Ask a distributor about manufacturers who choose to sell directly to customers, and it can draw a reaction similar to that of the name Frau Blucher in the Mel Brooks movie, Young Frankenstein.

Thunder rumbling, lightning flashing, horses screeching ... or, in this case, distributors rolling their eyes and muttering.

What contributes to manufacturers going direct? And for the distributor, how can it be avoided?

To an extent, the ''follow the money'' theory applies here. A manufacturer may sense an opening to a potentially disgruntled customer—or vice versa. An adjustment down in price, a nod and a wink ... and an asleep-at-the-switch distributor can find himself short one customer. Most respondents to INDUSTRIAL DISTRIBUTIONS's 59th Annual Survey of Distributors still cited manufacturers going direct as among their concerns.

Joe Cappello, director of marketing at RotorClip, a manufacturer of retaining rings and clamps in Somerset, N.J., agrees that one factor can be a manufacturer who has convinced himself that price alone will win the battle. But he emphasizes how short-sighted this approach can be.

''Some [manufacturers] think they can offer the best price, offer the best deal. So they take it direct,'' Cappello says. ''Initially, I think they believe they can capture and hold business on price alone. But if they're trying to reach a broad market I think that's a mistake. They won't be able to do that by going direct.''

Some customers have been known to initiate it, says Mike Baker, president of Quality Mill Supply in Indianapolis.

''Customers can think 'Gee, if I go direct, I can buy it cheaper,''' Baker says. ''But when they get involved, they don't save what they think they're going to. When they look at the whole deal and sort it out, they may say, 'We're buying stuff a little bit cheaper, but we will still need all these services.' ''

These days, the Internet can make far-away countries (and potential competitors) closer than ever. And many of the companies in Europe, for example, already sell direct—far more than in the United States, Baker explains. European companies attempting to transfer this approach to America find it a lot more difficult to do cost-effectively, however.

''I think sometimes companies that come over from Europe, where they don't have much distribution, feel that's the way to go, because that's what they're used to,'' Baker says. ''But then they get over here, and, because of the logistics and the amount of services, local inventory and technical support that customers require from their distributor, they come in and sell direct and find out there's a lot more loyalty to distributors, in general, than they anticipated—and that it's a harder sell.''

Dean Wagoner, president of Dillon Supply in Raleigh, N.C., agrees with Baker's conclusions. Dillon is a distributor of industrial and construction supplies.

''Most vendors understand the need for distributors and how they're useful in the marketplace,'' says Wagoner, whose company ranked 36th in ID's Big 50 report this year. ''And it's necessary for them to have us and work with us and support us as much as they can. That's all the more reason you have to be selective about the manufactures you do business with and focus in on the manufacturers who see the necessity of distribution and the need for it.''

Not unlike a marriage, a manufacturer-distributor relationship needs several things going for it to succeed—among them, strong lines of communication. And when a manufacturer has a good relationship with a distributor, ''good communication'' can mean a great deal more than merely remembering to send a fruit basket for the holidays.

Cappello tells the story of what good communication can provide when, as has occasionally happened, he and his colleagues at RotorClip get wind of a customer dissatisfied with some of the service the distributor is giving them.

''When we catch that, we make every effort to partner with our distributors and go in and save that business,'' Cappello explains. ''And we've done that by working on costs with the distributors, where we might reduce our costs to them in order to give them a hand. And that, in turn, might get them to look at their margins and decide if they have to reduce their [price].''

For all the genuine concerns about what the distributor should do to stop the manufacturer from going direct, distributors shouldn't overlook the customer as being the party that reaches out, covertly or blatantly, to see if they can buy direct from the manufacturer.

As Cappello describes it, ''99 percent of what I see is when the end user comes to us [RotorClip] direct for the quote. And we'll catch it and get the distributor involved.''

He agrees that, occasionally, a manufacturer will initiate such a process. But he firmly states that, more often than not, it's the customer who initiates this. A difficult, potentially vicious, cycle can then result.

''I can tell you from our standpoint, we don't solicit our [distributor] partners' customers. We just don't do that,'' Cappello says. ''What happens is, the customer comes in and solicits us. And we can see it [coming].... And then other distributors might get on that bandwagon as they see that a piece of business is up for grabs.''

Without approving of the behavior, Cappello has a certain amount of sympathy for the plight of these customers. Some are under mandates by management, for instance, to reduce costs by X amount in a given year, he suggests. And many others will have definite targets they have to hit.

''It's tough all around for all involved,'' he says. ''We're in it together. But when we are aware of that, we do better. We're more open with each other. And we've developed very good relationships that way.''

Putting aside any gray area about the ethics of selling direct, another influence has been the state of the overall economy, Baker says. A few years ago, when the general economy was slumping, some worried manufacturers would go direct for comparatively little potential profit, Baker recalls.

''Now that business has been coming back,'' he explains. ''So there doesn't seem to be as much excitement around that as there used to be.''

As distributors, both Baker and Wagoner say they see less of this happening these days, and seem confident in the current business climate and their company's qualities to think it unlikely it will be happening to them.

''We don't see it as a trend to be concerned with. Yet, it has been around forever,'' Baker says, adding that many who try the direct approach, ''have a hard time because they don't get the coverage that a large distributor can give them.''

Wagoner agrees with Baker, at least in general.

''We really don't have an issue with that [here] at this time,'' Wagoner says. ''I know it is going on and it is something we have our eyes and ears open for. But for us personally, it's not been a matter we've had to contend with yet.''

An alert distributor can also take certain strategic steps to guard against being victims of going direct, Wagoner suggests.

''Certainly, when we have our meetings with our vendors, [selling direct] is something we like to keep at bay as much as we can,'' he explains. ''We've also tried over the past few years to do more consolidation as far as vendors go—so we're not dealing with so many different vendors. We do more business with fewer ones. As a result, we have more clout with a select few, rather than be so spread out that you can lose control.''

While going direct isn't seen as a trend to be constantly worried about, it does—or can—happen. Striving to emphasize relationships, helping out on price, consistently trying to add value—all these important qualities aside, sometimes it still turns out that, regardless of who initiates the events, a manufacturer is selling direct to an end user. Cappello admits that this is not 100 percent avoidable.

''We're very committed to distribution. But a problem comes in when an end user makes a decision and says, 'We don't want to work through this distributor any longer.' We'll make joint calls with the distributor and do everything we can. But if, in the end, that distributor we're partnering with loses the business, that puts us in the position of where we don't want to see the [customer's] business go,'' he says.

And word will then get around, and another distributor or two will become involved, reaching out to the customer once word spreads on the supply chain grapevine. In such an example, it is the manufacturer who can find himself in an awkward, rock-and-a-hard place position, Cappello explains.

''Sometimes, then, the customer says they're moving from Distributor A to Distributor B. In that case, we might be required to partner with that [new] distributor,'' Cappello sighs, and admits reluctantly that, ''these days, that can happen, because end users are always looking for better processes and better deals. That's just the way it is....''

Finally, though, there is another simple, fundamental consideration that makes industry observers shake their heads whenever a sell-direct rumor circulates: manufacturers don't want to be distributors. If a manufacturer wanted to be a distributor, he'd already be a distributor.

''If you're a manufacturer, do you want to disrupt all your marketing efforts because you [decide to] cave on one or two big end users?'' asks Baker. ''That can have a negative effect on your distributors... And that [in turn] could jeopardize your whole line with that distributor. There have been some who have sold direct in the past but have brought those accounts back to distribution because they couldn't cost effectively handle it [all].''

''We don't want to be in that business,'' Cappello agreed. ''Our distributor partners can maintain inventory, the communication and service. If they are in the territory of a larger customer, they're the ones better at servicing that account.''