Electrical Distributors Responding to Market Demand with Service Options

Recent reports are showing an increase in U.S. manufacturing. Fueling this growth are increased labor costs overseas. According to a recent article in The Electrical Distributor (TED), a study from the American Institute of Architects (aia.org) predicts continued growth in 2013. This is all good news for electrical distributors who will need to respond to demand with a sufficient supply of industrial MRO products.

Among the initial sectors predicted to have strong growth early in the recovery include refineries, shale gas, fossil, nuclear plant construction and mining – all requiring major capital investment in heavy equipment. Due to the cost of this equipment, maintaining versus buying new machinery can be the best option early in the market recovery.

Electrical Distributors Can Be Service Heroes

One challenging factor for distributors, in supporting the need for maintenance, is that existing machinery can be obsolete and sourcing these parts can be difficult. This is where establishing a relationship with a dependable repair facility and/or parts supplier can make the distributor look like a service hero to the customer. These companies are often experts at sourcing hard-to-find parts needed for the repair.

Becoming a "repair distributor" and outsourcing the repair for the end user adds another revenue stream. Distributors taking advantage of the repair opportunity can offer what’s called a repair exchange. This is a situation where a repair center has an equivalent spare on hand and can immediately provide a working unit while the faulty unit is being serviced. This averts downtime.

Electrical Replacement Parts Costs Adds Up Over Time

The cost of repair parts can add up quickly over time. Repair centers and distributors can gain a competitive advantage by finding cost-effective and reliable sources for small parts like electrical contacts found in motor starters. A cost-saving alternative to buying electrical replacement parts from manufacturers is private label brands. For example, motor control equipment users can save up to 33% on Repco (Replacement Electrical Parts Company) replacement Asea Brown Boveri replacement contacts.