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Over the years, individual firms and professional researchers have compiled many "Best Practices" for distributors. These practices have been time tested and the best approach is now known for almost every imaginable distributor activity. Meanwhile, the pressure to perfect distribution operations has never been higher with customers continually demanding higher performance at lower cost. While each best practice has been analyzed in isolation and projections of its impact on the Profit & Loss (P&L) statement and balance sheet have been made, very few have successfully considered the impact of implementing improved practices (across various distributor functions) on the firm's Return On Investment (ROI) and net profit. The objective of this consortium is to determine exactly how profitable a distributor could become by implementing best practices across all functional areas. The analysis will facilitate distributors and manufacturers optimize their operations potential and help financial firms assess the potential profitability of mergers and acquisitions. To address this need, a research consortium (Optimizing Distributor Profitability) was conducted in 2007 by the Supply Chain Systems Laboratory at Texas A&M University. The consortium was sponsored by 11 distributors from 6 different channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]