Many manufacturers claim to partner with the distributor community. But too often, distributors have found those claims to be mostly talk. As international competitive pressures grow and industry consolidation has occurred, it's become harder for some manufacturers to avoid the temptation to reduce the role that distributors play in the marketing channel. While lip service continues to be paid extolling the virtues of manufacturer- distributor relationships, often the reality doesn't measure up to the rhetoric.

To be sure, supporting the distributor community requires much more than a good heart and the right intentions. There are concrete steps that manufacturers can take to support the distributor's marketing channel that will pay dividends to both parties.

At Dixon Valve & Coupling, our goal has been to make the distributor's job exceptionally easy by offering immediate access to more products than ever before, as well as providing product knowledge and customer support that helps improve distributors' own strong relationships with their end-user customers.

Through acquisitions and line expansion, our product mix now goes well beyond its traditional line of hose couplings and accessories, to include filters, regulators, lubricators and gauges, to name just a few. This strategy ties in neatly with the trend for customers to use fewer suppliers in order to reduce their own administrative costs. For distributors, it means now being able to offer a wider selection of products that their customers once had to purchase from other sources.

As manufacturers open more warehouses, one call to any location will mean the shipment is off to the distributor within 24 hours. The benefit here is that distributors no longer need to stock large volumes, yet still can offer their customers a world of selection.

Of course, immediate product availability is only the beginning when it comes to manufacturer support. Another valuable benefit is providing engineering assistance. For example, Dixon supports distributors by conducting product testing, thus ensuring that quality and safety take highest priority. Products and hose assemblies are tested every day at Dixon, responding to requests from distributors and their customers.

Manufacturers' field salespeople should bring added knowledge to distributors and their customers. Distributors find too often today that their purchasing managers know much more about some of the products than the manufacturers' own personnel – an inexcusable situation.

Many plant managers will be very receptive to the idea of a safety audit. Such surveys identify problems that may exist with fluid handling and other facility systems, along with proposed actions to correct them. These findings can be presented in a formal report, supported by diagrams or photography. Manufacturers design such programs in concert with their distributors. It's yet another way that manufacturers can help distributors become more valuable to their customers, fostering greater loyalties all throughout the distribution channel.