Anixter Touts Selling to End Users

I saw it at my old company, so yes, end users will occasionally hire "integrator technicians" in the generic sense...but the better techs aren't usually the ones to take those jobs.

In theory, you are correct. However, the Manufacturer <=> Distributor relationship is a little more complex.

Many manufacturers like to sell through distribution because they do not want to extend credit to integrators, chase integrators for payments, and setup shipping and warehousing operations to fulfill orders. In some cases the warehousing part can be managed, either internally, or by using a 3PL company, but the credit part can be a little more risky.

For the most part, I do not think many manufacturers truly care who the "customer" is, in the sense of integrator, end-user. As long as it is a good sale and not going to be a support nightmare, a manufacturer is happy to cash the check (maybe even more so now with Hikivison/etc. pulling prices down).

At this stage though, manufacturers do not want to sell direct to end users, it will cause too much chaos in the channel. But if the distributor sells direct, the manufacturer can claim that is not supposed to happen, they are not aware of it, etc. This may not always be true, and if it gets out of hand it may cause problems, but up to a certain level it can be managed.

In this sense, the distributor is a combination bank/warehouse/fallguy for the manufacturer. It is not a glamorous business, but it can be profitable.

If direct end-user sales become accepted in the industry (either fully accepted, or just so out of hand that integrators can no longer complain about it and get anywhere) then I think you may see manufacturers cut out distributors, but that is still not likely to happen for several years.

Yes, if the manufacturer wants to, they can clamp down on this to a large degree. Policing like this also adds some overhead to the relationship to keep up on everything and track things, and the distributor may still have a reseller partner that is happy to pass things through at zero or near-zero margins.

But if the distributor is bringing in sales that do not create a lot of hassle for the manufacturer, the manufacturer has little incentive to go out of their way to prevent this.

Happens all the time.

My take is this: there are indeed some end customers who are highly capable of adding on to an existing surveillance system. If they are going to self install, then let them. A distributor should still find a reseller to pass through the sale IMHO.

I don't view this as circumventing the system in this circumstance, and in fact I see it as providing what the end customer needs- and by executing a pass through sale preserves the channel model.

Distributors who sell direct, again, IMHO, are just trying to clean up a few extra points. I personally wouldn't trade channel integrity for that. I am no longer/ but used to be in distribution.

Just looked up the requirements to get an alarm license in North Carolina, and I have to say, this is BS.

The application requires you to list and give details for your mother, father, spouse, and children, your spouse's employer, all home addresses going back ten years, all jobs going back ten years, if you've ever been sued by a debt collector, if you've ever been fired from a job, if you've ever been fined more than $50, and if you have any mental or emotional problems. The real fun, however, is the form your five references have to fill out, which asks if the applicant is "family oriented" and asks if the reference has ever done anything "illegal or questionable".

I find your questions intrusive and irrelevant to the business of surveillance and security, North Carolina Department of Public Safety.