One of the findings from our 57th Annual Survey of Distributor Operations (which will be released next month) clearly shows that distributors are eagerly seeking new and innovative products to complement their existing lines.

For example, 41 percent of the nearly 800 distributors who responded to the survey said they plan to increase the number of lines they are carrying this year. Another 52 percent plan to keep the same number of lines, while only 8 percent of the respondents plan to drop lines.

Particularly significant is that nearly half of the distributors with more than $20 million in sales say they will add lines.

The results indicate that there is a tremendous amount of "churn" taking place in the distribution marketplace. Distributors as well as buyers need products that meet higher expectations and will lead to better productivity and efficiencies.

We also asked distributors to tell us how they get information on which products to stock. Two-thirds of the respondents said there were two main ways to get such information: from manufacturers' representatives and magazines like INDUSTRIAL DISTRIBUTION . In addition, many distributors told us they get product information from the Web sites of trade publications.

The importance of new products for a distributor can't be overemphasized. Several distributors whose sales did increase last year told us that increase was due to finding new lines that helped meet customer demands.

To try and help you get that necessary product information, we will publish an additional product tabloid in September, in which you'll see hundreds of new products for your perusal. In addition, next month we will be unveiling a redesign of INDUSTRIAL DISTRIBUTION that will include a newly revamped product section with "featured" products each month. We hope this will help you with your product selections. And, of course, we advise you to click onto our Web site at www.inddist.com to see additional new products.

There are thousands of new products introduced every year. How many could be described as truly "innovative" and how many could be considered a refinement of an existing product? Ultimately that is for you to decide. We hope we are able to help you make that decision.