Winsupply's ultimate goals for its new drone delivery program and recently opened innovation center are to save customers time and support the company's branches, according to President John McKenzie. "We're really looking at it from a time efficiency perspective, more than being, you know, a cool kid on the block," McKenzie says.

Some companies have seen inventory levels rise as they grapple with unpredictable lead times and other supply chain issues. Gaining an end-to-end understanding of the supply chain and enhancing visibility into key indicators of inventory performance could help companies improve inventory management, according to Hackett Group Director Shawn Townsend.

Companies such as Kodiak Robotics and Embark are making advances in self-driving trucks, but widespread adoption is still years away due to financial, technical and logistical obstacles, industry experts say. "Though the developers and their partners are putting a lot of effort into thinking this through, many of the questions about what needs to change cannot yet be answered," said Steve Viscelli, an economic and political sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania.

Distributors should use artificial intelligence to drive traffic to their e-commerce websites, make it easier for customers to do business via those sites, and make salespeople more proactive and efficient, writes Benj Cohen, founder and CEO of Proton.ai. Distributors can also get salespeople on board with e-commerce by "paying the same commission for e-commerce orders as non-e-commerce orders if they aren't already doing so," Cohen writes.

Sales managers should ensure team members know that the right email ending can make all the difference, and Carly Bauer of Heinz Marketing shows that defining an email's mission should affect its message. Among Bauer's don'ts are skipping a signoff altogether and abbreviating as teenagers might do in a text message.

Creating an intentional way to develop the leadership skills of your team members can make them more adaptable, creative and productive as well as making company culture stronger and promotions more strategic, writes Lolly Daskal. "You won't know without training and development what the people on your team can truly accomplish," Daskal writes.

An effective onboarding experience may keep new employees more engaged in their jobs and less likely to engage in "quiet quitting." Part of a successful onboarding process involves encouraging socialization, perhaps by setting up new hires with a work buddy and letting them know where to go with questions.

The NAW Billion Dollar Company Roundtables are an exclusive community of thought leaders from Billion Dollar distribution enterprises who congregate to network with noncompeting peers in multiple lines of trade on key issues. The companies invited into this community are from distribution firms at or above $1 billion in annual sales. Register today!