Top Manufacturers
What's Going On?
Manufacturers find a strong economy reflected in their bottom lines
By Laura D'Alessandro
While they may not be setting records, total sales for this year's Business Forms, Labels & Systems Top 100 independent manufacturers are heading in the right direction.
According to the figures provided by the manufacturers, total sales for this year's Top 100 amounted to $2.6 billion, compared to total 1997 sales of $2.4 billion. This represents an 8 percent increase in total sales for the forms manufacturers and label suppliers that chose to participate in this year's listing.
These figures are based on the sales totals provided by the manufacturers for their most recent completed fiscal year. For clarity, BFL&S has chosen to list these totals as 1998 and 1997 sales. All figures used for this analysis are based on the sales figures provided by the manufacturers listed on our Top 100 chart.
In order to provide a more accurate representation of the industry today, the BFL&S editors made a concerted effort to list forms manufacturers and label suppliers in one all-encompassing Top 100 chart (see page 38). In addition, the top label suppliers chart, beginning on page 58, is comprised of those companies or divisions whose main product is labels.
All of the manufacturers listed have told BFL&S that they sell a significant portion of their products through the distributor channel.
According to the figures provided by the manufacturers, a total of 18,502 employees operated out of 274 locations. Average sales per employee came to $139,627 and average sales per location reached $9.4 million.
The Top 20 manufacturers continue to dominate the market. Total sales for the Top 20 reached $1.4 billion, or 56 percent of the total for the Top 100. In addition, the Top 20 employed nearly half of all employees for the Top 100 with 9,179 employees, or 49.6 percent.
In addition, the Top 20 operated out of nearly half of the total locations of the Top 100 with 120 facilities or 44 percent.
Compared to the total Top 100 manufacturers, the Top 20 proved to be the most productive with average sales per employee reaching $156,597. Average sales per location for the Top 20 were $11.98 million.
The Top five manufacturers proved even more dominating with $714.8 million, or 49.7 percent of total sales of the Top 20 and nearly 30 percent of total sales for the Top 100.
Average sales per employee for the top five manufacturers were $162,048 and average sales per location reached $13.5 million.
However, on average, the top five manufacturers saw a slightly smaller increase in sales compared to the Top 100. Total 1997 sales for the top five reached $671.9 million, bringing the 1998 increase to $42.8 million or 6 percent.
So what do these numbers mean?
According to an exclusive BFL&S survey of the top five manufacturers (see page 54), the ability to adapt to a constantly changing market has been the primary reason those companies saw growth over the past year. Each of the top five said new products and customer-focused services were the keys to ongoing success.
As proof, each of the top five manufacturers has brought new products to the market in order to help their customer base explore new opportunities for growth.
Click here to view the Top 20 Independent Manufacturers.
- People:
- Laura D'Alessandro While