In a move that could go far to improve a pain-point in the flow of information and compensation through the electrical products supply channel, the National Electrical Manufacturers Representatives Association (NEMRA), Portsmouth, N.H., last week released a new set of standards to govern the reporting of Point of Sale (POS)/Point of Transfer (POT) information between distributors and manufacturers.
“Our objective is to simplify the reporting between the two parties by ensuring the basic information required to support accurate sales rep compensation is captured while maintaining distributor customer information confidentiality,” said NEMRA President Ken Hooper.
NEMRA released a set of its proposed standards earlier this year for the industry’s review, and input gained in that review were considered in the final version from the NEMRA POS/POT Task Force, a group made up of manufacturers’ representatives and manufacturers.
Earlier this year a group of manufacturers endorsed the proposed standards:
Thomas & Betts, Arlington Industries, Halex, Legrand (all electrical divisions), Eaton (all electrical divisions), Mersen, Littelfuse, ILSCO, Minerallac, King Electric, Morris Products, General Cable, Northern Cables, ElectriFlex, RAB Lighting, Leviton, American Polywater, Orbit Industries, CRC, and Light Efficient Design (LED).
During the standard’s development NEMRA solicited input from the industry’s national chains and distributor marketing groups. According to a NEMRA press release, all said manufacturers’ representatives should be compensated appropriately, and accurately, for their work and territory revenue, and believe manufacturers should work individually with these distributor groups to encourage adoption of the standards.
NEMRA also updated its suggested contract guidelines to provide further recommendations regarding the administration and compensation of sales as influenced through point-of-sale and point-of-transfer issues. Future initiatives will focus on manufacturer to rep agency reporting and POS/POT standards for commodities.
