No company has been immune to the economic challenges of the last few years, no matter its size or specialty. But it's often said that the ones that best weather the storm will emerge as stronger organizations for their efforts. Motion Industries, the country's largest bearing and power transmission distributor, aims to be one of the success stories.

After a five percent sales decline in 2001, when the industrial markets Motion serves were hit especially hard, the company rebounded in 2002 with new strategies to combat those shortfalls. Motion added to its product and service offering, for one thing. A re-structuring of its middle management layer helped refocus customer service efforts and trim costs. And investment in information technology systems improved warehouse and logistics functions, while also enhancing internal and external communication. The result is a more efficiently run organization, according to CEO Bill Stevens — and one that looked like it would finish out the year on a positive note, despite a still sluggish economy. Motion's third quarter sales were $571.3 million, up three percent over the same period last year.

There are no two ways about it, Motion's strategies must, first and foremost, go right to the bottom line. While that's a top priority for any company, it's especially important for Motion as a division of publicly traded Genuine Parts Co. Sustaining growth has proven to be one of the most difficult tasks for the industry's publicly traded firms over the last two years, as they struggle to keep investors happy in the midst of a tough industrial economy. Quite simply, how does a company grow when the markets it serves don't seem to be growing?

For Motion Industries, the answer lies in striving to do things better. In an interview last summer, Stevens spoke at length about the ways in which Motion is going about that task. It involves the addition of new items to its product offering; the enhancement of its e-business systems; and the implementation of warehouse management software at all North American distribution centers.

The backbone for these and other projects is an ongoing commitment to customer service. Stevens and other managers seem to realize that, at the end of the day, it's the service Motion offers that keeps customers coming back.

"We sell a lot of things that are sold by other people," Stevens explains. "Our people and our systems, to me, are the things that differentiate us and enable us to do the things we do."

"We are, first and foremost, a bearings and power transmission distributor," says Stevens, pointing to Motion Industries' long history selling bearings, motors, gears and the other essential elements needed to keep machinery up and running at factories across the country. On top of that, Motion is in the replacement parts business: just 20 percent of sales is in original equipment manufacturing (OEM) products; the rest is maintenance, repair and operating (MRO) supplies.

While bearings and PT products form the base of Motion's product line, over the years the company branched out to other areas to become more of a full-service distributor — one that offers systems and total solutions to customers. Hose and accessories, hydraulic and pneumatic components, industrial belting, and material handling products were added. Today, mill supplies have been added to the mix in much the same vein. Motion formed its MI Industrial division to sell janitorial products, fasteners, safety supplies and hardware to existing customers looking for convenience and cost savings. Why not supplement your product offering with supplies customers already use and need in their plants? asks Stevens. It's one way to grow your business.

David Ross takes advantage of Motion's non-traditional product offering. Ross is the engineering purchasing manager for chemical manufacturer Rubicon, Inc. in Geismar, La., a Motion Industries customer for over 10 years. About a year ago, Ross told his Motion Industries salesman, Mike Bagwell, about some problems he was having with his janitorial products supplier. Bagwell did some research and developed a program to supply and manage all of the plant's janitorial items. Ross says Motion cut his janitorial supply costs in half and continues to supply and manage those commodities today.

Stories like that help illustrate Stevens' point about the value of Motion's people. The closer Motion is to its customers, he reasons, the more it can collaborate with them on ways to solve problems, save money and help them run better businesses. Those kinds of successes, in turn, help build business for Motion Industries.

The company re-structured last year for that very reason — to get closer to customers. A management layer was removed and the position of sales manager was added. Motion's sales managers are charged with growing business — in both product and service sales — directly with customers. There are 24 sales managers on staff, all of whom report to one of Motion's division managers.

"We wanted to have more people interfacing closer to the customer," says Stevens. "This is truly a support function … Their job is to grow our business and stay focused on that."

The service doesn't end with products and people, however. Motion offers repair, fabrication and custom work through a network of shops and service centers, each focused on their particular geographic market. The fluid power shop at Motion's Birmingham headquarters is a case in point. Situated on the Motion campus — amid the corporate offices, training center and the company's largest-volume distribution center — the shop helps dispel the myth that Motion Industries is just an order taker or box mover. Mike Smith runs the fluid power shop, which is on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

As Smith walks you through a long corridor hung with photographs of the shop's projects, you get a sense of the pride involved in his work and the shop's commitment to service. The photos read like a pictorial history of the shop's accomplishments, showing oil rigs, paper mills and huge trucks at work, all powered by some type of repaired, re-built or custom made product.

"If they want it done, we can do it," says Smith, acknowledging the shop's 21 technicians and mechanics and its network of field sales reps.

"Service is a big part of this business," adds Gary Garris, assistant vice president of distribution center logistics and operations. "In this business, our customers depend on us."

That's why Motion is as committed to inventory as it is to technical service. At a time when many companies are trimming back their supply levels, Motion is keeping its shelves as stocked as ever. It can become a balancing act, says Garris, but in the end it's worth it to have the stock on hand when the customer needs it.

"If the customer wants it, we carry it, " says Garris, pointing to the $45 million in inventory at the Birmingham distribution center, which stocks over 70,000 SKUs.

Another commitment Motion hasn't overlooked is its technology investments. Using technology wisely is one of the best ways to keep the company's costs in line, says Stevens. The entire company works off of one computer system, giving all employees access to the same information. Warehouse management software has been installed at all of Motion's nine distribution centers, automating the picking, packing, shipping and receiving process.

Then, of course, there's the Internet. Motion launched its e-procurement Web site, MotionMRO.com, in 2000. An upgrade in 2002 re-organized the Web page and added functionality to the site. While some customers use the site to order and track shipments, more customers rely on it for research and to get technical assistance for application problems.

MotionMRO.com isn't the only way Motion Industries reaches customers electronically, however. The company has long offered EDI capabilities to customers and suppliers, and will also customize electronic procurement programs with customers. Another service is MI Supplier Connect, a program that links Motion to some of its high-volume suppliers' ERP systems, allowing Motion to quickly source and deliver non-stock or special items.

While the Web can be a convenient tool for ordering and research, it is most valuable for its ability to improve and streamline communication, says Stevens.

"We saw the Internet as the greatest tool we'll ever see in our life, in terms of improving communication — but not the way all business would be conducted," Stevens says, adding that Motion never intended to push customers to the Web. Rather, the company wanted to offer online ordering and other capabilities for those customers that wanted it. Motion sees the most benefits from the Web internally.

The company implemented the latest of its Internet projects last year by extending its Internet Protocol to every employee desktop. This gives employees access to internal Web-based product and application information, "always on" e-mail, and streamlined access to external sources, including customer, supplier, and technical information over the Web. As part of the program, the company launched an intranet that provides real-time access to company communication, reference material, and operational reports, eliminating routine paper communication across all company locations.

From Stevens' perspective, the program, called InMotion, gives management the ability to do something it's struggled with for years — getting information at the right time to 500 locations across the United States, Canada and Mexico.

"The internal communication part is just wonderful," he says.

While Motion took a slower approach to developing e-business than some of the other big companies in the industry, Stevens is pleased with the results. A big challenge going forward — for all companies — will be figuring out how to afford ongoing investments in these systems, he adds. As a percentage of sales, technology spending has been "kept in line" at Motion Industries, but Stevens says the investment has grown and will continue to grow. Motion's commitment to developing IT systems in-house is one way of keeping costs under control, he adds.

Motion's ability to blend service and technology is probably its best competitive advantage. As one supplier puts it, Motion has the reach of a large company, but offers the custom approach of a much smaller firm.

"I think they tend to be misunderstood by the industry," says Patrick Lee, vice president of North American industrial sales for Gates Rubber Co. "They're viewed as this big giant, but I think one of their real secrets is to recognize opportunities and customize their approach. Some customers don't need the whole kitchen sink thrown at them; others do."

A case in point: Rubicon's David Ross remembers when his company moved to a bar-coded inventory system a few years ago. They asked Motion to pre-label all shipments with the information they required. The project was no problem for Motion, Ross says, and translated into cost-savings and greater efficiency for the Rubicon plant. In addition, although he doesn't use it, Ross says he's glad to know online ordering through MotionMRO.com is an option, as is EDI.

When it comes to customer service, Ross says the Gonzales, La., branch that sereves his plant couldn't do any better.

"They operate like a family-owned business. You wouldn't know that they're a big conglomerate — except for their IT capabilities," says Ross. "I've been here for six-and-a-half years … and I've never had one complaint about Motion."

Ross, Lee and others credit such accolades to Motion's ability to develop its employees. The company's well-established training program, The Motion Institute, offers ongoing career development opportunities to employees at all levels. The Institute also provides training programs for customers. Motion has a long history of promoting from within, as well. Ross points out that his sales rep — Mike Bagwell — is now branch manager in Gonzales, though he continues to stop by and make sure things are running smoothly at the Rubicon plant.

Others say that while Motion Industries is always moving forward, it remains grounded in its founding principles, never getting too far afield of its core business. That's another reason for its success, says Joe Swann, president of Rockwell Automation, a supplier to Motion Industries for over 50 years.

"They've stayed true to the company's principles of providing solutions to customers, helping customers solve problems, [and] providing flexible delivery," says Swann. "Certainly, business systems have required them to change the way that orders are processed or where they might inventory products for customers, but I think the basic principles remain the same."

As it's done in the past, Motion plans to hold on to those principles as it charges ahead into a new year ripe with new challenges and opportunities.