Can private labels strengthen channel links?

On the very first page of Facing the Forces of Change®: Lead the Way in the Supply Chain, I write about executives who “…position their companies to lead the supply chain by combining an understanding of their customers’ purchasing priorities with a realistic perspective on their best suppliers’ business requirements.”

Industrial Distribution’s February issue has a super example in Kimball Midwest, a company that is putting this philosophy into practice. (See Going public about private labeling.) Curt Campagna, Kimball Midwest's director of marketing, says:

“We want to differentiate ourselves, so we try to work with manufacturers, using our expertise and their expertise, to come up with not just a generic product, but one that is better than the standard. By doing so, we help solve specific customer problems and reduce their overall costs."

Well said!

Read the whole article and you’ll also see how private labels can be a way to strengthen relationships with suppliers, an intriguing counterpoint to my discussion of strained relationships in Chapter One (p. 26).

Kimball is consciously collaborating with its manufacturer-suppliers “... to try to come up with a more effective product than the manufacturers would be able to make on their own and market to a broader customer base.” Andrew Berlin of Berlin Packaging also highlighted the potential collaboration opportunity in his fascinating talk at NAW's Executive Summit in January.

I'm very intrigued by this "man bites dog" angle on private label products. Anyone out there have a similar story in which a private label strategy led to greater collaboration between a manufacturer and a distributor?