NAED Endorses NEMRA’s Point-of-Sale Reporting Standards

The National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED) Board of Directors voted to endorse the National Electrical Manufacturers and Representatives Association (NEMRA) Point of Sale (POS) minimum reporting standards at their meeting last month.

The association, which represents more than 400 electrical distributors, joins 44 electrical manufacturers, and IMARK, in endorsing standards designed to streamline the POS reporting process for manufacturers and distributors. The standards also ensure manufacturer representatives are appropriately compensated for product sales in their territory and they receive the sales information needed to support both the manufacturer and the distributor.

The standards, developed by a joint manufacturer representative/manufacturer task force, focus on capturing the minimum amount of information manufacturers need to track where a product is sold so the information provided is consistent. Sharing of customer information is a decision between the distributor and the manufacturer.

According to Tom Naber, NAED's president and CEO, helping representatives get the needed sales data to ensure they are properly compensated is important to all NAED members. “The board also appreciates the fact that NEMRA recognizes the confidential nature of member customer information and is leaving this decision to the distributor and their manufacturer,” he said in the press release. “We encourage our members to use this new set of standards when possible.”

Ken Hooper, outgoing president of NEMRA who presented to the NAED board said, “The board recognized the importance of the initiative, the role of the reps, and the fact that over 40 manufacturers and a number of prominent distributors had already endorsed the standards. They felt NAED should support this as a channel solution.”

Jim Johnson,  NEMRA's new president, said, “Having NAED support NEMRA, NEMRA reps, and our POS process is much appreciated. While NEMRA’s goal is helping get our members appropriately compensated, with NAED’s support we are hoping to also bring channel efficiency through a common format and improve data quality for manufacturers.  This is a win-win for all parties.”

Click here for more information on NEMRA’s POS initiative, to read the research, and see which manufacturers and distributors have endorsed and adopted the standards go to