Building material

The National Building Material Distrib' utors Association recently completed their l6th annual spring convention, in Colo' rado Springs, Colorado, with 400 building product wholesale distributors and indus' try manu{acturers attending.

Individual product councils met in conculrent sessions during the first morning.

Distributors Meet

the millwork council discussed pre-hung door operations and insurance problems.

At the first session NBMDA president H. Dean Vilgus said, ooProgress is the law of the universe. The minute an individual or company ceases to progress it starts to fall back. Competition is so keen today that if we stand still for one yearchangeless in a changing world-we may never again be able to catch up with our competition."

A NBMDA film pointed up both the strong points of distributcrs and those areas which need improvement. Copies of the film will be available to members of NBMDA and the general trade for use in conducting customer and sales meetings in their own companies,

During the last day the delegates were divided into separate sessions for distributors and manufacturers. The distributor session featured 'otable topics" discussion workshops on eight areas o{ wholesaling operations, while the manufacturers session presented a panel which discussed marketing techniques, merchandising programs, and the distributor's function. Some of the topics included trucking operations, catalogs and literature, internal procedures, dealer/sales meetings, and new product handling.

With the addition of a newly formed floor and wall covering council, NBMDA now has six active product councils.

During all their meetings, major emphasis was placed on discussion subjects. Plywood council members heard a panel of manufacturers, distributors, and retail dealers explore "How Plywood Marketing Methods Can Be Improved;" The general commodity people discussed "The Future of Commoditiei in Today's Warehouse-

is the natural choice for long-life fencing of genuine Western Red Cedar. Precision cut lengths and uniformly trimmed edges assure easy installation and satisfied customers.

DEAII IYILGUS (cented, president of the National Building Material Distributors Assn., has called on the lumber industry to develop better product knowledge by distributors, suppliers, and customers in order to keep the industry on a sound basis. With Wilgus during a recent visit to Kimberly-Clark's mill at Anderson, Calif., are (lef0 W. R. Williams, manager of K-C's Calif. Lumber Div., and Harry Bleile, marketrng manager.

Do They Earn Their Keepl" lumber council members reviewed the trends toward truss operations in the distributors warehouse and participated in a discussion on local wood promotion programs; Highlight of the specialty product council was a discussion on ooHow To Become A Better Than Average Specialty Distributor; and,