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With the establishment of (central) member management as part of the E/D/E reorganization in 2020, the holistic service design and business development was once again brought into sharper focus.
The member management is responsible for designing the entire interdisciplinary range of services offered by E/D/E to its partners in the industrial B2B sector. It develops a picture of the current and future entrepreneurial challenges faced by members, as well as of which E/D/E services are suitable to promote the competitiveness of each individual member. In doing so, it networks the relevant E/D/E experts and industry specialists and acts as an essential internal and external pacemaker with regard to the sales market. At the same time, important impulses for the ongoing development of the E/D/E range of services arise from this market-oriented perspective.
The member management is responsible for distributor issues that have been taken over by E/D/E for processing – from the point of origin to the solution’s successful implementation. In order to realise this, it possesses extensive E/D/E knowledge from all areas, as well as interdisciplinary connections within E/D/E, in order to be able to effectively deal with procurement, goods and digital topics. Another success factor for this focused and differentiated approach to member management is the clear assignment of responsibility for each member.
In 2022, the shortening of price change intervals by the manufacturing industry and the associated short-term adjustment of data maintenance processes posed a significant challenge, in particular. Asserting its competitive position vis-a-vis direct suppliers and direct distribution strategies of the industry by creating a powerful and competitive digital offering in distribution was (and is) another key issue for the industrial B2B sector. As part of a customised communication strategy, dialogue with the management and owners took place at a large number of affiliated houses by phone, virtually, and especially on site. Selected recommendations from the E/D/E service portfolio were presented, explained in conjunction with experts and implemented with the support of member management.
This included the integration of suitable members into existing sales concepts, the marketing of custom-fit catalogue concepts to suitable members, the implementation of EDI integration of the member’s ordering processes towards eLC, the presentation of various options within the digital marketing of services such as Multishop, Marketing Portal, OXOMI, as well as information on the possibilities of data reference in E/D/E and the presentation of the possibilities pertaining to customer loyalty through suitable supply systems. In addition, the new ETT BASIC output system for the craft sector was positioned in the market, new coaching (shop/processes) for field services was introduced and further participants on the industry and trade side were enlisted for the EDI Clearing Centre. Furthermore, a significant acceleration in the solution development and implementation of individual member requirements was able to be achieved.
For 2023, we will continue the close-meshed approach to communication with all affiliates in order to identify, specify and evaluate the respective challenges, as well as to derive and implement solution approaches for the best possible relief of the members through E/D/E. We will consolidate the information gained from this, in order to continue to realise a custom-fit and market-oriented service design. The goal is (and remains) to strengthen the market position of our members and to compensate for size disadvantages, for example, compared to direct suppliers.