Natalie Forster

What do street drag racing, stock car racing, a senior basketball team and kite-surfing have in common? They're all hobbies of professional plumbers. Pretty cool, right? Pfister certainly thinks so, as the bath and kitchen manufacturer has launched a new docuseries featuring the lives of plumbers throughout the U.S.

The willingness to splurge, along with society's cornerstone focus on wellness, shows that these smart plumbing products are becoming the norm, rather than luxury upgrades.

IMARK Plumbing and Luxury Products Group held its summer invitational in Marco Island, Florida in late July. This was the group’s second in-person event since the onset of the pandemic. Members and suppliers gathered at the JW Marriot Marco Island Beach Resort and Spa for group updates, industry insights and networking. During the event, IMARK Group’s Vice President of PVF Scott Bardreau announced the launch of three new verticals for its members: PVF, irrigation and waterworks.

Ahead of AIM/R's 49th annual conference, A. O. Smith execs and reps discuss evolving role of manufacturers’ reps and why AIM/R is vital to success.

We’ve all discussed work from home in terms of productivity, and how some employees want to stay working at home, others are itching to get back into the office, and many companies have adopted a hybrid approach. But I hadn’t thought too much about how company culture can be affected in this new work from home world.

When it comes to digital presence — e-Commerce, ERP software, social media, websites, etc. — the wholesale-distribution sector is somewhat all over the map. A recent survey conducted by Supply House Times asked several industrial PVF distributors to anonymously comment on their company’s utilization of and plans for adopting e-Commerce.

Rogers, Minnesota-based manufacturers' rep firm, FourMation Sales was built from scratch. Twenty years later, it is celebrating success through challenging times by charging ahead, focused on building up the company for decades to come.

The industrial PVF sector is facing a set of challenges that market experts describe as “the perfect storm.” Top concerns among pros in the industrial sector include commodity price increases, tariffs and trade disruption, freight inflation, fleet shortages and — of course — the ongoing lack of skilled labor.

Since Memorial Day this year, Dirk Beveridge, distribution expert and founder of UnleashWD — a design, innovation and strategy firm that helps distributors become market leaders — has been touring the U.S. in his 38-foot RV visiting independent distributors across various industries.