Washington, D.C.—The National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW) Distribution Research and Education Foundation (DREF) has released a book titled “Outlook 2006,” which is an executive companion piece to the wholesale industry study Facing the Forces of Change: The Road to Opportunity.

Outlook 2006 is a collection of insights from a group of 11 distribution industry analysts, authors, professors and consultants. “Each contributor uses the well-known Facing the Forces of Change study as a starting point,” said Ron Schreibman, executive director for DREF.

“The authors provide their assessments and predictions about the major trends in this industry and near-term pressing issues.” Topics include strategic planning, increasing value of potential investors, improving employee relations, strengthening manufacturer-distributor relations, corporate branding, applying customer profitability data and exploring outsourced logistics services, to name a few.

In addition, NAW is offering “Connect With Your Suppliers: A Wholesaler-Distributor’s Guide to Electronic Communications Systems,” a book which examines the key managerial issues and decisions distributors must address when selecting and using electronic communication systems.

The publication is structured around six key questions which the author, James Narus, acquired through interviews with distributors and supplier managers. The managers have been experimenting with their supply chain networks to make them more flexible and responsive, noted Narus.

“They have discovered that, by sharing their resources and capabilities through distributor-supplier electronic communications systems,” he continued, “they can benefit from profit-making opportunities that they could not have developed or put to use alone.”

Some of the questions include: Which distributor-supplier electronic communications applications are available and what does each one do?; What are the problems and limitations of the technology?, and How can a firm use select systems in order to gain competitive advantage and a reasonable return on investment?

For more information about NAW or to order a copy of Outlook 2006 or Connect With Your Suppliers: A Whole-saler-Distributor’s Guide to Electronic Communications Systems, call 202/872-0885.
—Kathlene Vercellino