A few years ago, I was advising a mid-sized electronics manufacturer struggling to deliver on customer commitments. Its end-to-end lead time was 32 days, but what mattered wasn’t just the number.

Border States, founded in 1952 and with annual sales of approximately $4.02 billion, has been ranked the sixth largest electrical distributor in the U.S. by Electrical Wholesaling. It is 100% employee ...