ITWTF Americas

July 21, 2006 - ITWTF Americas

To our TTR Industry Partners,

We write this letter to clear up any misperceptions created by a recent letter to the marketplace from IIMAK (July 19, 2006).

We recognize that it is sometimes hard to understand the concept of providing a diverse range of marketing approaches to address a very competitive and sometimes unpredictable landscape in the North American consumable TTR marketplace.

With that said, we once again find ourselves the recipient of innuendos asserted by a competitor – the same one that attempted to create confusion with the antidumping case. Our professionalism must remain above reproach no matter how much fun it would be to play in the mud. But, we do feel we must set the record straight regarding our marketing approach.

We have a business model that sells through various channels. One such channel is selling directly to end users and we have done so for many years. We sell to other ITW companies, key corporate partners and end users when asked by our distribution partners in support of their business.

IIMAK claimed in their recent letter that we have set up an organization selling direct to end users. The truth of the matter is that we have given additional responsibility to people within our current organization to develop marketing plans that will require our distribution partners to participate in the selling process. We don’t believe this creates any type of "organization".

Despite our disagreement with IIMAK on their absurd claim mentioned above, we can agree on two key points. 1) Rising raw material cost and price reductions have squeezed TTR manufacturers and 2) Selling direct “is” difficult. Despite rising raw material costs and price reductions we still remain financially strong; which is not necessarily the case with our peers.

Status quo is not an option! As it was stated in IIMAK’s letter – the TTR business model faces challenges. Business dynamics are changing daily! We hope that you recognize the value of working with a Fortune 200 corporation with impeccable credentials and industry reputation.

We would welcome the opportunity to discuss any of the above issues with you as we continue to concentrate on our long term strategy of supporting the profitable growth of our distribution partners and continued leadership in the TTR industry.

Sincerely,

Pete Gallette
General Manager

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