Supply House Times

SHT April 2023 cover

2023 April

The April 2023 issue of Supply House Times features Mid-State Supply celebrates 75 years, Behind the NIBCO-Matco-Norca acquisition, Manufacturers stepping up to meet institutional plumbing needs, and much more!

Cover Story

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Mid-State Supply’s Executive Team

When service matters: Mid-State Supply celebrates 75 years

Natalie Forster
Natalie Forster
April 5, 2023
3 Comments

With distributors now offering same and next-day delivery, online ordering and more value-add services than ever before, it’s sometimes hard to picture the humble beginnings many independent distribution businesses started from. For Craig Norlin, co-owner of Wautoma, Wisconsin-based Mid-State Supply, it’s not difficult to recall at all; he remembers his father — Austin Norlin — delivering product out of the family’s station wagon with a four-wheel farm wagon towing behind in the 1960s.


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Feature Articles

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nursing homes and assisted living

Manufacturers stepping up to meet institutional plumbing needs

Bemis Manufacturing Co. launches first-ever bidet seat with PH and zinc oxide cleaning spray.
Natalie Forster
Natalie Forster
April 10, 2023
One Comment

The U.S. is currently experiencing the largest nursing staff shortage in history with no end in sight. Affecting health care facilities, nursing homes and assisted living facilities alike, lack of resources, ongoing patient care challenges, health and sanitation concerns along with simply being overworked, are all factors fueling this nursing shortage.


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Columnists

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showroom

Jeff Valles: Rethink your showroom layout

Separate working spaces from the showroom floor.
Jeff Valles
April 4, 2023
2 Comments

In the 1980s, homeowners, builders and designers would walk into these new-fangled decorative plumbing showrooms and be wowed by all the sparkle and style. And as pretty as it all looked, these design leaders had no idea exactly what they were looking at. Sure, they saw fancy faucets but they had no idea how to layout, buy and install a “decorative bathroom”. Prior to decorative showrooms all that was only handled by the plumber. Who was going to help them navigate this new world.


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Fire prevention

Eye on Safety: Hot work

Fire prevention in varying work environments.
Jeff Duncan
April 3, 2023
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For many, the term “hot work” might conjure up an image of a vast mill, where molten ore is ever present in vats, being poured into casting molds amidst a shower of sparks and extreme radiant heat. Or perhaps one imagines a metal worker operating a plasma table cutting thick sheets of steel like a hot knife through butter. While these are definitely both examples of hot work, the term covers a much wider array of activities performed in varied work environments.


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Resignation

Natalie Forster: Leveraging resignations

Take great talent loss and use it for the benefit of your company.
Natalie Forster
Natalie Forster
April 3, 2023
2 Comments

In 2022 more the 4 million people left their jobs each month in the U.S. This ongoing mass exodus was coined “The Great Resignation” in 2021 by Anthony Klotz, an associate professor of management at University College of London. The Great Resignation was brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and the way it changed how people think about how, when, where and why they go to work. Klotz recently told CNBC Make It that he expects quitting and company turnover to slow down in 2023 — hopefully good news for businesses nationwide struggling to staff their companies.


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delivery team

Dan Holohan: Who's driving the truck?

What do contractors want from your delivery team?
holohan
Dan Holohan
April 3, 2023
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My first job in this business was to be a truck driver for an AC/Refrigeration wholesaler on Long Island. I didn’t have a car at the time, so I walked a mile to the branch and loaded a box truck, which I then drove 30 miles east to the branch where I would spend my days. Once there, I unloaded the transfer stock, reloaded for the local deliveries, and then drove off to learn about life.


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Departments

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GOOD WEBSITE

A good website is key to finding good talent

April 11, 2023
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ASA’s Recruitment Marketing Director Steve Edwards recaps a recent live webinar hosted by ASA that focused on one of the key fundamentals of attracting good talent in today’s environment: building and providing jobseekers a good candidate experience on your website.


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product data library

Project data challenges for distributors

ASA’s D.NEXT creating quick links directory
April 6, 2023
2 Comments

At last year’s ASA Strategic Planning Retreat, volunteers discussed the idea of a “product data library” that could be the sole source of manufacturer product data to help enable distributors to compete against online-first, big-box retailers, and other nontraditional competitors.


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Dakota Supply’s Gail See

What our trainer members can teach us

An interview with Dakota Supply’s Gail See.
April 4, 2023
One Comment

Company training leaders and trainers come from many backgrounds with varying levels of learning and development experience. While not all have degrees in L&D, they most certainly have a passion for helping others to grow.


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Coburns Leadership.jpg

Coburn Supply acquires Bay Electric Supply

March 16, 2023
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Bay Electric Supply has been a family-owned and operated, full-line electrical supply store since its founding in 1978. This long-standing League City location now joins the more than 60 Coburn’s branches and Showrooms alongside three Coburn’s distribution centers to serve customers across the South. 


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