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March 23, 2007

News for the wholesale distribution industry

News and Trends

H.D. Smith eyes ambitious expansion
H.D. Smith Wholesale Drug Co. is planning a $46 million expansion that includes building a new corporate campus and growing its workforce by 600 over the next five years, president and CEO Henry Dale Smith Jr. said. Discussing the company's overall growth, which has been spurred by its expansion into new markets, Smith added: "Our plan is to add distribution centers on a regular basis. We want to be in all of the top 20 markets." The State Journal-Register (Springfield, Ill.) (3/20)

Arcelor Mittal hasn't ruled out Ryerson Tull acquisition
Steel company Arcelor Mittal, which is considering North American expansion, has said that while it currently is not pursuing metals distributor Ryerson Tull Inc., it will not discount the possibility. Ryerson executives decided to put the company up for sale, with hopes of finding a buyer who will keep the current management intact. The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) (3/19)

Avnet Technology closes Plasmon distribution deal
Avnet Technology Solutions, a division of Avnet Inc., has made a deal with Plasmon Plc to distribute the critical data solutions company's archival products and solutions to North American value-added resellers. Computer Technology Review (3/20)

Other News

Two Home Depot board members decline to seek re-election
The New York Times (3/20)

Best Practices

Prepare supply chain for any weather
The weather is unpredictable, so being prepared for any circumstance is the best way to avoid serious mishaps. The first step is to develop an emergency plan in case disaster strikes. Also important for any growing shipping company is to get all partners on your supply chain working with the same real-time information and to start taking advantage new logistics technology now. DC Velocity (3/2007)

Employers should become aware of HSA popularity
Health savings accounts are gaining popularity with workers as legislation passes that makes investing in them more attractive. Employers need to educate themselves on the ins and outs of HSAs, so they can begin offering consumer-driven plans effectively and start reducing their costs. Employee Benefit Adviser (3/1)

Sales

Simple mathematics behind sales increases
Dividing time between "best customers" and future best customers is important in improving sales. But determining prospects' ultimate potential worth, the probability that they will buy from you and their overall attractiveness will lead to increased sales, profitability and individual income. CEO Strategist (3/1)

Small Business Manager

The joys of family-business operations
Owners of family-run businesses have many reasons to be happy to go to work each day, despite the turmoil that resonates throughout the business world, says business speaker and adviser James Lea. "You know that your family business has the strength and flexibility to ride out a few storms and to capitalize on unexpected opportunities waiting just across the horizon." American City Business Journals (3/12)

The Buzz(CORPORATE ANNOUNCEMENTS)

Improved margins & a 15% inventory reduction! Coming out of Chapter 11, SLi Lighting (Mullins, SC) faced reduced market share, stiff price competition and rising inventories. Click Here to learn more about how the deployment of Salient's UXT^® performance management solution, helped SLi regain market share, improve margins and reduce inventories.

How to Turn Better Pricing into Bigger Profits.
Discover how effective pricing and margin management can deliver dramatically higher profits to your distribution business in Strategies for Driving Profitable Revenue Growth for Distributors: Today and Tomorrow, a joint Webinar from pricing experts PROS^® and Advanous^® on March 28th at 2pm (EST). Please click here to register.

Interested in learning more about advertising in NAW SmartBrief? Contact Henry Murphey at (202) 737-5500 ext. 245 or hmurphey@smartbrief.com

Executive Life

Sanyo releases pocket camera
The Sanyo Xacti CG6 is the company's newest pocket camera, featuring a 6.0 megapixel CCD and up to a 5X optical zoom. The Xacti will also incorporate a 2.5-inch LCD screen and is expected to be released in late March. LetsGoDigital (3/21)

Homeowners insurance more volatile than private passenger auto
A study by Aon Re Global has found the homeowners insurance line was three times more volatile than private passenger auto between 1992 and 2005. The volatility was caused in large part by the severe Atlantic hurricane seasons in 2004 and 2005, the study found. Insurance Journal (3/21)

NAW Insider

After the flood: Safety tips for business owners

Cleaning up a flood ravaged business -- one of the first steps toward recovery -- can be a difficult and disheartening task. It can also be dangerous. More information available here to get you started.

Invest your training dollars wisely and develop top performers

The NAW Institute for Distribution Excellence publication Smart Investments addresses the long-ignored aspect of the industry training and development. Let it help you identify a strategy for employee development, engage your staff to move forward with common vision and purpose, ensure that your training dollars are invested wisely and think about how to use training and development activity to reach your strategic business objectives.

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Weekly Poll

Does your company use RFID technology?
After voting once, check out the real-time poll results on NAW's All Access page as often as you'd like.

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Branch Manager	Rexel CLS	Waterford, CT
Sales Manager	ESP International	Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Distribution Center - Front-line Managers	GRAINGER	Kansas City, MO
Sales Manager	HireElements	Seattle
Account Manager/Branch Mgr 1 or 2	Valley National Gases, Inc.	Bluefield, VA, USA

SmartQuote

We don't accomplish anything in this world alone ... and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of one's life and all the weavings of individual threads from one to another that creates something."

--Former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor,
first woman on the U.S. Supreme Court

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