Several years ago, I spoke at a distributor advisory council meeting for a large safety product manufacturer. The president of this manufacturing firm thanked the distributors for attending and said he was glad they were his “customers.” I looked around the room and saw several distributors wince.

During the break, a few of the distributors were clearly irritated that they were referred to as customers rather than “partners.” Semantics aside, some of these distributors believed they were an extension of their manufacturer and certainly not their customer.

In this month's issue, we take a look at two viewpoints about the manufacturer-distributor relationship in an article by Associate Editor Joe Nowlan.

One person interviewed in the article is Marshall Jones, president of Virginia-based Marco Supply. Jones, who was president of STAFDA in 2005, delivered a keynote speech on the subject at the association's annual convention and three years later his controversial remarks are still being discussed.

Here are some comments that generated a lot of talk both during the convention and afterwards when INDUSTRIAL DISTRIBUTION published his speech: “It's been said that there is a point where every problem is large enough to see but small enough to fix,” he said. “The challenge of the manufacturer-distributor relationship has been big enough to see for some time … the bottom line is, I don't believe either really wants to be partners with each other.”

In this month's issue (p. 31) Jones says he hasn't backed away from those statements. Contrast those comments with ones made by an electronics distributor who says he likes the term “channel partner” in describing the role of distributors with manufacturers.

There will always be some type of adversarial relationship between manufacturers and distributors. It's been that way dating back more than a century.

Not too many years ago there were some manufacturers who believed they could become distributors as well. The term “captive distribution” was heard throughout the channel. It didn't work. Now we're seeing that theme again as some manufacturers have been quietly buying up some distributors. We'll see what happens this time.

The relationship between manufacturers and distributors is a fragile one, to say the least. It's not perfect, but the distribution channel is still the best method for moving products from the manufacturer to the end user/customer. Both sides need one another. That's what should be at the forefront of any discussion of the manufacturer-distributor relationship.

jkeough@reedbusiness.com