traditional roots firmly in place, the company is in a period of expansion that recognizes the demands of today's marketplace: it recently opened a third branch and is examining the pros and cons of moving its informational Web site to the next level.

Steely resolve

Posner Industries, headquartered in Capital Heights, Md., is part of an increasingly rare breed-the independent distributor-and is determined to stay that way. The company battles competitors from big boxes to national distributors in two ways: by providing excellent personal service and by using its unique product mix to stand out in the marketplace.

Steel and steel products-ranging from sheets to re-bar to threaded rod to tubing and metal framing products-is Posner's niche, says general manager John Higgins, and everything else the company carries complements that end of the business. Posner customers can buy cutting tools, fasteners, hardware, hoists, safety equipment, power tools and more from this full-service industrial distributor, not to mention special orders.

Carrying steel allows Posner Industries to get in on the ground floor of commercial construction projects like the soon-to-be-rebuilt Woodrow Wilson Bridge, which carries six lanes of Capital Beltway traffic across the Potomac River, or FedEx Field, the Washington Redskins' stadium completed in 1997 and located just outside the Beltway.

"While other people are waiting for specific phases of a project to be completed, we're right there from the beginning to the end to be able to sell product to them," Higgins says.

Miscellaneous Metals, a fabricator of steel stairs, rails and miscellaneous metals for the commercial construction industry, has been a Posner Industries customer for the full 20 years it has been in business. Posner's mix of steel and general-line industrial products is important to Mark Fitzgerald, a purchasing agent for Miscellaneous Metals.

"We buy thousands of miles of handrail pipe from them every year. We do stadiums that have two miles of pipes in them alone," Fitzgerald says. "And at the same time, I can phone their salesperson and order nine 1/2 x 10 in. bolts-a handful of special bolts, which I really appreciate.

"A lot of businesses claim these days that no business is too small' but they don't really mean it," Fitzgerald continues. "But with Posner, I can write orders for volumes of material and then at the same time need this little oddity, and if they don't have it they'll go to the manufacturer and special order it for me. ... None of our suppliers have everything, but certainly there's a lot of convenience being able to pick up pipe, flatbar and five gauge sheet along with grinders, nuts and bolts, and have it come in on the same truck. If you can do that with one phone call, it's certainly a lot better than calling [each of] your sheet, tool, and hardware suppliers."

Supplier Dan Buckley, senior area sales manager for Danaher Tool Group, says that Posner's mix of steel and industrial tools expands his customer base because it attracts an additional group of customers who might choose Posner Industries over a general-line house that doesn't carry steel.

Top-notch customer service

"The service is what we're interested in," says Roy Runkles, a foreman for Amtrak who expedites a variety of materials used to maintain the passenger cars going into the Washington D.C. area. "When we order something [from Posner Industries], it's there. The quality of the equipment is very good. It's just an all-around excellent company."

Don Posner says the customer's focus on service hasn't changed since he began working in the industrial distribution business in 1960. Prompt, accurate delivery has always been customers' top priority, he says, and they've always wanted quality goods at good prices.

"A good distributor will spoil its customers rotten, which is a double-edged sword," Posner says. "When our customers walk in the door, they know we're going to have what they need."

Posner customers are diverse, everything from general contractors to government agencies, local municipalities, fabricating shops, iron and sheet metal shops, etc.

Posner Industries serves a number of walk-in customers at its three facilities, which each feature warehouse and showroom space. The company also offers on-site, just-in-time delivery and a staff of employees who have an average 20 years' of experience and hands-on application training.

For example, David Kerns, Posner's warehouse manager, has been with the company for 20 years and regularly serves customers he's known since his first day of work.

"We offer delivery within a 24-hour period of time," Kerns says. "And if a customer calls us for something we don't have, we go out of our way to special order the product and make sure they can get everything they need from us. Posner has always been known for its service."

Runkles, who buys everything from metal fasteners to hand tools and aluminum products from Posner Industries, has this to say about the Posner sales team: "Their salespeople are great. I haven't run into a person over there who hasn't gone the full mile to get what we need for us. ...They may not be big, but they're a mighty company. The service they perform outweighs the largeness of other companies."

Reaching out

Posner Industries is well aware of the competition it faces from big boxes and large national distributors, which is why the company works hard to reach out to both customers and suppliers and to remain a central part of the supply chain in its region.

Kathy Friedman, who oversees Posner's marketing initiatives, says that as many as 1,000 people attend the company's annual April open house.

"Our open house is the best in the city," Friedman says. "Thirty manufacturers reps are involved and customers contribute as well."

The company reaches out to suppliers through product training sessions and tries to encourage a full understanding of the supply chain and build good will by bringing customers and suppliers together for activities like attending professional sporting events or trips to Atlantic City.

In one particularly savvy way of reaching out to customers, Posner offers its facility to groups like the local Assn. of Building Contractors and the Steel Workers Union as a place to conduct product training and demonstration sessions.

That type of effort is as important to suppliers like John Kerr, district manager for Skil-Bosch, as it is to Posner.

"We've worked with Posner three different times to do that kind of training. [Posner] brings them in and we talk to them about steel and the types of tools that they use," Kerr says. "It's a school setting, and we make it so enjoyable for them that one time we stayed an hour and a half later than we were supposed to be there. We never could have done that on the job site. We hit a lot of different people going out on job sites the next day and we hit them at a young age so hopefully they'll think of us when they're selecting their tools."

Despite the consolidation that is rapidly swallowing small- to mid-sized distributors across the nation, both Buckley and Kerr say that independent distributors like Posner Industries continue to be valuable to the supply chain.

"They're fighters. Posner seems to know how to deal with the ups and downs of the economy very well and they know their market well," says Buckley. "The way the business has changed over the past 20 years or so, companies are getting bigger and bigger. Eventually, you're going to have the real big players, and the real small players.

"Posner seems to fall somewhere in the middle, but because of their relationships they're able to maintain a presence and they're a very well-respected competitor. They're considered an honest player," Buckley says. "They're progressive and yet traditional at the same time."

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