Study: More than 50 percent of distributors buy foreign-made products

Industrial Distribution staff -- Industrial Distribution, 1/15/2008 6:10:00 AM

More than half of all industrial distributors are buying products from offshore, off-brand suppliers, according to a research study.

The findings, which are detailed in Stephen Griffith’s and Scott Benfield’s book, “Disruption in the Channel,” indicate that more than 52 percent of distributors plan to increase their overseas purchasing. Distributors that buy overseas reported purchasing between 10 percent and 30 percent of their total product offerings from foreign suppliers.

The authors surveyed nearly 200 distributors, finding that buying offshore products saves an average of 35 percent. Those distributors reported that the quality of those goods is equal to or better than their domestically-made equivalents, whose manufacturers don’t add enough value to justify their premium prices.

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