Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/964617
38 FEDA News & Views Out of the Box Innovating through Partnerships By Mark Dancer, NAW Institute for Distribution Excellence Fellow mark.dancer@channelvation.com In working with distributor leaders, I frequently hear that the change happening now is different than the change their businesses have endured in the past. Today, change is more certain and it's accelerating. e challenge for many leaders is how to envision a different future in a way that yields practical, implementable solutions. is is difficult because it requires a mind shift. During periods of relative calm, distributor leaders find profits by focusing on operational excellence—making their current business model work better and better. But during periods of significant change, a new attitude is required, one that considers new strategies, capabilities and business economics. It's about reinventing your business while running your business. For leaders that accept this challenge, the immediate question is, "where to begin?" In this column, my first for FEDA News & Views, I will explore innovation driven by a distributor's decision to update its business partnerships—with suppliers and customers—to thwart the threat of disruption, leverage digital technologies and secure a competitive advantage. is approach can yield useful insights because, in many ways, business partnerships are the critical link that makes traditional value chains work. Innovating around partnerships can counter the threat of disruption for both distributors and manufacturers and result in a stronger value proposition for the customer in the form of differentiated services and products. Customer Value Begins with Supplier Partnerships Krayden, a Denver-based distributor of specialty chemicals in the industrial market, is pursuing innovation through technical expertise supported by new partnerships. Its value proposition includes helping original equipment manufacturers (factories) select and