AMMEX just completed its first survey of gloves with Raised Diamond Texture (RDT).
We asked dozens of users to give us their impressions of our RDT suite of single-use gloves: 8-mil orange (GWON) and green (GWGN), and 6-mil black (GWBN) and royal blue (GWRBN). This provided a useful snapshot of a much larger field of opinion.
Domestic transportation prices—another important variable in the overall cost of single-use gloves—spiked during the pandemic. They have been dropping, but are unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels due to the cost of labor and the general impact of inflation and higher interest rates.
Most companies that need warehousing to store imported products, such as disposable gloves, have seen significant price increases over the past two to three years. Even as supply chain inflation slows, warehouse rates are high because there is a lot of inventory, which leaves less space for new product.
Over the past three years, three primary variables—production, transcontinental logistics, and U.S. market logistics—have combined to keep the disposable glove market dynamic and at times volatile. Their impact has been surprisingly outsized.
In 2020, the pandemic turned the market (and the world) upside down. Shortages and price increases added challenges at every level of the business. Manufacturers turned their production lines over to thin medical-grade gloves. As a result, industrial products—especially thick and heavy nitrile—became scarce and expensive.
If there’s a thread that runs throughout AMMEX’s 35-year history, it’s commitment to customers.
Ever since 24-year-old Fred Crosetto started this company in 1988—and at first sold gloves out of the trunk of his car as he built his brand—AMMEX’s focus has been on delivering what customers need, as well as helping them grow their glove sales.
There are a lot of niche needs in the manufacturing sector. However, once again the issue boils down to the job is more important than the industry. What matters most to your customers? Is it grip, thickness, chemical resistance? Do they still use latex but should be using nitrile?
It’s a complex question because the category is so large—but a few gloves will cover most needs across the widest spectrum of industries:
“I want to sell more gloves.”
“Do you have any issues selling more gloves?”
“Yeah. I don’t know which segments to target.”
Training a good sales rep is not easy.
It can take a long time, and require both extensive product knowledge and refinement of technique (e.g., lots of practice calls). Just knowledge isn’t enough, either: strong communication and persuasion skills are not optional. And, of course, the candidate needs to have a motor that revs into overdrive.
As an industrial distributor, you probably get a few questions about disposable gloves.
If you’re comfortable answering them, terrific! That makes you a leader of the pack (vroom, vroom) and sets you up for lots of success. Gloves can be a lucrative addition to your business.
We often have conversations about this question with customers and partners, and while the precise answer may vary, we aim to keep it simple: We help our customers buy the right disposable glove for the job. And we effectively reduce risk with expert services and tools.
Since the company’s founding in 1988—yes, in March we’re coming up on 35 years in business—we’ve been helping our clients with all aspects of global procurement, supply chain, and operations to ensure quality and efficiency in the single-use glove market.
Second of two parts
Most economists are in agreement on one word to describe what 2023 holds for the U.S. economy: uncertainty. The divergence of views on what will happen is as large as it has been in many years.
A steady drumbeat of “recession is coming” rattled around the public consciousness for the last half of 2022. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates seven times last year in an effort to throttle inflation. Underperforming stock markets have not helped matters.
