|
Message From The Editor
An issue under the heading of innovation, and an invitation to share your thoughts on our industry
Without doubt, being a leader means knowing how to manage and stimulate innovation. One way to innovate in marketing in a world in constant change is to involve the customer in all strategic stages of your purchasing cycle, suggests contributor Katrina Olson. Because innovation is inevitable and desirable, Mark Fraser tells us about workplace conditions that facilitate innovation. For an historical perspective on innovation and how to manage the distribution of electrical products, an article by my colleague Owen Hurst. In this issue we also begin a series of monthly surveys on the state of our industry, in all its aspects. Your participation is essential, and your answers will always remain confidential. Each month we will ask you a new question and share the results of the previous question. Thank you for helping us get to know you better, and good reading!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- 7 Electrical Industry Members Among 2019's Top Employers for Young People
Siemens, Schneider and five utilities are among Canada's top 100 employers of young people. This special designation recognizes employers that offer the nation's best workplaces and programs for young people just starting their careers…
- Southwire To Realign Business Toward Strategic Growth
Southwire is reorganizing its executive leadership and business structure to place greater emphasis on its core wire and cable business and look at opportunities to focus more intently on areas like metals management, modernization, research and development and systems optimization...
- Magic Lite Appoints National Sales Manager
Effective January 14, Paul Morrow assumed the position of Magic Lite's National Sales Manager. Paul has served several roles in executive sales positions over the past decades, including a partnership in an electrical communications firm…
|
|
|
- Turck Canada Inc. Adds New Team Members
Turck Canada Inc. has welcomed Carlos Linan to its Greater Toronto Area East technical sales team, Michael Branco to its Greater Toronto Area West sales team, and Jose Sanchez, Automation Application Specialist…
- 2 Canadian Firms Represented on AD Board of Directors
Following the 2018 AD LLC Board of Directors elections, Martin Deschênes, Vice Chairman of the Board of Groupe Deschênes Inc. was re-elected to the board. Tim Horsman, President & CEO, E.B. Horsman & Son, also serves on the board. Board terms are generally seven years…
- April 24-25: MCEE 2019
For anyone whose work involves lighting, electricity or building mechanics, MCEE is the largest meeting place for industry members in Eastern Canada. Taking place in Montreal, Quebec, the event draws over 6,000 visitors and more than 400 exhibitors from across North America…
|
|
|
CEW Reader Survey
Tell Us What You Think
Starting with this issue, Canadian Electrical Wholesaler wants your input on topics of interest to our industry. Please take a moment to answer the question below. All responses are confidential. Each month we'll ask a new question, and report back on results.
Q. Over the last thee months how have your revenue and selling prices compared to the same period last year?
A. Down more than 15%
B. -11 - 15%
C. -6 - 10%
D. -1 -5%
E. Remained the same
F. +1 - 5%
G. +6 - 10%
H. +11 - 15%
I. More than 15%
|
|
|
Marketing: Best Practices
CRM and Marketing Automation: The Foundation of Your Martech Stack
By Katrina Olson
Distributors face many decisions regarding marketing technology and related platforms in the upcoming months; that is, if they plan to keep pace with their competition and their marketing counterparts in other industries. Many distributors already have a product information management system and enterprise resource planning software, and are implementing or planning to implement an eCommerce platform. All are designed to help a company acquire new business, retain current customers, or increase average sales per customer. In addition, a strategic, high-performing marketing technology stack integrates with and leverages data from these technologies to capitalize on opportunities to drive revenue by engaging customers throughout the buying cycle.
Read More
|
|
Managing Your Business
Managing Innovation Can Be Tricky
By Mark Fraser
Although there are many tools and processes that can be employed for innovation, rigorous process and enterprise systems can have a negative impact on innovation efforts by suppressing creativity and spontaneity. I'm an advocate for an alternate model — one that is centred in attitude and behaviour. Instead of attempting to manage innovation, I believe that organizations should focus their resources on setting the conditions that will allow innovation to thrive. It can happen at any company, and with meaningful results, if the following six conditions are present…
Read More
|
|
|
Peers & Profiles
Discussing Wholesale with Ideal Supply Branch Manager Al Forget
By Blake Marchand
Allen Forget, Branch Manager at Ideal Supply's Midland, Ontario location, has over 35 years of experience in the electrical supply and manufacturing industry. Recently, Al visited the Canadian Electrical Wholesaler office to discuss his career in the industry. As often happens, Al began his career in the electrical industry through happenstance. He came out of school with a background in electronics, "which meant something totally different back then," he noted. He got a job with Ideal Supply through a friend as a truck driver making deliveries, "and then just worked my way up through the company."
Read More
|
|
Looking Back
Industrial Electrical Product Distribution: A 1960 Perspective
By Owen Hurst
We often learn how to look forward by first looking back, or at the very least we realize that despite our best efforts we have not truly advanced quite so much as we had thought. Sure, technology is rapidly advancing. But what about our approach to selling it? Inevitably there have been advances and changes in marketing, the Internet causing the biggest shift, but many of the concerns and directives that have driven the distribution and marketing of industrial electrical products remain, or at least planted the roots of concerns. To gain perspective of the perceptions and directions of electrical product distribution in 1960, we turn to Edwin H. Lewis. In 1960 Lewis published "The Distribution of Industrial Electrical Products" in the Journal of Marketing.
Read More
|
|
|
Research Report
HOW BIM Adds Value to Intelligent Buildings
A new report from Navigant Research examines how building information modelling (BIM) adds value to intelligent buildings. BIM has been in use since the 1980s under different names and guises. It's not a specific tool, but a collaborative way of using and sharing work products in the architectural, engineering, and construction industries. The essence of this collaboration is documented, accessible, and usable information that enables access to information during each step in a building's life cycle, from design to demolition.
Read More
|
|
CASL Compliance
5 Types of Consent: Part 2 — Implied: Existing Business Relationship
There are three types of implied consent. All three require proof. According to the CRTC, all three are "generally time-limited. It is typically a period of two years after the event that starts the relationship (e.g., purchase of a good). For subscriptions or memberships, the period starts on the day the relationship ends." Once again you must keep records of how you obtained implied or express consent, since in both cases you have the onus to prove consent.
Read More
|
|
Economy
Investment in Building Construction Declined 2% from October to November 2018
Total investment in building construction decreased 2.0% from October to $13.7 billion in November. Both the residential (-2.2% to $9.4 billion) and non-residential (-1.6% to $4.3 billion) sectors declined. On a constant dollar basis (2012=100), investment in building construction decreased 2.1% to $11.6 billion. The decrease in investment in the non-residential sector was broad based, with eight provinces posting declines, while Newfoundland and Labrador (+6.0% to $51 million) and British Columbia (+0.3% to $571 million) reported increases.
Read More
|
|
Economy
Wholesale Sales Declined 1.0% in November
Wholesale sales fell 1.0% in November to $63.0 billion, more than offsetting the 0.7% increase in October. Sales were down in five of seven subsectors, representing about 82% of total wholesale sales. The machinery, equipment and supplies, and the building material and supplies subsectors contributed the most to the decline in November, while the motor vehicle and parts subsector posted the largest gain. In volume terms, wholesale sales decreased 1.2%.
Read More
|
|
Economy
GDP Slipped 0.1% in November
Real gross domestic product edged down 0.1% in November, partly offsetting an increase of 0.3% in October. Decreases in wholesale trade, finance and insurance, manufacturing and construction more than offset gains in 13 of 20 industrial sectors. Goods-producing industries were down 0.3%, the third decline in four months, while services-producing industries were essentially unchanged.
Read More
|
|
Survey Says
Preferred Benefits/Perks, Based on Average Salaries in Wholesale Electrical
For those working in electrical wholesale the primary job perk has been identified as life insurance/disability, followed closely by use of company cell phones.
Read More
|
|
The Electrical Stock Market
Track the stock market performance of 25 publicly traded electrical equipment suppliers and electrical wholesalers. Updated weekly.
View Current
|
Join The Electrical Industry News Week Reader Advisory Board
Help shape what content you need and when. Gain access to special product launches and promotions. Give your input and ideas on best practices and practical methods.
Click here to join |
|
|
In The Next Issue
Improving the customer experience through products |
Careers
Time for a Change? New Job Openings
Access the latest job and career opportunities in Canada's electrical industry today. New listings posted regularly.
View Current
|
|
|
This email was sent to [[email]]. |
|