Rayovac 2014 Annual Report Download - page 19

We manage our sales force in North America by distribution channel. We maintain separate sales groups to
service (i) our retail sales and distribution channel, (ii) our hearing aid professionals channel and (iii) our
industrial distributors and OEM sales and distribution channel. In addition, we utilize a network of independent
brokers to service participants in selected distribution channels.
We manage our sales force in Latin America by distribution channel and geographic territory. We sell
primarily to large retailers, wholesalers, distributors, food and drug chains and retail outlets. In countries where
we do not maintain a sales force, we sell to distributors who market our products through all channels in the
market.
The sales force serving our customers in Europe and Asia/Pacific is supplemented by an international
network of distributors to promote the sale of our products. Our sales operations throughout Europe and Asia/
Pacific are organized by geographic territory and the following sales channels: (i) food/retail, which includes
mass merchandisers, discounters and drug and food stores; (ii) specialty trade, which includes clubs, consumer
electronics stores, department stores, photography stores and wholesalers/distributors; and (iii) industrial,
government, hearing aid professionals and OEMs.
Global Pet Supplies
Our Global Pet Supplies sales force is aligned by customer, geographic region and product group. We sell
pet supply products to mass merchandisers, grocery and drug chains, pet superstores, independent pet stores and
other retailers.
Home and Garden Business
The Home and Garden Business sales force is geographically aligned with our key customers. We sell
primarily to home improvement centers, mass merchandisers, dollar stores, hardware stores, home and garden
distributors, and food and drug retailers in the U.S.
Hardware & Home Improvement
The sales force of the Hardware & Home Improvement is aligned by customer and geographic region. We
sell primarily to large retailers, non-retail distributors, home improvement centers, hardware stores, home
builders and other retailers.
Manufacturing, Raw Materials and Suppliers
The principal raw materials used in manufacturing our products—zinc, electrolytic manganese dioxide,
brass and steel—are sourced either on a global or regional basis. The prices of these raw materials are susceptible
to price fluctuations due to supply and demand trends, energy costs, transportation costs, government regulations
and tariffs, changes in currency exchange rates, price controls, general economic conditions and other unforeseen
circumstances. We have regularly engaged in forward purchase and hedging derivative transactions in an attempt
to effectively manage the raw material costs we expect to incur over the next 12 to 24 months.
Substantially all of our rechargeable batteries and chargers, portable lighting products, hair care and other
personal care products and our electric shaving and grooming products and small appliances are manufactured by
third party suppliers that are primarily located in the Asia/Pacific region. We maintain ownership of most of the
tooling and molds used by our suppliers.
We continually evaluate our manufacturing facilities’ capacity and related utilization. As a result of such
analyses, we have closed a number of manufacturing facilities during the past five years. In general, we believe
our existing facilities are adequate for our present and foreseeable needs.
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