Features Archives - Material Handling Wholesaler

How to tap your Innovation Pipeline when your organization is tapped out

Fri, 08 May 2026 18:52:18 +0000

Three ways to unlock your organization’s hidden innovation potential Stress. Uncertainty. Unrealistic deadlines. Unreasonable goals. You know what they are: the enemy of teamwork, creativity, and innovation. They’re also inescapable. Which leaves today’s leaders in an unenviable position: how to build the capability to achieve business goals while dealing with massive uncertainty. But what if? What if you could grow skills, build resilient teams, and accelerate innovative thinking even though there’s no time, few resources, and high instability? You can. Because every organization has an untapped innovation engine hiding in plain sight: the Lost Einstein. Your Lost Einstein is a super smart person with a game-changing concept that no one understands. They struggle to explain the strategic value, and because of that, their ideas and potential go unseen, unheard, or unrecognized. Or commercialized. You know who they are. The brainy R&D researcher with the meticulous spreadsheets and multi-variate testing results. The super-sharp analyst whose English skills make them hard to understand. The operations leader who didn’t learn to read the room and got a couple of eye rolls at the last C-suite update. Or even the introvert you’ve been ignoring because they never speak up. Does it really matter? How much potential are we talking about? Consider this: for the past 10 years, the annual Gallup worldwide engagement survey has reported that 64-70% of organizations are disengaged. And over time, that percentage hasn’t budged much, averaging 67%. To put this into context: if 67% of the players on a professional soccer team were disengaged, that would mean that, out of 11 players, 7-8 of them aren’t playing to win. In fact, 1-2 of them would be actively disengaged – as in fighting with their teammates, sabotaging the play, or even helping the competition. Would this be acceptable, especially if the team wanted to be championship contenders? And yet corporations routinely battle for market share or scrape for a few margin points, while over half of their workforce is disinterested or even undermining the company’s goals. What if you could tap into that missing capability? And what if the solution didn’t sacrifice short-term results, require a major culture reset, or take years of investment? The hidden innovation engine hiding in plain sight You know what makes your Lost Einsteins so valuable? They’re already on your team and want to be more engaged. They have great ideas that are going unrecognized. You just need a better way to maximize their capability. But don’t overlook them for too long. What makes them valuable to you makes them invaluable to your competition. Here are three ways you can tap into your Lost Einstein’s potential Invest in executive clarity skills for managers presenting to senior stakeholders Your smart managers are excellent at problem-solving, running projects, and directing day-to-day activities. This is perfect for interacting with their functional colleagues. But not for communicating with time-pressed senior leadership and influencing business-wide agendas. Without executive clarity skills, some of your best leaders are getting tuned out, uninvited to meetings or hearing, “no” to groundbreaking ideas. Don’t just hand them a presentation template. Give them skills to: Explain the strategic and commercial value of breakthrough ideas Read executive audiences and create messages that resonate with time-pressed executives Identify, define, and pitch the big picture Pinpoint the strategic barriers to “yes” and shift mindsets Navigate the executive alignment minefield and influence up Clarity skills aren’t about speaking better. They’re about being better understood. Improve executive presence First impressions really matter. Research shows first impressions can be made in the blink of an eye[1], by the pitch of your voice[2], or even by how you say the word, “Hello.”[3] Don’t just think about what your leaders are saying. Help them with HOW they are communicating. For example, offer training on: Concise, engaging introductions to create a powerful first impression Executive intonation so they sound more confident Introducing topics and avoiding hedge words that can damage credibility Enable introverts and quiet leaders to speak up more Speaking up is a critical skill to get breakthrough concepts recognized for their strategic importance. That’s because the more outside the box the idea is, the more times speakers will hear, “no”, get interrupted, or provoke a “here’s why you’re wrong” response. Here’s the thing about Lost Einsteins – they already struggle with speaking up. Drowning out their ideas makes it worse. Instead, try techniques like: Rotate meeting leadership to equalize the opportunity to build and demonstrate skills like priority setting and conflict management. Actively moderate meetings to avoid or reduce interruptions. Adopt an amplification strategy: when a quiet team member, like an introvert or a new or junior member, makes a point, another team member repeats it and credits them. Amplification helps counteract interruptions or crediting the wrong source. Lost Einsteins are your organization’s unrealized innovation engine Your Lost Einsteins can accelerate innovation and unlock value even when there’s little time, shrinking budgets, and mounting uncertainty. You know who they are. And now you know how to develop them and tap into your business’s extra gear. About the Author: Rebecca Okamoto is a clarity consultant and the founder of Evoke Strategy Group. She consults with companies on sharpening their competitive edge by tapping overlooked or underutilized talent. She specializes in teaching high-potential and technical leaders to communicate clearly in dynamic, high-stakes situations. Her signature approach is how to introduce, market, and influence with a 20-word sound bite. To learn more about pitching big ideas and making complicated ideas clear, please visit: https://20words.com [1] https://www.princeton.edu/news/2006/08/22/snap-judgments-decide-faces-character-psychologist-finds [2] https://www.princeton.edu/news/2006/08/22/snap-judgments-decide-faces-character-psychologist-finds [3] https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/149313/

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You’re Not Making Decisions. You’re Defending a Story.

Wed, 06 May 2026 14:16:04 +0000

Narratives are powerful because they compress complexity into something memorable. They give us a neat explanation we can repeat in a meeting or a keynote. But that compression is also where the danger lies. When a story becomes the lens through which we interpret decisions, we stop questioning whether it’s accurate. Instead, we start defending the story. Take the familiar corporate cautionary tales. Kodak “ignored digital photography.” Blockbuster “refused to buy Netflix.” Xerox PARC “invented the future but failed to capitalize on it.” These stories are often presented as simple tales about innovation blindness. But when you dig into the actual history, the story becomes far more complicated. Kodak invested heavily in digital technology. Blockbuster explored streaming long before Netflix dominated. Xerox PARC’s innovations were entangled in corporate structure, market timing, and strategic priorities. Yet we keep telling the simplified versions because they’re easier to remember and easier to weaponize in an argument. They become corporate folklore. And folklore is rarely designed to teach nuance. This is what I call the Narrative Trap. The narrative trap happens when the story becomes more persuasive than the evidence. When a compelling explanation crowds out data. When a satisfying conclusion replaces the messy reality. In organizations, narrative traps show up everywhere. Leaders latch onto a story about why the company is struggling — “our problem is pricing,” or “our issue is awareness” — and then every decision begins to reinforce that narrative. Teams repeat the story until it feels factual, even when the metrics suggest something different. The same thing happens in emerging industries, particularly in technology and finance. Projects are often evaluated based on the story behind them rather than the performance indicators that matter. The narrative becomes the investment thesis. But stories don’t scale a business, results do. What makes this particularly dangerous is that stories don’t just shape how we view companies — they shape how we view ourselves. Every professional carries a set of internal narratives. “I’m not a numbers person.” “I’m better at execution than strategy.” “I’m not ready for that level yet.” These narratives may start with a grain of truth, but over time they harden into identity. And once a narrative becomes identity, it begins to limit possibility. You stop testing the boundaries of what might be possible because the story already told you the answer. The challenge is learning to interrupt the narrative. In strategy work, this means asking, “what evidence would prove this story wrong?” If the answer is “none,” you’re probably defending a narrative rather than testing a hypothesis. It also means shifting the conversation away from tidy explanations and toward observable performance. “What are customers actually doing? What behaviors are changing? What signals are emerging in the data that don’t fit our existing story?” I’m not saying to eliminate stories altogether. Humans need narratives to make sense of the world. But we need to stop treating them as conclusions. A good story may inspire action, but evidence determines whether that action leads anywhere useful. In other words, strategies fail because organizations believe their stories too quickly. And once you fall into the Narrative Trap, the hardest part is admitting the story you loved might not be true. About the Author Trained as an organizational behavioral scientist and customer-centricity expert, Andrea Belk Olson helps companies operationalize corporate strategy through transforming mindsets and behaviors. She is the author of three business books, including her most recent, What To Ask: How To Learn What Customers Need but Don’t Tell You. She is a 4x ADDY award winner and contributing writer to Entrepreneur Magazine, Harvard Business Review, INC Magazine, World Economic Forum, and more. Andrea is also an applied entrepreneurship instructor at the University of Iowa and TEDx speaker coach. More information is also available on www.pragmadik.com and www.andreabelkolson.com.

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Why Appointment Setting Matters in Material Handling

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 19:04:36 +0000

Material handling sales cycles are notoriously complex and drawn out. From the first conversation to a signed agreement, deals can take weeks, many months or longer to close. Your buyers are operations managers, warehouse directors, and supply chain executives who are constantly shielded by gatekeepers and inundated with vendor outreach. This is why a deliberate, professional appointment setting strategy isn’t optional, it’s a competitive necessity. Rather than depending solely on inbound inquiries or hoping an industry event generates follow-up calls, a structured B2B material handling appointment setting program keeps your sales team engaged with prospects who have already been vetted and have a genuine interest in what you offer. The Core Components of an Effective Strategy A successful B2B material handling appointment setting program begins with pinpoint targeting. Defining your ideal customer profile is critical: facility size, operational environment, industry vertical, geographic footprint, and the equipment or systems they currently rely on. The tighter your targeting criteria, the better your results will be. From there, multi-channel outreach becomes your engine. Direct phone outreach remains one of the most effective tools in material handling sales because operational decision-makers respond well to straightforward, knowledgeable communication. Layer in tailored emails and well-timed LinkedIn engagement to build a consistent presence that stays on a prospect’s radar without feeling intrusive. Messaging and framing are equally critical. Lead with a pain point that resonates rather than jumping straight into a product overview. An opener like: We partner with distribution centers that are dealing with throughput bottlenecks and rising labor costs — is that something you’re navigating right now? immediately establishes credibility and opens the door to a real conversation. In-House vs. Outsourced Appointment Setting Material handling companies often wrestle with whether to develop an internal business development team or engage a specialized B2B appointment setting partner. Internal teams bring familiarity with your product line and company culture. An outsourced partner brings an established process, industry knowledge, and the ability to ramp up quickly often launching campaigns in a matter of weeks. For companies looking to break into new verticals or accelerate growth without the overhead of building a team from scratch, outsourcing frequently delivers faster results. The right partner already speaks the language of the material handling industry — they understand equipment lifecycles, multi-stakeholder buying processes, and the patience required to work longer sales timelines. Rather than simply generating a contact list, they actively work your target market every day, using robust prospecting databases and experienced business development professionals to put your sales team face-to-face with the decision-makers who matter most. Finally… B2B material handling appointment setting comes down to precision, persistence, and a process that can be measured and refined over time. Companies that commit to a structured outreach program stop leaving growth to chance and start building pipeline with intention. In an industry where trust and relationships drive every major purchasing decision, securing that first conversation is the foundation everything else is built on. If you’re looking to build a more predictable and scalable sales engine, Industrial SalesLeads works exclusively in the industrial space, connecting your team with qualified prospects who are already confirmed and ready to meet. About Industrial SalesLeads, Inc. Since 1959, Industrial SalesLeads, based in Jacksonville, FL is a leader in delivering industrial capital project intelligence and prospecting services for sales and marketing teams to ensure a predictable and scalable pipeline. Our Industrial Market Intelligence, IMI identifies timely insights on companies planning significant capital investments such as new construction, expansion, relocation, equipment modernization and plant closings in industrial facilities. The Outsourced Prospecting Services, an extension to your sales team, is designed to drive growth with qualified meetings and appointments for your internal sales team.

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419 New Planned Industrial Construction Activity Rises 9% in March 2026

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 18:53:00 +0000

Industrial SalesLeads released its March 2026 planned capital project spending report for the General Industrial sector, tracking North American capital project activity across new facility construction, expansions, and equipment modernization projects. This month’s research confirms 419 planned industrial projects across the General Industrial sector, led by 199 renovations and equipment upgrades, 140 new construction starts, and 108 expansions, representing a 9% increase in planned industrial project activity from the previous month. The following are selected highlights on new industrial construction news and project opportunities throughout North America. Planned Industrial Construction – By Project Type: Manufacturing Facilities – 150 New Projects Processing Facilities – 96 New Projects Distribution and Industrial Warehouse – 179 New Projects Power/Energy/Oil and Gas – 7 New Projects Laboratory Facilities – 11 New Projects Mine – 1 New Project Terminal – 0 New Projects Pipeline – 0 New Projects Planned Industrial Construction – By Scope/Activity New Construction – 140 New Projects Expansion – 108 New Projects Renovations/Equipment Upgrades – 199 New Projects Plant Closing – 24 New Projects Top Industrial Equipment Categories in Demand 95%–96% of the identified Construction projects are searching for Compressed Air Systems, Lighting, and HVAC Equipment. 90% of the identified Construction projects are searching for Mechanical Construction, and Fire Protection Equipment. 70%–82% of the identified Construction projects are searching for Material Handling/Storage Equipment, Lift Trucks, Loading Dock Equipment, and Conveyors. 62% of the identified Construction projects are searching for Cranes and Hoists. Planned Industrial Construction – By Location (Top 10 States) Texas – 32 New York – 26 Ohio – 25 California – 23 Indiana – 23 Wisconsin – 18 Michigan – 16 North Carolina – 16 Pennsylvania – 15 South Carolina – 15 Largest Planned Industrial Construction Project During the month of March, our research team identified 47 new General Industrial facility construction projects with an estimated value of $100 million or more. The largest project is owned by SB Energy, who is planning to invest $33 billion for the construction of a 9 GW natural gas-fired power plant in PORTSMOUTH, OH. They are currently seeking approval for the project. Top 10 Tracked Industrial Construction Projects PENNSYLVANIA: Renewable energy company is considering investing $17 billion for the construction of a 4 GW natural gas-fired power plant and is currently seeking a site in the GREENE COUNTY, PA area. Watch SalesLeads for updates. TEXAS: Energy company is planning to invest $3.5 billion for the construction of a processing facility in BROWNSVILLE, TX. They are currently seeking approval for the project. Completion is slated for 2029. LOUISIANA: Chemical company is planning to invest $3.4 billion for the expansion and equipment upgrades on their processing facility in PLAQUEMINE, LA. They are currently seeking approval for the project. Construction will occur in multiple phases, with completion of phase 1 slated for 2030. TEXAS: Defense contractor is planning to invest $3.2 billion for the construction of a manufacturing facility in BROWNSVILLE, TX. They are currently seeking approval for the project. ARKANSAS: Electric utility service provider is planning to invest $2.6 billion for the construction of a 1,500 MW natural gas-fired power plant in NEWARK, AR. They are currently seeking approval for the project. GEORGIA: Pharmaceutical company is planning to invest $2 billion for the construction of a 460,000 SF processing and office campus in DACULA, GA. The project is in the early design phase. Watch Industrial SalesLeads for updates. LOUISIANA: Renewable fuel company is planning to invest $1.4 billion for the construction of a processing facility in ST. CHARLES, LA. They are currently seeking approval for the project. Construction is expected to start in late 2027, with completion slated for late 2029. MASSACHUSETTS: Consumer products MFR. is planning to invest $1 billion for the construction of a manufacturing, research, and office facility at 232 A St. in BOSTON, MA. They are currently seeking approval for the project. TENNESSEE: Battery component mfr. is considering investing $1 billion for the construction of a manufacturing facility on West 19th Street in CHATTANOOGA, TN. Watch Industrial SalesLeads for updates. NORTH CAROLINA: Steel product MFR. is planning to invest $875 million for the construction of a 1.6 million SF manufacturing facility in COEFIELD, NC. They are currently seeking approval for the project. About Industrial SalesLeads, Inc. Since 1959, Industrial SalesLeads, based in Jacksonville, FL is a leader in delivering industrial capital project intelligence and prospecting services for sales and marketing teams to ensure a predictable and scalable pipeline. Our Industrial Market Intelligence, IMI identifies timely insights on companies planning significant capital investments such as new construction, expansion, relocation, equipment modernization and plant closings in industrial facilities. The Outsourced Prospecting Services, an extension to your sales team, is designed to drive growth with qualified meetings and appointments for your internal sales team.

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Food and Beverage Capital Investment Remains Strong in March 2026 with 66 New Projects Spanning Processing, Expansion, and Modernization

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 17:13:07 +0000

Industrial SalesLeads released its March 2026 planned capital project spending report for the Food and Beverage industry, tracking North American capital project activity across new facility construction, expansions, and equipment modernization projects. This month’s research confirms 66 new planned projects across the Food and Beverage sector, led by 34 renovations and equipment upgrades, 20 new construction starts, and 18 expansions. The following are selected highlights on new Food and Beverage industry construction news. Food and Beverage Project Type Processing Facilities – 42 New Projects Distribution and Industrial Warehouse – 24 New Projects Food and Beverage Project Scope/Activity New Construction – 20 New Projects Expansion – 18 New Projects Renovations/Equipment Upgrades – 34 New Projects Plant Closing – 7 New Projects Top Industrial Equipment Categories in Demand 89%–90% of the identified Distribution and Supply Chain projects are searching for Lighting, Material Handling/Storage Equipment, and Lift Trucks. 84% of the identified Distribution and Supply Chain projects are searching for Compressed Air Systems and HVAC Equipment. 69%–73% of the identified Distribution and Supply Chain projects are searching for Mechanical Construction, Loading Dock Equipment, Conveyors, Cranes and Hoists. Food and Beverage Project Location (Top 10 States) California – 6 Ohio – 6 Washington – 6 Pennsylvania – 4 Mayland – 3 New York – 3 Wisconsin – 3 Alabama – 2 Florida – 2 Georgia – 2 Largest Planned Project During the month of March, our research team identified 6 new Food and Beverage facility construction projects with an estimated value of $100 million or more. The largest project is owned by The Coca-Cola Company, who is planning to invest $650 million for the expansion and equipment upgrades on their processing facility in COOPERSVILLE, MI by 245,000 SF. They are currently seeking approval for the project. Construction is expected to start in early Fall 2026, with completion slated for 2028. Top 10 Tracked Food and Beverage Projects ARKANSAS: Diversified food products MFR. is planning to invest $220 million for the expansion and equipment upgrades on their processing facility in FAYETTEVILLE, AR. They are currently seeking approval for the project. Construction is expected to start in late 2026. SOUTH DAKOTA: Cheese MFR. is investing $200 million for the expansion and equipment upgrades on their processing facility in BROOKINGS, SD. They are currently seeking approval for the project. WISCONSIN: Meat product MFR. is planning to invest $125 million for the renovation and equipment upgrades on a 195,000 SF processing facility on Crocker Ave. in SHEBOYGAN, WI. They have recently received approval for the project. LOUISIANA: Food products distributor is planning to invest $110 million for the renovation and equipment upgrades on their distribution center in PEARL RIVER, LA. They are currently seeking approval for the project. Renovations are expected to start in early 2027, with completion slated for late 2027. INDIANA: Specialty food product MFR. is expanding and planning to invest $91 million for the construction of a 132,000 sf processing and warehouse facility in INDIANAPOLIS, IN. They are currently seeking approval for the project. OHIO: Specialty food product MFR. is planning to invest $85 million for the renovation and equipment upgrades on a 250,000 sf processing facility in BATAVIA TOWNSHIP, OH. They have recently received approval for the project. Construction will occur in phases, with completion of phase 1 slated for early 2027. MASSACHUSETTS: Food products MFR. is planning to invest $55 million for a 65,000 sf expansion and equipment upgrades on their processing and warehouse facility in AYER, MA. They are currently seeking approval for the project. KENTUCKY: Food processing company is planning to invest $37 million for the construction of a processing facility in COVINGTON, KY. They have recently received approval for the project. WASHINGTON: Fruit processing company is planning to invest $25 million for an expansion of their processing facility in PROSSER, WA. They are currently seeking approval for the project. UTAH: Bakery company is planning for the expansion of their processing and warehouse facility in PLEASANT VIEW, UT by 115,000 SF. They are currently seeking approval for the project. About Industrial SalesLeads, Inc. Since 1959, Industrial SalesLeads, based in Jacksonville, FL is a leader in delivering industrial capital project intelligence and prospecting services for sales and marketing teams to ensure a predictable and scalable pipeline. Our Industrial Market Intelligence, IMI identifies timely insights on companies planning significant capital investments such as new construction, expansion, relocation, equipment modernization and plant closings in industrial facilities. The Outsourced Prospecting Services, an extension to your sales team, is designed to drive growth with qualified meetings and appointments for your internal sales team. Visit us at salesleadsinc.com.

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Most leaders are stuck at one focal length. That’s a problem.

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 12:48:54 +0000

Some leaders are perpetually in the weeds. They’re dissecting every internal process, monitoring team dynamics, tweaking workflows. Others are perched at 30,000 feet, scanning industry reports, tracking competitors, absorbing trend decks. Both groups think they’re being strategic. Neither is. Real strategic leadership requires the discipline to zoom in and zoom out. But it’s not a natural instinct. It’s a practiced skill, and most leaders haven’t developed it. Zooming In Zooming in isn’t micromanaging. It’s forensic curiosity about what’s happening inside your organization at the human level. Consider what happened at a major U.S. retailer trying to roll out a new customer experience initiative. All the fundamentals were in place. But adoption was stalling in specific regions and completely absent in others. Leadership kept diagnosing it as a “communication problem” and kept sending more emails. When someone finally zoomed in — talking to store managers, observing team handoffs, listening to what wasn’t being said in meetings — the real issue emerged. The new initiative directly conflicted with the informal performance norms that store managers had built over years. Managers were being rewarded for speed. The new experience required slowness. Nobody had flagged it because it felt like complaining, and the culture didn’t make that safe. That’s what zooming in finds: the invisible logic that runs your organization in parallel to your official strategy. The cultural friction points, the unwritten rules, the incentives nobody put on paper but everyone understands. These forces don’t show up in dashboards. They live in Slack threads and the meetings that happen after the meeting. Leaders who never zoom in are flying blind, executing strategy into a headwind they refuse to acknowledge. Zooming Out Zooming out isn’t reading trend reports. It’s developing a living, evolving understanding of how the people you serve are changing — their behaviors, expectations, anxieties, and values. Take the shift in B2B buying behavior over the last several years. For decades, sales-led organizations built their entire model on the assumption that buyers needed their reps to navigate complexity. Then buyers started doing 70% of their research before ever talking to a salesperson. They formed opinions, developed preferences, and in many cases made provisional decisions — all before a sales rep entered the picture. Companies that zoomed out saw this shift early. They reallocated investment toward content, peer communities, and self-serve tools. Companies that didn’t zoom out kept hiring more salespeople and wondering why the pipeline had gotten so hard to move. Zooming out is about catching these shifts before they become crises, when you still have time to adapt. Why Most Leaders Only Do One Leaders who came up through operations tend to be chronic zoom-inners. They trust what they can observe and control. The big picture feels abstract, maybe even indulgent. They’ll tell you they’re focused on “execution” — but what they’re really doing is avoiding the discomfort of acknowledging that the environment their strategy was built for may have already changed. Leaders who came up through strategy, consulting, or finance tend to be chronic zoom-outers. They’re fluent in market dynamics and trend analysis. But they often have a mysterious aversion to the messiness of organizational reality. They’ll tell you the “people issues” are somebody else’s problem — usually HR’s. What they’re actually doing is avoiding the accountability of confronting the cultural drag that’s quietly eating their strategy alive. Both groups produce the same outcome: strategies that look great on paper and underperform in practice. Switching Lenses The leaders who actually drive durable change have a practice — usually informal — of deliberately alternating their focus. They ask “what’s the smallest thing that’s blocking the biggest thing?” and then they go find out. They sit in on customer calls not because they have to, but because they’ve learned that two customer conversations are worth more than ten analyst reports. They walk the floor., or they read the verbatim survey responses their teams summarize away. They talk to the person who just quit. And then they zoom out. They look at where their customers are going — not where they’ve been. They study adjacent industries that are further along on the adoption curves they’re navigating. They ask what their most skeptical customers believe, and they take it seriously instead of dismissing it. But the rhythm matters. Leaders who zoom in all month and zoom out once a quarter miss the early signals. Leaders who zoom out all month and zoom in once a quarter discover the friction points when it’s already a fire. The best ones are bifocal by design. No Time Like the Present If you asked your team today, “What’s actually getting in the way of our strategy?” — would they tell you the truth? And if you asked your most disengaged customer segment, “What would have to change for you to trust us more?” — would you be prepared to hear the answer? Both of those questions require you to zoom. Most leaders are afraid of what they’ll find when they do. That’s exactly why the ones who do it anyway have such a significant advantage. About the Author Trained as an organizational behavioral scientist and customer-centricity expert, Andrea Belk Olson helps companies operationalize corporate strategy through transforming mindsets and behaviors. She is the author of three business books, including her most recent, What To Ask: How To Learn What Customers Need but Don’t Tell You. She is a 4x ADDY award winner and contributing writer to Entrepreneur Magazine, Harvard Business Review, INC Magazine, World Economic Forum, and more. Andrea is also an applied entrepreneurship instructor at the University of Iowa and TEDx speaker coach.

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U.S. Distribution and Supply Chain Sector Records 179 New Capital Projects in March 2026, Driven by Warehouse Construction and Equipment Upgrades

Sales Leads — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 16:24:00 +0000

Industrial SalesLeads released its March 2026 planned capital project spending report for the Distribution and Supply Chain industry, tracking North American capital project activity across new facility construction, expansions, and equipment modernization projects. This month’s research confirms 179 new planned projects across the Distribution and Supply Chain sector, led by 87 renovations and equipment upgrades, 67 new construction starts, and 28 expansions. The following are selected highlights on new Distribution Center and Warehouse construction news. Distribution and Supply Chain – By Project Type Distribution/Fulfillment Centers – 21 New Projects Industrial Warehouse – 158 New Projects Distribution and Supply Chain- By Project Scope/Activity New Construction – 67 New Projects Expansion – 28 New Projects Renovations/Equipment Upgrades – 87 New Projects Closing – 5 New Projects Top Industrial Equipment Categories in Demand 95%–96% of the identified industrial projects are searching for Compressed Air Systems, Lighting, HVAC Equipment, Mechanical Construction, Fire Protection Equipment, and Networking/Security Equipment. 70%–77% of the identified industrial projects are searching for Material Handling/Storage Equipment, Lift Trucks, Loading Dock Equipment, and Conveyors. 52% of the identified industrial projects are searching for Floor Coatings, cranes and hoists. 52% of the identified industrial projects are searching for Cranes and Hoists. Distribution and Supply Chain – By Project Location (Top 5 States) New York – 13 California – 12 Texas – 12 Florida – 11 Indiana – 10 Largest Planned Project During the month of March, our research team identified 5 new Distribution and Supply Chain facility construction projects with an estimated value of $100 million or more. The largest project is owned by NewCold, who is planning to invest $500 million for the construction of a warehouse facility in LEBANON, IN. They are currently seeking approval for the project. Top 10 Tracked Distribution and Supply Chain Project Opportunities Alabama: Automotive component MFR. is planning to invest $430 million for the construction of a 1 million sf manufacturing and warehouse facility in GADSDEN, AL. They are currently seeking approval for the project. Florida: Global online retailer is planning to invest $200 million for the renovation and equipment upgrades on a 1.3 million SF distribution center at 27505 S.W. 132nd Ave. in HOMESTEAD, FL. They are currently seeking approval for the project. Completion is slated for late 2028. Louisiana: Food products distributor is planning to invest $110 million for the renovation and equipment upgrades on their distribution center in PEARL RIVER, LA. They are currently seeking approval for the project. Renovations are expected to start in early 2027, with completion slated for late 2027. Ohio: Specialty carbon product MFR. is planning to invest $100 million for the expansion and equipment upgrades on their processing and warehouse facility in COLUMBUS, OH. They are currently seeking approval for the project. Completion is slated for early 2028. Michigan: Municipality is planning to invest $45 million for the construction of a 100,000 SF office, warehouse, and maintenance campus at 3006 Douglas Ave. in KALAMAZOO TOWNSHIP, MI. Construction is expected to start in Summer 2026. They will consolidate their operations upon completion in Summer 2028. South Carolina: Specialty additive MFR. is planning to invest $40 million for the renovation and equipment upgrades on a warehouse, office, laboratory, and manufacturing facility at 101 Connexial Blvd. in GRAY COURT, SC. They will relocate their operations upon completion in late 2027. Rhode Island: Logistics service provider is expanding and planning to invest $34 million for the renovation and equipment upgrades on a 65,000 SF warehouse facility at 1 All American Way in NORTH KINGSTOWN, RI. They are currently seeking approval for the project. Completion is slated for early 2027. Georgia: HVAC equipment distributor is planning for the renovation and equipment upgrades on a recently acquired 1 million SF distribution center in ATLANTA, GA. They are currently seeking approval for the project. Illinois: Logistics service provider is planning for the renovation and equipment upgrades on a recently leased 992,000 SF warehouse facility at 9130 W. 55th St. in MCCOOK, IL. They are currently seeking approval for the project. Pennsylvania: Automated logistics and transportation company is planning for the renovation and equipment upgrades on a recently leased 973,000 SF distribution center at 2300 S. Pennsylvania Ave. in MORRISVILLE, PA. They are currently seeking approval for the project. About Industrial SalesLeads, Inc. Since 1959, Industrial SalesLeads, based in Jacksonville, FL is a leader in delivering industrial capital project intelligence and prospecting services for sales and marketing teams to ensure a predictable and scalable pipeline. Our Industrial Market Intelligence, IMI identifies timely insights on companies planning significant capital investments such as new construction, expansion, relocation, equipment modernization and plant closings in industrial facilities. The Outsourced Prospecting Services, an extension to your sales team, is designed to drive growth with qualified meetings and appointments for your internal sales team. Visit us at salesleadsinc.com.

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Show me the value, or I’ll show you the door

Mon, 20 Apr 2026 05:00:53 +0000

How do you make a sales presentation? No, I don’t mean warm up, probe, present, overcome objections, close. I mean, what’s the big picture of your sales presentation? What’s the content of your sales presentation? And most importantly, how are you certain that you engage your prospect in your presentation? What makes your sales presentation different AND compelling? CONSIDER THIS: In order to engage your prospect, or your probable purchaser, or even your customer, there must be some form of interest or perceived value on their part. If there’s no interest or perceived value, there’s no engagement. There are many obvious customer-based values. For example, they need what you’re selling, you have it in stock, or no one else does. But that’s too easy. And that situation hardly ever exists. CONSIDER THIS: If you had a customer-based value proposition every time you went into a sales call, and that value proposition had REAL VALUE for the customer, it would give you a consistent approach, consistent engagement, and a consistent competitive advantage that takes price off the table as an issue. If you do it right, it can even eliminate, or level the playing field, of “three bids.” Most companies have created the mythical term added value. It’s a term that I have never understood. It usually is a bunch of gibberish containing very little value, and if I asked you to describe what added value is, or define what added value is, you probably couldn’t. WHAT IS A VALUE PROPOSITION? Let me define each element. Once this value proposition is broken down, you will clearly see how your sales presentation needs to be restructured so the customer knows what’s in it for them. And oh, by the way, if you’re using a “system of selling” or trying to “find the pain” and you’re not comfortable with it, this may be an alternative to win the sale without any manipulation whatsoever. The value proposition is broken into 5.5 strategic parts. Each part stands alone, but each part is critical to the other because they build momentum, reduce perceived risk, and ultimately create a buying atmosphere. Here are the components: The value that your company provides. This is an opportunity for you to talk about your company in terms of what it stands for, how it partners, how it has produced for others, and how it serves others. It’s a chance to talk about capability and loyalty without mentioning the words integrity or ethics (in my opinion, if you have to say those words, you probably are just the opposite). The value your product or service provides. The best way to present product value is through the technique known as ‘similar situations.’ This gives you the opportunity to talk about how your product or service has performed successfully in other environments. Be aware that it’s not yet time to use testimonials. Similar situations are: you telling a story about other successful users. Testimonials can be used at the end of your presentation to close the deal. The value that you (the salesperson) provide. If you understand that the first sale that’s made is the salesperson, the first sale that’s made is you, then you can understand the impact that this piece of the value proposition can play. If you bring no value to the table, then your price will dominate the discussion and the outcome. Your values include industry knowledge, product knowledge, customer knowledge, a desire to serve, timeliness, and an overall understanding of how your customer can best utilize your product or service for THEIR benefit. You have to go beyond a salesman to a consultant. You have to go beyond a salesman to a business friend. You have to go beyond salesman to being a resource. By combining those three elements, consultant, resource, friend, you achieve the most coveted business position possible: you become a trusted advisor. The value of a short-term incentive. Everyone wants to feel like they get a ‘deal’ when they buy something. Every infomercial on television ends its sales presentation with some form of “Ginsu knife” or buy two for the price of one. Short-term incentives are designed to create greater buyer urgency. In your case, it may be six months of free service, a starter kit of supplies, a factory rebate, an added piece of equipment at a reduced cost, or something that enhances your offer on a one-time basis to get that customer to buy now. The danger in any short-term incentive is that the customer will want it again. Your job as a master salesperson is to ensure you have spent enough time communicating that this is a one-time-only offer. About the Author: Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of twelve best-selling books, including The Sales Bible, The Little Red Book of Selling, and The Little Gold Book of Yes! Attitude. His real-world ideas and content are also available as online courses at www.GitomerLearningAcademy.com. For information about training and seminars, visit www.Gitomer.com, email Jeffrey at salesman@gitomer.com, or call him at 704 333-1112.

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What Forklift Dealers should know before customers invest in Automation

Mon, 20 Apr 2026 05:00:06 +0000

Warehouse automation is having a moment. Goods-to-person systems, automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS), autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), and robotic picking solutions are becoming more common. The case studies are compelling, and in the right operation, the payback is real. Before committing to that level of investment, it helps to step back and look at how the current operation runs. In many facilities, there is still meaningful room to improve performance by tightening slotting, forward pick design, and replenishment logic. These are not new ideas, but they are often underdeveloped. When they are supported with the right data, they reduce travel, limit firefighting, and bring more consistency to the floor. Walk through most distribution centers, and the same patterns show up. Pickers cover more distance than necessary because fast movers are not positioned well. Work gets interrupted when pick faces run empty during peak periods. Supervisors spend time managing shortages, expediting replenishment, and adjusting slots throughout the day. Over time, those issues blend into the routine, even though they continue to chip away at productivity. Stabilizing forward pick and replenishment tends to produce faster gains than adding new equipment. It also creates a more predictable operation, which becomes important when automation enters the discussion. Start with a forward pick design, not the equipment list Forward pick sets expectations for the picker. The SKU is in place, the quantity is sufficient, and the location is easy to understand. When that breaks down, the cost shows up immediately in extra travel, search time, and exception handling. Slotting decisions are often based on averages. Average demand, average lines, average movement. Those numbers are easy to calculate, but they rarely reflect how work actually arrives. A more reliable approach examines actual demand patterns, case pack constraints, and how demand shifts over time. Shipped units and order line frequency often tell different stories. Some SKUs do not move the most volume but still drive a large share of picks, which makes their placement more important than their size might suggest. Replenishment also happens in full cases. When pick faces are not sized with that in mind, the team ends up making constant partial-case decisions that slow execution. Variability tends to be the breaking point. Layouts that hold up during steady periods can struggle during promotions or seasonal spikes, which is when the operation is already under pressure. Designing around those conditions reduces the need for constant adjustments later. Replenishment rules should reflect the real workload Replenishment logic is often built around minimum and maximum inventory thresholds. Once the inventory drops below a level, a task is triggered. Once it is refilled, the task ends. That structure leaves out what is happening across the floor at the time the task is created. When replenishment is triggered without considering workload or available labor, it competes directly with picking. The result is familiar. Work builds up in multiple areas, priorities shift, and service levels become harder to maintain. Bringing workload into the equation changes how replenishment behaves. Open picks, wave timing, and labor availability all influence when a task should be created and how it should be sequenced. Time-to-empty calculations can help anticipate when a location will run out based on expected picks rather than on current inventory alone. Grouping replenishment work by aisle or zone reduces unnecessary movement and helps limit congestion in high traffic areas. With these adjustments, replenishment becomes easier to plan and less disruptive to the rest of the operation. Use expiry awareness where it matters Date-sensitive inventory tends to expose slotting issues quickly. Without some level of expiry awareness in forward pick, avoidable write-offs and handling issues begin to appear. First-expired, first-out (FEFO) should influence more than just how items are picked. It should be considered when deciding where inventory sits and how it is replenished. Items with tighter dating often benefit from smaller pick faces that turn more frequently. Keeping inventory with similar expiry dates together reduces confusion during picking. Limiting unnecessary handling also lowers the chance of errors. Even in less regulated environments, the same idea applies. Forward pick works better when it reduces exceptions rather than creates them. Keep slotting aligned with how the business actually moves Slotting tends to drift as product mix and demand patterns change. Layouts that once worked well can gradually fall out of sync with how workflows through the facility. Using heatmaps based on pick frequency and travel patterns provides a clearer view of where activity is concentrated. Looking at different periods across the year helps identify where those patterns shift, whether due to seasonality or broader changes in demand. Rather than redesigning the entire layout, targeted updates focused on the SKUs that have changed the most are usually enough to bring performance back in line. This limits disruption while keeping slotting aligned with current conditions. Why this work matters before automation Automation depends on consistency. If pick faces run empty, automated systems wait. If replenishment is uneven, flow becomes harder to manage. If slotting is misaligned, inefficiencies carry forward. Addressing forward pick and replenishment first tends to simplify what comes next. Travel requirements become easier to manage, replenishment becomes more predictable, and the data used for modeling becomes more reliable. Before investing in new equipment, focus on the mechanics that shape day-to-day performance. Fix the pick faces. Revisit replenishment triggers. Align slotting with how the business actually moves. From there, automation decisions become clearer and easier to execute. About the Author Vee Srithayakumar is a product leader in warehouse management at Tecsys, driving innovation through AI-driven and advanced warehouse execution system initiatives. His contributions to the supply chain industry earned him recognition as a 2024 Supply & Demand Chain Executive “Pros to Know.”

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Every dealer is becoming a Tech Company—Ready or Not

Mon, 20 Apr 2026 05:00:02 +0000

Last month, I outlined what turned out to be the first four pages of the AI 2030 Strategic Framework. I covered a basic summary of where the industry currently stands and how distributors feel about the process and the opportunity. This month, we will move on to next four pages, which further covers steps to take to produce a workable plan to produce meaningful steps and personnel to guide management through the process and eventually to the decision making of how to invest in AI as well and execute and generate a tech investment that will pay off and keep the company in line with their competition. But, before we dive into the details, I would like to share some data I have received over the last month that is meaningful in our current financial environment. I sent these docs to Dean, and he has them saved and available if you want to read them. Two BDO papers on accounting for tariff transactions. A confusing topic where it would be nice to have support if you have a potential refund available. Another paper from BDO covering the current M&A market, whether you are a buyer or seller. AI issues will drive a number of transactions, and this provides all the steps you will need to address if you are a player. An article entitled WHAT YOU’RE NOT BEING TOLD ABOUT THE ECONOMY. The best article to date that makes sense, with parts of the conclusion dealing with the M&A issue. (FYI, I was an audit partner at BDO) Moving on to the Strategic Framework for AI, it seems someone has to lead the charge to keep the process on track. These could all be internal people, or a tech company with the experience of getting your company from point A to point B, producing a workable, profitable new system to lower costs and improve margins. The issues that need to be addressed Skill gaps. Tech gaps. Training before any pilot launches. Invest in training as necessary. Executive participation a must. Begin with HIGH -ROI applications. Those are the easiest to attain. Keep scalability in mind. Move up to advanced applications. Engage current system providers to ensure outcomes align with expectations. Make sure upside potential is available. Invest in skills and partnerships. These are the folks who fill that “WHO” need for a partner who can guide the process and help with investment spend and decision-making. They can also help educate employees to ensure they can support this AI effort. Management change programs are a must. Educate all employees about what is going on. Engage in role-playing before launch and thereafter until all systems are synced, providing the data needed. Review and update all data creation and movement processes. Audit the data from each department, list any problem areas, and adjust as necessary. Be especially careful regarding data flow between existing revenue silos. This will be a tough assignment requiring assistance from your conversion partners. Determine ROI performance against the original plan. Devise a plan to calculate the returns. Use ROI metrics to track results. Measure ROI over a 3–5-year period. Here again, your partner should help prepare the metrics used in the calculation. A long-term plan is helpful and can be compared to financial data on a quarterly basis against the original plan and prior quarters, with adjustments made as necessary to meet goals. I would suggest that your partner should drive this process and offer suggestions for improvement. Management should also question operating results against the plan, their competitors, and industry data available. Having a performance group to assist with this process will help identify departments needing adjustments. This gets me to page 8 of the program. More next month. As a result of this AI work, I made it a point to try to find a PARTNER a dealer could use who has experience and can guide the process to ensure your investment produces what you need to run your business. After numerous discussions with folks, I received a call from Columbus Global, which has a small number of experienced leaders who can help set up a program and guide you through it. Columbus Global is prepared to produce a white paper based on dealer activities that cover. The Problem- A four-pillar framework to get it done. AI Governance and what Dealers need to know. Measuring AI return – A scorecard for Dealer Operations. What they need, however, is some volunteers to participate in the program. In other words, they will work with the volunteers and then highlight how the process could apply to lift truck dealers. No participant information would be disclosed. These are folks who do this for a living. If we can get some volunteers to help out, the white paper would help dealers decide how to move ahead regarding these issues. Maybe an OEM would be interested in this information. No matter what, every dealer needs to go through this process or decide if private equity is a better option. In other words, if you do not participate in a process such as this in the near future, chances are an exit program will be more likely. As you have probably heard, the Tech conventions have recently taken place. And guess what? Jensen Huang stated that eventually every industrial company will become a robotics company. Manufacturers are projected to more than double their use of AI and automation by 2030. Think about helping out with the AI transition program. You will help yourself and the industry. About the Columnist: Garry Bartecki is a CPA and MBA with GB Financial Services LLC, and a Wholesaler columnist since August 1993. E-mail editorial@mhwmag.com to contact Garry.

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Curiosity Is the Competitive Edge for today’s Forklift Dealers

Mon, 20 Apr 2026 05:00:00 +0000

The first quarter of the year always brings a flurry of industry activity. Conferences, trade shows, and association meetings seem to stack up back-to-back on the calendar. For many of us in the material handling world, these events provide a chance to reconnect with colleagues, see new equipment, and hear perspectives from leaders across the industry. After attending several events already this year, one theme kept resurfacing in conversations and presentations. Change is no longer something that happens occasionally in our industry. It is the constant. One speaker I listened to captured it perfectly with a simple message. Dealership leaders need to help their teams embrace change as part of everyday business and create a sense of curiosity within their organizations. For aftermarket leaders, that message carries particular weight. Parts and service departments are where many of the biggest industry changes show up first. The Aftermarket Is on the Front Line of Change When new technology enters the market, the aftermarket feels the impact immediately. Technicians have to diagnose and repair new systems. Parts departments have to understand new product categories. Service managers must support customers as they adapt to evolving equipment and operating environments. Think about how much has changed in just the last decade. Electric equipment adoption continues to grow. Battery technology is evolving. Telematics and fleet management systems are becoming more common. Diagnostic tools are increasingly software-driven. At the same time, customers expect faster service response and easier parts ordering. None of these trends is slowing down. If anything, they are accelerating. That is why embracing change is not simply a leadership slogan. It is a practical reality for every aftermarket department. Curiosity Creates Adaptability One of the most interesting ideas raised during discussions at these industry events I have recently attended was the importance of curiosity in the workplace. In many organizations, change can create resistance. People naturally gravitate toward processes and routines that feel familiar. But in an environment where technology, equipment, and customer expectations are evolving quickly, curiosity becomes a competitive advantage. Curiosity encourages employees to ask questions and explore new ideas rather than avoid them. In your aftermarket operations, curiosity might look like a technician learning how to use a new diagnostic tool or becoming more comfortable working with electric equipment. It might involve a parts manager exploring digital parts catalogs or evaluating whether online ordering could improve the customer experience. It might also mean a service manager digging into data to better understand patterns in repeat service calls or customer equipment downtime. When employees are encouraged to stay curious, change becomes less intimidating and more manageable. Training Is the Bridge Between Today and Tomorrow Of course, curiosity alone is not enough. It must be supported by ongoing training. One of the realities of our industry today is that the technical knowledge required to maintain and repair modern equipment is constantly evolving. New battery systems, new software platforms, and new diagnostic tools require technicians to keep learning throughout their careers. The same applies to other roles within the aftermarket operation. Parts personnel must stay up to date on new product lines and technology components. Service managers must understand emerging trends that impact customer operations. Sales teams must be able to communicate the value of maintenance programs, safety products, and new service offerings. Dealerships that invest in continuous training are building a stronger foundation for the future. Training improves technician confidence, increases first-time fix rates, and ultimately leads to better customer outcomes. It also helps dealerships retain employees by demonstrating the organization’s commitment to their long-term development. In an environment where skilled technicians are in high demand, that commitment matters. Preparing for an Evolving Industry Another point that surfaced during some of these industry conference discussions was the broader evolution of the dealership landscape. Across many industries, consolidation continues to reshape the competitive environment. Larger dealer groups are emerging, and customers are increasingly expecting sophisticated service capabilities and strong technical support. At the same time, equipment technology will continue to evolve. Electrification, automation, and digital fleet management are all areas that will influence how dealerships support their customers. For aftermarket leaders, this means preparing teams not just for today’s equipment but also for tomorrows. Encouraging your employees to learn new technologies, participate in training programs, and stay engaged with industry resources helps position your dealership to adapt successfully. The Role of Industry Education and Advocacy Finally, the conversation around change also highlighted the importance of education and advocacy within the material handling industry. Organizations such as MHEDA, ITA, and other industry groups play a critical role in educating the next generation of technicians and leaders. Technical training programs and equipment manufacturers all play a role in developing the workforce that supports our equipment in the field. Dealerships benefit when they actively participate in these efforts. Encouraging employees to attend training programs, supporting technician certification, and staying involved with industry groups helps strengthen the talent pipeline that the entire industry relies on. If we want the next generation of technicians and parts professionals to succeed, the industry must continue to invest in education and awareness. A Simple Challenge for Aftermarket Leaders The takeaway from this year’s conference and trade show season is clear. Change is not something that will arrive someday. It is already shaping how aftermarket departments operate. The question for dealership leaders is whether their teams are being prepared to adapt. Here is a simple challenge to consider this month. Take a moment to look around your aftermarket operation and ask a few questions. Are your technicians receiving the training they need to stay ahead of new technologies? Are your parts and service teams encouraged to explore new tools and processes that could improve the customer experience? Are you creating an environment where curiosity is welcomed rather than avoided? Dealerships that embrace change will not just survive the shifts happening in our industry. They will find new opportunities for growth along the way. The dealerships that keep learning will be the ones

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Your Strategy Has a Translation Problem

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 11:00:35 +0000

James Watt didn’t walk into a room full of mine owners and explain bore, stroke, and pressure. He didn’t ask them to become engineers before they could recognize value. He translated the unfamiliar into something they already understood — how many horses this machine could replace. Most organizations communicate strategy the way engineers describe engines. Pillars. Priorities. Capabilities. Language that sounds aligned in a presentation and means six different things by Monday morning. They explain the mechanism, but they forget the meaning. And so people do what people always do when they’re handed something they can’t interpret: they fill in the blanks themselves. Marketing fills it one way. Operations fills it another. Sales is operating on a third version entirely. Everyone thinks they’re aligned because they’re using the same words. But shared language is not shared understanding. And that gap — that quiet, compounding space between what leadership intended and what the organization actually does — is where execution drift begins. The cost of confusion doesn’t show up immediately. It accumulates — in fragmented priorities, duplicated efforts, decisions made without a common logic, and eventually, in people who quietly stop trying to figure out what the strategy actually means for their work. That’s not a strategy problem. That’s a translation problem. What Watt Actually Did Watt gave mine owners a mental shortcut. He didn’t ask them to learn an entirely new system before they could act. He met them in a frame they already understood — and used that frame to shift how they saw the opportunity. That’s strategic reframing. And it’s exactly what most organizations skip. Not dumbing the strategy down. Making it translatable. Giving people a usable logic for connecting the strategy to the choices sitting in front of them every day — without waiting for clarification that may never come, without escalating every ambiguous decision, without needing to think like the CEO to know what to do next. This is what a Steering Guide does. It turns strategic intent into a shared decision-making framework. It answers not just what we’re trying to do, but how we think, what we prioritize, and how we behave when no one’s watching. The organizations that execute well aren’t always the ones with the most sophisticated strategy. They’re the ones that make their strategy understandable enough, concrete enough, and consistent enough for people to act on it — not just once, in a kickoff meeting, but every day, in every decision. Watt didn’t win adoption because his buyers became engineers. He won because he made technical value feel relevant to the people who needed to act on it. That’s the job of leadership. Not just to build the strategy, but to make it legible to the people who have to live it and activate it. People don’t execute what they can’t translate. And in most organizations, it’s a reframing problem that’s been mistaken for a people problem for far too long. About the Author Trained as an organizational behavioral scientist and customer-centricity expert, Andrea Belk Olson helps companies operationalize corporate strategy through transforming mindsets and behaviors. She is the author of three business books, including her most recent, What To Ask: How To Learn What Customers Need but Don’t Tell You. She is a 4x ADDY award winner and contributing writer to Entrepreneur Magazine, Harvard Business Review, INC Magazine, World Economic Forum, and more. Andrea is also an applied entrepreneurship instructor at the University of Iowa and TEDx speaker coach.

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2026 MHEDA Annual Convention & Exhibitor Showcase: Driving Innovation and Collaboration in the Material Handling Industry

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 14:16:02 +0000

The 2026 Annual Convention & Exhibitor Showcase hosted by the Material Handling Equipment Distributors Association (MHEDA) promises to be one of the most significant gatherings for professionals in the material handling sector. Scheduled for May 2–6, 2026, the event will take place at the Grand Hyatt Nashville in the vibrant city of Nashville. Designed to foster innovation, collaboration, and professional development, the convention brings together distributors, suppliers, integrators, and other leaders across the industry. With its theme “Harmony in Motion,” the 2026 convention emphasizes the importance of synergy across people, systems, and technology in the material handling industry. Through keynote presentations, educational sessions, networking opportunities, and a dynamic exhibitor showcase, the event is structured to inspire fresh ideas and support the continued growth of businesses within the sector. A Premier Industry Gathering MHEDA’s Annual Convention has long served as a central hub for industry professionals to exchange ideas and explore the latest developments in material handling. The 2026 event continues that tradition by offering an immersive experience for attendees seeking to stay competitive in a rapidly evolving market. Participants will include representatives from companies specializing in industrial trucks, storage and handling equipment, and systems integration. By bringing together a broad cross-section of industry, the convention creates a space where professionals can share best practices, discuss emerging trends, and form valuable partnerships. The event also emphasizes professional growth. Through workshops and keynote sessions led by experts, attendees will gain insights into leadership, customer experience, economic forecasting, and future technologies that could reshape the industry in the years ahead. The Exhibitor Showcase: A Hub for Networking and Industry Connections One of the highlights of the convention is the Exhibitor Showcase, taking place on Monday, May 4, 2026. Featuring more than 90 companies, the showcase provides attendees with an opportunity to connect directly with suppliers, manufacturers, and service providers from across the material handling industry. Designed to encourage conversation and collaboration, the showcase allows distributors and industry professionals to engage with exhibitors, discuss challenges, and explore potential solutions. These face-to-face interactions often lead to valuable insights, new partnerships, and stronger business relationships. Learning From Industry Leaders The 2026 convention also features an impressive lineup of keynote speakers and industry experts who will deliver insights across leadership, customer engagement, economics, and future technology trends. Among the featured speakers are: Jimmy Yeary – Award-winning songwriter and speaker presenting “5 Strategies to Songwriting: Building Valuable Relationships.” His session explores how storytelling and authenticity can strengthen communication and relationships in business. Crystal Washington – Futurist and technology strategist delivering “The Competitive Edge: Spot Trends and Thrive in the Future of Work.” She will discuss how emerging technologies and workplace shifts are shaping the future. Brittany Hodak – Customer experience expert speaking on transforming brands into a “Category of One” by turning customers into passionate advocates. Connor Lokar – Senior forecaster at ITR Economics presenting economic insights designed to help businesses align strategy with market trends. These sessions aim to deliver actionable knowledge that attendees can bring back to their organizations, enabling them to navigate challenges and capitalize on opportunities in the marketplace. Networking and Collaboration Opportunities Beyond the formal presentations, the convention offers a wide range of networking opportunities designed to strengthen relationships within the industry. These include: opening and closing parties; networking lunches and social events; interactive breakout sessions and more. These interactions allow professionals from different companies and specialties to share experiences, exchange ideas, and build partnerships that extend beyond the event itself. The Significance of the Theme: “Harmony in Motion” The theme “Harmony in Motion” reflects a key concept in modern material handling operations: success depends on the seamless integration of people, processes, and technology. In today’s logistics and distribution environments, companies must coordinate multiple functions—sales, service, equipment management, inventory systems, and data analytics—to deliver efficient and reliable results. The theme highlights the importance of aligning these components to create a unified approach to business operations. Through its educational sessions and showcase of innovative products, the convention illustrates how collaboration and technological integration can drive performance improvements and long-term growth for companies across the material handling ecosystem. Why the Convention Matters For many industry professionals, the MHEDA Annual Convention is more than just a conference—it is a strategic opportunity to gain insights that can influence business decisions for the year ahead. Key benefits of attending include: Industry knowledge: Learning about emerging trends and technologies shaping the future of material handling. Business connections: Building relationships with distributors, suppliers, and technology providers. Professional development: Gaining leadership and strategic insights from recognized experts. Product discovery: Exploring innovative solutions presented by leading manufacturers and service providers. By combining education, networking, and product exploration in one event, the convention creates a comprehensive experience that supports both individual and organizational growth. Nashville as the Host City Hosting the convention in Nashville adds another dimension to the event experience. Known as “Music City,” Nashville offers a vibrant culture, rich history, and renowned hospitality. Attendees will have the opportunity to explore local attractions, enjoy live music, and experience the city’s dynamic energy while participating in the convention. The Grand Hyatt Nashville provides a central and modern venue for the event, located in the heart of downtown Nashville near entertainment, dining, and cultural landmarks. This setting ensures that both professional and social aspects of the convention are easily accessible for attendees. Looking Ahead As the material handling industry continues to evolve with advancements in automation, data analytics, and supply chain technologies, events like the MHEDA Annual Convention play an essential role in keeping professionals informed and connected. The 2026 convention will serve as a platform for exploring new ideas, strengthening industry relationships, and identifying solutions that help companies remain competitive in a rapidly changing environment. With a packed agenda of keynote sessions, an engaging exhibitor showcase, and a collaborative community of industry professionals, the 2026 MHEDA Annual Convention & Exhibitor Showcase stands poised to deliver meaningful insights and opportunities for everyone involved in the material handling industry. For more event information and

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165 New Industrial Manufacturing Planned Industrial Project Reports – March 2026 Recap

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 06:00:43 +0000

Industrial SalesLeads released its March 2026 planned capital project spending report for the Industrial Manufacturing industry, tracking North American capital project activity across new plant construction, facility expansions, and equipment modernization projects. This month’s research confirms 165 new planned projects across the Industrial Manufacturing sector, led by 82 renovations and equipment upgrades, 56 expansions, and 39 new construction starts. The following are selected highlights on new Industrial Manufacturing industry construction news. Industrial Manufacturing – By Project Type Manufacturing/Production Facilities – 140 New Projects Distribution and Industrial Warehouse – 75 New Projects Industrial Manufacturing – By Project Scope/Activity New Construction – 39 New Projects Expansion – 56 New Projects Renovations/Equipment Upgrades – 82 New Projects Plant Closings – 14 New Projects Top Industrial Equipment Categories in Demand 85% of the identified industrial projects are seeking compressed air systems, lighting, HVAC, Material handling / Storage Equipment, lift trucks, and heat exchangers. 79% to 84% of the identified industrial projects are seeking air emissions control equipment, manufacturing equipment, control systems & instrumentation, loading dock equipment, conveyors, and cranes & hoists. Industrial Manufacturing – By Project Location (Top 10 States) Ohio – 15 Texas – 15 Indiana – 12 Wisconsin – 10 Alabama – 9 Michigan – 8 New York – 7 South Carolina – 7 California – 6 North Carolina – 6 Kentucky – 5 Largest Planned Project During the month of March, our research team identified 26 new Industrial Manufacturing facility construction projects with an estimated value of $100 million or more. The largest project is owned by Saronic Technologies, which plans to invest $3.2 billion to construct a manufacturing facility in BROWNSVILLE, TX. Top 10 Tracked Industrial Manufacturing Projects These 10 projects span from automotive, battery technology, consumer products, and pharmaceutical manufacturing, with a combined investment value exceeding $8.6B, reflecting broad-based capital commitment in March 2026. GEORGIA: A pharmaceutical company is planning to invest $2 billion in the construction of a 460,000 SF. processing and office campus in DACULA, GA. The project is in the early design phase. Watch Industrial SalesLeads for updates. MASSACHUSETTS: A consumer products manufacturer is planning to invest $1 billion to construct a manufacturing, research, and office facility at 232 A St. in BOSTON, MA. They are currently seeking approval for the project. TENNESSEE: A battery component manufacturer is considering investing $1 billion to construct a manufacturing facility on West 19th Street in CHATTANOOGA, TN. Watch Industrial SalesLeads for updates. NORTH CAROLINA: A steel manufacturer, A Steel, is planning to invest $875 million to construct a 1.6 million SF. manufacturing facility in COEFIELD, NC. They are currently seeking approval for the project. KENTUCKY: An automotive manufacturer is planning to invest an additional $800 million in expansion and equipment upgrades at its manufacturing facility in GEORGETOWN, KY. They are currently seeking approval for the project. OKLAHOMA: A tissue paper manufacturer is planning to invest $775 million in a 1 million sf expansion and equipment upgrades at its manufacturing and warehouse facility in INOLA, OK. They are currently seeking approval for the project. Completion is slated for Spring 2028. PENNSYLVANIA: A medical isotopes company is planning to invest $450 million in the construction of a 250,000 SF. processing facility in PHILADELPHIA, PA. They are currently seeking approval for the project. Completion is slated for 2029. ILLINOIS: A transportation equipment manufacturer is planning to invest $450 million in renovations and equipment upgrades at two manufacturing facilities in JOLIET, IL. They have recently received approval for the project. Completion is slated for 2027. ALABAMA: An automotive component manufacturer is planning to invest $430 million to construct a 1 million-square-foot manufacturing and warehouse facility in GADSDEN, AL. They are currently seeking approval for the project. OHIO: An automotive component manufacturer is planning to invest $313 million in a 215,000 sf expansion and equipment upgrades at its manufacturing facility in BELLEVUE, OH. Completion is slated for Fall 2027. Want to know the deadline and contact information for these or hundreds of projects going on? Click here. About Industrial SalesLeads, Inc. Since 1959, Industrial SalesLeads, based in Jacksonville, FL is a leader in delivering industrial capital project intelligence and prospecting services for sales and marketing teams to ensure a predictable and scalable pipeline. Our Industrial Market Intelligence (IMI) identifies timely insights into companies planning significant capital investments, such as new construction, expansion, relocation, equipment modernization, and plant closings, in industrial facilities. The Outsourced Prospecting Services, an extension of your sales team, is designed to drive growth by generating qualified meetings and appointments for your internal sales team. Visit us at salesleadsinc.com.

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Is AI Creating a Future Leadership Gap?

Tue, 17 Mar 2026 13:08:32 +0000

I think we’re having the wrong conversations about AI. The discussion seems to center on AI replacing junior employees, automating grunt-work, and instantaneously generating insights from data that would have taken thousands of hours to manually produce. But I don’t think that’s the strategic question leaders should be asking. The real risk is what happens five or ten years from now, when there is no one experienced enough to lead. AI may be making the “easy” work faster and cheaper, but in the process, organizations are quietly undermining the development path of future leadership. We all had entry-level jobs. I sure did. And I learned a ton about how to be a leader. It’s never been about just busy-work. These roles are where people learn organizational context, absorb cultural norms, develop judgment, and practice influence without authority. They are where future leaders begin to recognize patterns, navigate trade-offs, and understand how to influence decisions across departments. You don’t become a senior leader just because you were efficient at tasks. You become a senior leader because you were exposed to complexity and learned how to think through it. If AI replaces the developmental rungs of the ladder without redesigning how that capability is built, we don’t just lose junior employees. We lose the ecosystem that produces strategic-thinking adults. This creates a leadership talent debt. Organizations that are optimizing for efficiency today by eliminating what looks like burdensome overhead will find five to ten years later, their leadership bench is thin. There are no apprentices to backfill the next wave of retirees. Businesses simply try to steal seasoned talent from other organizations to fill the gap. But at some point, there are not enough leaders who have come up through the ranks and had enough hands-on experience to take the company into the future. Additionally, AI-empowered teams doesn’t automatically mean a more agile organization. Now senior executives find themselves acting as AI janitors, cleaning up machine-generated errors and validating outputs rather than focusing on long-term strategy, cross-functional alignment, and market positioning. Their energy shifts from stretching and mentoring juniors to managing outputs, becoming a supervisor of tools and their products rather than architects of strategy. As senior talent is pulled into foundational tasks while still carrying strategic responsibility, exhaustion is inevitable. And without a pipeline of developing talent to share the load, the pressure compounds. I’m not saying AI doesn’t have value. The issue is the short-termism. If you remove the traditional entry point into a profession, you must intentionally design a new one. Otherwise, you disrupt leadership formation. That redesign begins by shifting junior roles away from pure “production” and toward critical thinking. AI can generate first drafts, analyze data, and automate repetitive tasks. But it can’t interpret nuance in stakeholder dynamics, political friction, or sense cultural resistance. Entry-level roles should increasingly focus on evaluating AI outputs, surfacing risks, connecting insights across silos, and learning how decisions are made – not just creating the first-draft product. We should be teaching juniors how to think better. In an AI-accelerated environment, senior leaders must be explicit about how they make decisions, what trade-offs they consider, and why certain choices carry more weight than others. They must teach and provide decision frameworks, not just answers. If AI accelerates output, mentorship must accelerate judgment. Without that intentional transfer of thinking, we risk producing technically capable employees who lack the depth to lead change. Organizations also need to expand what they measure. Most dashboards track productivity, speed, cost, volume, and efficiency. Few measure leadership readiness, decision quality, adaptability, or cross-functional collaboration. If you only measure efficiency, you will naturally underinvest in leadership capability. Strategy creation and activation depend on the ability of leaders throughout the organization to interpret intent and make aligned decisions. AI is making the mechanics of work easier, but leadership has never been about mechanics. It’s about context, judgment, influence, and accountability. If organizations optimize away the early experiences that build those muscles, they will wake up with powerful tools and too few people capable of wielding them effectively. So the better conversation isn’t how many roles AI can eliminate, but how we will intentionally develop leaders in an AI-amplified organization. Because if we optimize away the early rungs of development without replacing them with something better, we don’t just lose junior talent, we lose the future. About the Author Trained as an organizational behavioral scientist and customer-centricity expert, Andrea Belk Olson helps companies operationalize corporate strategy through transforming mindsets and behaviors. She is the author of three business books, including her most recent, What To Ask: How To Learn What Customers Need but Don’t Tell You. She is a 4x ADDY award winner and contributing writer to Entrepreneur Magazine, Harvard Business Review, INC Magazine, World Economic Forum, and more. Andrea is also an applied entrepreneurship instructor at the University of Iowa and TEDx speaker coach. More information is also available on www.pragmadik.com and www.andreabelkolson.com.

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How AI Agents are entering the warehouse

Tue, 17 Mar 2026 08:00:37 +0000

Artificial intelligence (AI) is already finding a place in the warehouse. It can forecast labor, monitor inventory movement, and highlight operational trends that would otherwise go unnoticed. Most of these applications function as insight tools or chatbots. They analyze data, surface recommendations, and leave the final decision to a planner or supervisor. A new phase is emerging with conversation shifting from simple chatbots to AI agents. Agentic AI may sound abstract or futuristic. In reality, its most valuable applications in material handling are grounded and practical. Agentic systems do not replace warehouse leadership. They operate within defined guardrails, continuously monitor live data, and take or recommend structured actions based on specific triggers. While chatbots will help you report what’s happening, AI agents can help the workforce coordinate what the best next actions are. For distribution operations under constant pressure to respond to real-time demand, this shift matters. From chatbots to orchestrators A chatbot suggests. An orchestrator coordinates. In a warehouse setting, that coordination can take many forms. An agent may monitor inventory thresholds and trigger an internal task when conditions are met. It may triage exceptions, group similar issues together, and prioritize them based on impact. It may guide a supervisor through a structured resolution workflow when a shipment is at risk. These are not autonomous systems making unsupervised decisions. They operate within defined parameters based on rules that operations leaders set. The value comes from their ability to monitor hundreds of signals at once and respond consistently when patterns emerge. In environments where demand fluctuates hourly and labor is constrained, speed of response often determines performance. This is where agentic workflows shorten the gap between signal and action. Guardrails are not optional As interest in agentic AI grows, so does the need for discipline. Warehouse operations cannot afford black box decision-making. Every action that affects inventory, labor allocation, or customer shipments must be traceable. Teams need visibility into why an agent triggered a task, what data it used, and what confidence threshold was applied. Human oversight is equally important. Agents can monitor continuously, but supervisors retain authority. In many cases, the most effective model is guided execution. The agent flags a condition, suggests a course of action, and routes it to the appropriate role for confirmation. Confidence scoring also plays a role. Not every anomaly deserves the same urgency. Systems should distinguish between high-probability risk and minor deviations. That clarity prevents alert fatigue and builds trust over time. When guardrails are clearly defined, agentic workflows become reliable extensions of the operation rather than experimental overlays. Let’s take a look at some of the most high-value use cases where agentic AI can be deployed today: 1. Preventing expiry before it becomes loss Managing expiry and high-value inventory has always required vigilance. Aging reports provide a snapshot, but they depend on someone to review them and act in time. An agentic approach is more proactive. Imagine a system that continuously monitors inventory movement, shelf life, and order velocity for high-value or time-sensitive items. If movement slows below a defined threshold, the agent triggers a sequence. It may alert sales teams to prioritize certain SKUs. It may recommend relocation to a faster-moving facility. It may flag procurement to pause replenishment. The key is timing. Instead of discovering risk weeks later, the operation is alerted while corrective action still protects the margin. This workflow does not require speculation about the future. It relies on known data points and defined business rules. When inventory behavior deviates from expectation, the agent responds immediately. 2. Dynamic shift staffing based on real demand Labor orchestration is another area where agentic AI can deliver measurable impact. Traditional workforce planning often relies on historical averages. Supervisors review projected order volumes and assign staff accordingly. But actual pick rates, absenteeism, and demand spikes rarely align perfectly with forecasts. An agentic system can monitor live pick rates, backlog volume, and estimated remaining workload throughout a shift. If one zone is falling behind while another has capacity, the agent identifies the imbalance and recommends redeployment. In some cases, it may automatically generate reassignment tasks for approval. The decision remains human. The insight and coordination happen continuously. This approach reduces last-minute scrambling and overtime while improving service levels. Instead of reacting to bottlenecks after they form, supervisors receive early guidance on where to intervene to have the greatest effect. As labor challenges persist across the industry, smarter orchestration becomes more valuable than incremental productivity gains alone. 3. Outbound audit through behavioral signals Mispicks remain a persistent risk in distribution. Even in highly automated environments, small deviations can slip through and affect customer satisfaction. Traditional quality checks rely on sampling or manual review. Agentic AI introduces another layer. By monitoring behavioral data across the picking process, an agent can identify anomalies that correlate with higher mispick probability. If a pick took twice as long as usual, it may indicate confusion or search time. If a pick was completed significantly faster than historical averages, it could signal a shortcut or skipped verification step. The agent aggregates these signals along with SKU similarity, order complexity, and operator history. When risk crosses a defined threshold, it flags the outbound container for additional audit before shipment. Not every deviation triggers intervention. Only those that meet a defined risk profile. This selective approach preserves throughput while strengthening quality control. It adds intelligence to existing processes rather than layering on blanket inspection. Agentic AI to evolve the workforce Agentic AI is not about removing people from the warehouse. It is about enabling consistent and timely responses in an environment defined by variability. The most successful implementations begin with narrow, high-impact workflows such as expiry monitoring, labor balancing, and targeted outbound audits. Each use case builds confidence and reinforces data discipline. Over time, these orchestrated workflows connect. Inventory signals inform labor allocation. Quality data influences slotting strategy. The warehouse becomes not just visible, but responsive. Agentic systems do not eliminate complexity. They help manage it. For material handling operations facing persistent labor constraints and rising customer expectations, that distinction matters. The goal is not autonomy for its own sake. It is real-time operational control, supported by intelligence that operates within clear boundaries. The future of AI in the warehouse will not be defined by science fiction. It will be defined by practical workflows that reduce risk, protect

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Why Customer Experience is now a Revenue Driver for Parts Departments

Tue, 17 Mar 2026 07:00:29 +0000

They say April showers bring May flowers. In the material handling world, spring conference season often brings the same result: fresh ideas taking root and new ways of thinking about how we support our customers. For years, customer experience in the parts department was defined by availability and price. If you had the part and the price was competitive, you were in a strong position to win the order. That foundation still matters, but expectations in today’s market have evolved well beyond inventory and margin. Dealers are no longer competing solely with other local providers. They are competing with the buying experiences customers encounter every day, especially the speed, transparency, and simplicity driven by Amazon-style purchasing behavior. That shift is redefining what “good service” looks like in the parts world. At a recent MHEDA networking summit, I attended a session titled The Future of Customer Experience for Material Handling Dealers. The discussion centered on how dealerships can differentiate in a crowded marketplace by leveraging technology, fleet insights, and optimized service dispatch to deliver faster, more consistent support. While much of the conversation leaned operational, the implications for parts departments were immediate and clear. Customer experience is no longer confined to the service lane. It begins the moment a parts request is placed and continues until the order is installed, invoiced, and followed up on. Response speed is the new first impression In the past, customers expected to wait for parts quotes. Today, responsiveness shapes perception before price ever enters the conversation. When a customer emails, calls, or submits an online request, they are often doing so while equipment is down. Every hour matters. A delayed acknowledgment can feel like a lack of urgency, even if the parts team is actively researching availability. Dealers that stand out treat response speed as part of the product they deliver. Quick confirmations, even without final pricing, signal professionalism and control. Letting the customer know the request is in motion, what is being checked, and when to expect an update keeps confidence high while the work happens behind the scenes. Clean order communication builds trust Accuracy has always been important in parts. What has changed is how customers expect that information to be communicated. Order confirmations that are vague, incomplete, or delayed create unnecessary anxiety. Customers want clarity around what was ordered, when it will ship, how it will arrive, and whether any items are backordered. Dealers that are improving the customer experience are tightening communication at every step. Clean confirmations, clear shipping details, and proactive clarification on partial shipments eliminate surprises. When communication is structured and consistent, customers spend less time chasing updates and more time relying on their dealer as a partner. Proactive updates matter more than reactive answers One of the strongest themes from the MHEDA session was the importance of proactive communication. Technology and fleet-visibility tools are enabling dealers to anticipate needs, but the same principle applies to parts orders already in motion. Customers should not have to call for updates. When shipments are delayed, when parts are backordered, or when delivery timing changes, proactive outreach preserves trust. Silence, even when unintentional, can be frustrating. Parts departments that lead in customer experience use automated notifications, CRM triggers, or simple manual check-ins to keep customers informed. The goal is not complexity. It is consistency. Consistency in return policies removes friction Returns are another area where customer experience often breaks down. Inconsistent policies, unclear restocking fees, or slow credit processing can create tension that outweighs the value of the original order. Customers understand that returns carry a cost. What they want is predictability. When policies are clearly communicated upfront and applied consistently, conflict decreases significantly. Dealers enhancing the parts experience are simplifying return guidelines, setting clear credit timelines, and ensuring CSRs communicate expectations before the order is finalized. Transparency at the beginning prevents frustration at the end. Technology is raising the baseline One of the more compelling takeaways from the MHEDA session was how technology is reshaping customer expectations across the dealership. Fleet insights, telematics data, and service dispatch optimization are helping dealers deliver faster onsite support. For parts departments, the parallel lies in digital ordering tools, inventory visibility, and automated communication. Customers increasingly expect real-time availability, online ordering options, and immediate confirmation of order status. Dealers do not need to replicate Amazon to compete with Amazon-style expectations. But they do need to remove friction wherever possible. Even incremental digital improvements can significantly enhance the buying experience. Customer experience is now a growth strategy The parts departments seeing the most sustained growth are not just focused on what they sell. They are focused on how customers feel during the transaction. Speed of response, clarity of communication, proactive updates, and consistent policies are no longer soft skills. They are competitive differentiators. In our industry, where many dealers have access to the same suppliers, experience becomes the deciding factor. Customers remember how easy it was to do business far longer than they remember the exact price they paid. The takeaway for dealers is straightforward. Customer experience in the parts department is no longer a support function. It is a revenue driver. Those who invest in communication, process consistency, and technology-enabled transparency will not just retain customers, they will grow with them. One additional takeaway that stood out to me from a recent conference speaker was simple but powerful: Secret shop your own parts department. Call in as a customer. Submit an online request. Send an email for a quote. Then step back and evaluate the experience. How quickly did your team respond? What was the tone on the phone? Was the communication clear and confident? How seamless did the transaction feel from start to finish? For dealership leaders and owners, this firsthand perspective can be eye-opening. It reveals gaps that reports and dashboards often miss. In today’s market, where customers compare every buying experience to the best one they have ever had, even small improvements in responsiveness, clarity, and follow-up can make a meaningful

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Uncovering your secret of selling. Why you buy!

Tue, 17 Mar 2026 05:00:35 +0000

Think about the last few things you purchased. They hold the secrets to increasing your sales. While giving a seminar, I was in a stream-of-consciousness, talking about buying motives and why people buy. As usual, I was focused on the customer side, the probable purchaser side, and the buyer side of the equation. Then, out of the blue, I said, “Think of something that you just purchased. Why did you buy it?” All of a sudden, a one-million-watt light bulb went off inside my head. One of those instantaneous AHA messages. I discovered an answer, and it’s an answer that everyone can understand. If you list the last ten things that you purchased, you will discover the motives behind your own buying decisions, and at the same time, you will discover the formula for why others buy. Those “others” are your prospects, your potential customers, you know, the ones that you are erroneously trying to “sell.” When you list the ten items, do it on a spreadsheet. In the second column, write down whether you needed what you bought or just wanted it. In the third column, write down whether you could afford it on the spot, or you went over budget and had to charge it. In the next column, write down how you purchased. Did you go to them, did they come to you, or did you buy it online? If you bought it online, you might want to enter what time of day you bought it. It is interesting to note that a high percentage of online purchases are made after 8:00 pm. In the next column, write down whether you liked the salesperson (assuming there was one). In the next column, write down the percentage of influence that the salesperson had in completing the sale, one being the lowest, one hundred being the highest. In the next column, enter your risk factor in making the purchase, one being the low, one hundred being the high. In other words, how much did you fear the purchase, and how much did you fear you were making the right purchase before you bought (usually the higher the purchase, home, car, the more hesitancy). In the next column, write the word “price” or “value.” If you went for price only, write price. If you went for value, the most, then write value. There’s a caution here: only put the word “price” if you went for the lowest price in the category, not the lowest price for the item. In other words, if you bought a BMW, you didn’t buy price, you bought value, regardless of where you bought it. In the next column, rate your experience by percentage, one being the lowest and one hundred being the highest. One meaning “I’ll never come back,” and one hundred meaning, “I’ll be back, buy again, and tell my friends.” Then, in the final column, write a sentence or two about how it happened. The story. If it takes three sentences, make it three. But write enough so that you understand what caused you to make the purchase of the item, and then what caused you to make the purchase from that specific company for that specific product or service. Now you have enough criteria to identify your own answers. Once you read over the spreadsheet, you may find that you want to modify a few of them to get closer to your own reality. Pretty simple so far, huh? Let’s take it a little deeper. When you finished buying, were you happy? Did you find yourself saying it was OK, but…? It’s important that you note all the “buts.” The buts are the obstacle to your purchases AND your sales. Did you learn lessons each time you bought about what you promised yourself you wouldn’t do again? Those are the same obstacles to your sales. And were there cases where you selected one vendor over another? Note those reasons because those are the same obstacles to your sales. Now let’s go all the way to the bottom of the ocean. Compare how you buy to how you sell. How congruent are they? How compatible are they? Are you throwing up the same barriers that the people you bought from gave you? Are you missing the same nuances in your selling process that caused you to buy or walk away? And so now it’s time for the ultimate question: Would you buy from yourself? Unfortunately, the ultimate answer is: probably not, and the reason is that you haven’t modified your selling process to harmonize with the way your prospects buy. There’s a hidden treasure. Of course, there is, whenever you go down to the bottom of the ocean, the object is to find the hidden treasure. The hidden treasure will be revealed to you when you go read (or re-read) Acres of Diamonds by Russell H. Conwell. All the sales answers you need are buried in your own backyard. You already possess the treasure. You just haven’t discovered it yet. About the Author: Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of twelve best-selling books, including The Sales Bible, The Little Red Book of Selling, and The Little Gold Book of Yes! Attitude. His real-world ideas and content are also available as online courses at www.GitomerLearningAcademy.com. For information about training and seminars, visit www.Gitomer.com, email Jeffrey at salesman@gitomer.com, or call him at 704 333-1112.

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Renovations and Equipment upgrades fell 18% in February 2026; Other Capital Projects remain stable

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 11:00:13 +0000

Industrial SalesLeads released its February 2026 Planned Capital Project Spending Report for the Industrial Manufacturing sector. The firm tracks industrial capital investment activity across North America, including facility expansions, new plant construction, and significant equipment modernization projects. February research identified 133 new Industrial Manufacturing projects, representing a 5% month-over-month decline from 140 projects recorded in January. All other tracked capital project categories remained stable, indicating a modest pullback in planned activity rather than a broad contraction in industrial investment. The following are selected highlights on new Industrial Manufacturing industry construction news. Industrial Manufacturing – By Project Type Manufacturing/Production Facilities – 117 New Projects Distribution and Industrial Warehouse – 66 New Projects Industrial Manufacturing – By Project Scope/Activity New Construction – 32 New Projects Expansion – 48 New Projects Renovations/Equipment Upgrades – 62 New Projects Plant Closings – 13 New Projects Industrial Manufacturing – By Project Location (Top 10 States) New York – 10 Massachusetts – 9 North Carolina – 8 Texas – 8 Tennessee – 7 California – 6 Florida – 6 Georgia – 6 Iowa – 6 Indiana – 6 Pennsylvania – 6 Largest Planned Project During February, our research team identified 19 new Industrial Manufacturing facility construction projects with an estimated value of $100 million or more. The largest project is owned by Eli Lilly and Company, which plans to invest $4 billion to construct a 925,000 SF processing campus at 9802 Main St. in FOGELSVILLE, PA. They are currently seeking approval for the project, with completion slated for 2031. Top 10 Tracked Industrial Manufacturing Projects PENNSYLVANIA: A pharmaceutical company plans to invest $1 billion in constructing a processing facility in Lower Gwynedd Township, PA. They are currently seeking approval for the project. INDIANA: A steel company is planning to invest $900 million in expansion and equipment upgrades at its manufacturing facility in Gary, IN. They are currently seeking approval for the project. VIRGINIA: Aerospace component manufacturer plans to invest $500 million to construct an 860,000 sf manufacturing facility in Hurt, VA. They have recently received approval for the project. NORTH CAROLINA: Energy infrastructure equipment manufacturer is planning to invest $421 million to expand its manufacturing facilities in Charlotte, NC; Rural Hall, NC; and Raleigh, NC. They are currently seeking approval for the project. NEW YORK: A textile waste regeneration company is planning to invest $390 million for the construction of a 145,000 SF processing facility in Rochester, NY. They are currently seeking approval for the project. Completion is slated for late 2029. ILLINOIS: A pharmaceutical company is planning to invest $380 million for the construction of two processing facilities on its campus in NORTH CHICAGO, IL. Construction is expected to start in Spring 2026, with completion slated for 2029. MISSISSIPPI: An energy infrastructure equipment manufacturer plans to invest $300 million to construct a manufacturing facility in PEARL, MS, and is currently seeking project approval. FLORIDA: Defense shipbuilder is planning to invest $275 million for the construction of a 400,000 SF manufacturing facility in PENSACOLA, FL. They have recently received approval for the project. Completion is slated for Fall 2027. NORTH CAROLINA: Fiber optic cable manufacturer. is planning to invest $268 million to expand its manufacturing facility in HICKORY, NC. They are currently seeking approval for the project. WISCONSIN: Power tool manufacturer plans to invest $206 million in the construction of a 750,000 sf manufacturing and warehouse facility on Good Hope Rd. in MENOMONEE FALLS, WI. The project includes the renovation of a 164,000 SF research and laboratory facility at the site. They are currently seeking approval for the project. Want to know the deadline and contact information for these or hundreds of projects going on? Click here. About Industrial SalesLeads, Inc. Since 1959, Industrial SalesLeads, based in Jacksonville, FL, has been a leader in delivering industrial capital project intelligence and prospecting services for sales and marketing teams to ensure a predictable, scalable pipeline. Our Industrial Market Intelligence IMI identifies timely insights on companies planning significant capital investments such as new construction, expansion, relocation, equipment modernization, and plant closings in industrial facilities. The Outsourced Prospecting Services, an extension to your sales team, is designed to drive growth with qualified meetings and appointments for your internal sales team. Visit us at salesleadsinc.com.

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AI, Automation & Enterprise Value: A Strategic Crossroads for Distributors

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 10:00:44 +0000

From everything I am reading, executives are taking a hard look at AI, automation, and eventually robots to help run the business and improve margins and “Sales per Employee” numbers. The Distribution Strategy Group’s 45-page report provides an overview of where distributors are in the evaluation process and outlines individual steps to move forward. 63% in the exploring stage. 27% are cautious observers. 43% actively investing. One distributor can be included in multiple categories. Virtually all distributors now recognize AI as critical to business success and a top priority for growth. A dramatic mindset shift from just a few years ago. Early Adoption is reporting big performance improvements As of today, at least 61% of distributors and related sectors plan to use autonomous AI systems. Expect big changes by 2028. A small percentage is actually fully installed. Survey indicates that the Performance Gap and the ability to catch up are narrowing. By 2027-28, the performance gap will become insurmountable. Smaller distributors can leapfrog larger competitors. Obstacles at this time are. Skill gaps, Change Resistance, Budget concerns, and Incomplete data. Leadership gaps These are comments from just the first four pages of the report. 40 pages to go, and I will cover them. The ELEPHANT in the room for some of you is the PERFORMANCE GAP issue, which I must have mentioned at least 20 times over the last couple of years. A bad outcome can result from “Doing Nothing,” as noted above, or from doing something that requires a major investment, which, because of installation problems or poor planning, fails to deliver the AI-related advantages. In either case, the value of your company presently will be reduced to what your balance sheet is worth, net of any debt on the books. In other words, worth net book value, which is substantially less than what it is worth now at some multiple of EBITDA or Free Cash Flow. And here we go again. If you are near retirement age or lack the capital to invest in these changes, you should investigate how to transition out of the business at current value. NOW! There are many avenues available to you, and if you wish to discuss this process, give me a call, and we can discuss options (at least 3 or 4). I have a list of professionals I work with regarding taxes, equipment valuations, legal documents, etc. Done this many times and know the drill. On the other hand, this is a perfect opportunity to expand your current operation by rolling up those dealers not wanting to venture into the AI adventures. There is private equity out there looking for a home. Interested? You can call me as well. Another topic to think about is the type of equipment and equipment/robots or some combination thereof that will be purchased by manufacturers and wholesalers to use in sync with their shop and warehouse technology. There seem to be numerous options for humanoid models that can walk, run, and move things, etc. What you don’t want to do is wind up with used units and rental assets that will be hard to sell 3-5 years from now. I have to think that customers are going through the same thought process, and don’t want to wind up with used units worth less as a percentage of the new price in 2026. I can see customers wanting to rent more or asking for an RPO (Rental Purchase Option), deal to minimize their risk. Some surveys I saw recently regarding construction equipment indicate these options are requested more by customers. Dealers are being asked to increase their rental units rather than purchase new units for inventory. I know that last month’s issue included a market analysis stating that all markets will be a “go”. And I can agree with that, as long as the AI, Automation, and Robots upgrades are installed on shop floors and in warehouses. But will the equipment required for these new systems match what you are buying this year and next? Or what customers are buying this year or next year? Let’s discuss something more exciting. TARIFFS! What a mess. I am writing this the day after the Supreme Court issued its ruling. All I could think about was the mess that would be created if they had to refund those who paid them. And, of course, they have to be paid back. (LOL with that one). So, there I am, sitting in my office, listening to the tariff news and wondering how they will ever get around to refunds, if need be. And lo and behold, a gentleman appears on Squawk Box, stating he has the import and related tariff data for all inputs. The company name is FlexPort. It uses a platform that coordinates global logistics from the factory to the customer’s door. CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS? I thought some of you may need help if you are looking to issue refunds and/or have to return refunds to customers. And I hope none of your tariff sales were collected on items without a tariff… could get expensive. But the best part of this day was getting up at 6 am to watch the 7 am Hockey Game. What a game! About the Columnist: Garry Bartecki is a CPA and MBA with GB Financial Services LLC, and a Wholesaler columnist since August 1993. E-mail editorial@mhwmag.com to contact Garry.

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