36•
Buyinggroups
Central Distribution
(Continued from page 34.)
dustries have in common is that they actually buy something from their ven- dors and provide product to their mem- bers from a Central Distribution Center. Bill Jr. and I started the UPA DC about 10 years ago and roughly 50% of our 300+ members now buy from it. Our members are able to buy brand
name products with no minimums at a very reasonable price. On certain key product categories our members can place fill-in orders and not have to buy their stock orders earlier than antici- pated. This helps improve cash flow and reduce inventory investment in these difficult economic times. This aspect of our business also sup-
ports UPA vendors. We don’t just focus on rebates. We develop business mod- els and plans for both members and
vendors. The participation level with our DC has grown every year. It is our plan to substantially increase product offerings and strategic locations for 2011 and beyond. This has been a tremendous success! MJM: Have you designed other
programs to help your distributors in these hard economic times? Corp:Yes. In concert with some of
our major manufacturers we have de- veloped, and are continuing to de- velop, a private label program for the benefit of UPA members. This allows our members to stay competitive with the private label programs of some of the giants within our industry. In fact, UPA has even developed —
and is manufacturing — our own patent pending flanged end ball valve series with a ductile iron, Teflon fused ball (
www.qcvalve.com). The C8000 — now offered in 2” through 6”, and will be expanded to 10” this year — has become an instant success and is the direct result of the significant ex- perience that Roy Jacobs has in the
valve industry. It is available to UPA members exclusively through the UPA warehouse. Our commitment to the in- dustry as a whole is steadfast and will endure far into the future.
•THE WHOLESALER® — FEBRUARY 2011
ture success of both UPA vendors and members. For our vendors, we strive to increase their marketshare within our group in a significant way. A great testament to our success is that many of our vendors have been with us since our inception almost 32 years ago. A key component in our growth has been the very strong relationships we’ve built with the key executives of our in- dustry’s strongest vendors. For our members, we continue to
As part of its private-label program, UPA manufactures its own patent pending C8000 flanged-end ball valve series with a ductile iron Teflon-fused ball in 2" through 6", soon to be ex- panded to 10". The valve is a big suc- cess.
MJM: It sounds like UPA is very
committed to the future of your mem- bers. Corp: UPA is committed to the fu-
develop more and more ways to im- prove their bottom line — not only in rebate programs but also in their day- to-day operations. Long-term, strong relationships with our members have also been a key component in our growth and will continue to be in the decades ahead. We coordinate efforts with our
member and vendor partners in tar- geted market areas to effectively cre- ate, launch and execute business plans to increase market share for all in- volved with UPA.
n For info, visit
www.upaonline.com.
See contact information on page 70 • Be sure to visit
www.thewholesaler.com for web exclusive articles and videos! •
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