快扣 (FAST) 2020 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the Fastenal's 2020 Third Quarter Earnings Results Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

各位來賓，歡迎參加 Fastenal 2020 年第三季財報電話會議。 （操作說明）請注意，本次會議正在錄音。

It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Ms. Ellen Stolts of Fastenal. Thank you, ma'am. Please go ahead.

現在我很榮幸地向大家介紹主持人，來自 Fastenal 公司的 Ellen Stolts 女士。謝謝您，女士。請開始吧。

Welcome to the Fastenal Company 2020 Third Quarter Earnings Conference Call. This call will be hosted by Dan Florness, our President and Chief Executive Officer; and Holden Lewis, our Chief Financial Officer. The call will last for up to 1 hour and will start with a general overview of our quarterly results and operations, with the remainder of the time being open for questions and answers.

歡迎參加 Fastenal 公司 2020 年第三季財報電話會議。本次會議將由公司總裁兼執行長 Dan Florness 和財務長 Holden Lewis 主持。會議時長約為 1 小時，首先將概述公司季度業績和營運情況，剩餘時間將用於問答環節。

Today's conference call is a proprietary Fastenal presentation and is being recorded by Fastenal. No recording, reproduction, transmission or distribution of today's call is permitted without Fastenal's consent. This call is being audio simulcast on the Internet via the Fastenal Investor Relations homepage, investor.fastenal.com.

今天的電話會議是Fastenal的專有演示文稿，並由Fastenal進行錄音。未經Fastenal同意，禁止對今天的電話會議進行任何錄音、複製、傳輸或分發。本次電話會議將透過Fastenal投資者關係首頁investor.fastenal.com進行網路音訊同步直播。

A replay of the webcast will be available on the website until December 1, 2020, at Midnight Central Time.

網路直播的回放將在網站上提供，直至2020年12月1日中部時間午夜。

As a reminder, today's conference call may include statements regarding the company's future plans and prospects. These statements are based on our current expectations and we undertake no duty to update them. It is important to note that the company's actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from anticipated results are contained in the company's latest earnings release and periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and we encourage you to review those factors carefully.

再次提醒，今天的電話會議可能包含有關公司未來計劃和前景的聲明。這些聲明是基於我們目前的預期，我們不承擔更新這些聲明的義務。需要注意的是，公司的實際業績可能與預期業績有重大差異。可能導致實際業績與預期業績有差異的因素已列於本公司最新的獲利報告和定期向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中，我們建議您仔細閱讀這些文件。

I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Dan Florness.

現在我將把電話交給丹‧弗洛內斯先生。

Thank you, Ellen, and good morning, everybody, and thank you for joining us for the third quarter earnings call.

謝謝艾倫，大家早安，謝謝各位參加第三季財報電話會議。

Before I start with the flip book, just thought I'd share a few thoughts. We do some simple things at Fastenal. We find great people. We ask them to join and then we give them a reason to stay.

在開始介紹翻頁書之前，我想先分享幾點想法。在Fastenal，我們做的事情很簡單。我們尋找優秀的人才，邀請他們加入，然後讓他們有理由留下來。

One of the enjoyable aspects of my role here at Fastenal is in the fall of each year, I send a letter to all of our 25-year employees as well as our 15-year employees. And then we typically, with the 25-year employees, we celebrate them at our National Meeting held in December of each year. Obviously, this year it won't be held in person. But it's a great opportunity to recognize great service to the organization, and folks that saw the reasons compelling enough that they've spent much of their adult life in the Fastenal organization.

我在Fastenal的工作中，最令我感到欣慰的一點是，每年秋季，我都會寫信給所有工齡25年和15年的員工。通常情況下，我們會在每年12月舉行的全國大會上，為工齡25年的員工舉辦慶祝活動。當然，今年的大會無法以線下形式舉行。但這仍然是表彰員工對公司卓越貢獻的絕佳機會，感謝那些將畢生精力奉獻給Fastenal的員工們。

If I look at the third quarter of this year, we actually have 6 people I get to work with each and every day that hit a milestone in their employment with Fastenal.

如果我回顧今年第三季度，實際上有 6 位我每天都與之共事的同事在 Fastenal 的職業生涯中達到了里程碑。

So back in July, Lee Hein celebrated 35 years with Fastenal. Rodney Hill, a little bit later in the month, celebrated 20 years. Rodney Hill, for those of you don't know who he is, he's our Senior Vice President in our National Accounts team.

今年7月，Lee Hein慶祝了他在Fastenal工作35週年。稍後，Rodney Hill也慶祝了他在Fastenal工作20週年。 Rodney Hill，可能有些人還不認識他，他是我們全國客戶團隊的高級副總裁。

In August, we had 2 employees celebrated anniversary. Again, these are folks I work with. Holden Lewis, who you'll hear from shortly, hit 4 years. And -- but on top of that 4 years, a wealth of knowledge because many of you know that he spent a good chunk of his career in the sell-side community. And when I stepped out of that role, I wanted to bring somebody in who I'd known for years, who I was really impressed with their body of work, and Holden has been with us now for 4 years in August.

八月份，我們有兩位員工慶祝了入職週年紀念日。他們都是我的同事。霍爾頓·劉易斯（Holden Lewis），稍後你們會聽到他的聲音，已經入職四年了。而且──除了這四年之外，他還累積了豐富的經驗，因為你們很多人都知道，他職業生涯的大部分時間都在賣方機構度過。當我卸任賣方職位時，我希望找到一位我認識多年、工作能力令我印象深刻的人，而霍爾頓八月份正好在我們公司工作滿四年了。

Bill Drazkowski, many of you have heard that name before. He is our leader in our Western United States business unit. In August, he celebrated 25 years. I remember the first time I met Bill, I was traveling in Southern Minnesota, he was working in our Albert Lea, Minnesota branch. My first impression in meeting Bill was I didn't realize we hired 16-year olds. And today, he's a key leader in our organization, and again, covering the Western United States.

比爾‧德拉茲科夫斯基，你們很多人都聽過這個名字。他是我們美國西部業務部門的負責人。今年八月，他慶祝了入職25週年。我還記得第一次見到比爾的情景，當時我正在明尼蘇達州南部出差，他在我們位於明尼蘇達州艾伯特利的分公司工作。我對比爾的第一印像是，我沒想到我們公司竟然會僱用16歲的員工。如今，他已成為我們公司的重要領導者，並且再次負責美國西部地區的業務。

Here in September, John Soderberg, our leader -- our Executive Vice President of IT, had a milestone, celebrating 27 years with the organization. And this coming Saturday, Reyne Wisecup, our EVP of HR, will celebrate 32 years with the Fastenal organization.

今年九月，我們的領導——IT執行副總裁約翰·索德伯格迎來了他加入公司27週年的里程碑。而本週六，我們的人力資源執行副總裁雷恩懷斯卡普也將迎來他在Fastenal公司32週年的紀念日。

Now 4 of these 6 people I just mentioned grew up in the organization on the sales side. Seems inappropriate for a sales-minded, sales-centered organization. And they bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to the table. I've touched on Holden a few minutes ago. I'd say Reyne is probably the person I listened to the most. If we make great decisions on HR, it's because I listened to Reyne that day. If I look at decisions that I wish I had to do over, it's easy because I didn't listen to Reyne that day.

我剛才提到的這六個人中，有四個是在公司銷售部門成長起來的。這對於一個以銷售為導向、以銷售為中心的公司來說，似乎不太合適。但他們確實帶來了豐富的經驗和知識。我幾分鐘前提到了霍爾頓。要說我聽取意見最多的人，那大概就是雷恩了。如果我們在人力資源方面做出了明智的決策，那是因為那天我聽取了雷恩的意見。如果我回顧那些讓我後悔莫及的決策，原因很簡單，因為那天我沒有聽雷恩的意見。

The one other item I'd share is in that group of 25-year employees, this year has its first non-American. Our Canadian business celebrated 25 years last fall, and I look forward to seeing Darryl next time we meet to congratulate them on that milestone. I did single him out in my letter that goes in our annual holiday box of goodies that goes out to employees in December.

還有一件事我想分享，那就是在我們這批服務滿25年的員工中，今年迎來了第一位非美國員工。我們加拿大分公司去年秋天慶祝了成立25週年，我期待下次見到達裡爾時，向他們表示祝賀。我在寫給他的信裡特別提到了他，這封信會放在我們每年12月寄給員工的節慶禮盒裡。

The -- in the July call, we talked a bit about the steps we took back in the early months of the year as we were listening to our team in Shanghai on what they were learning firsthand from COVID-19. And we talked about what we did in March, and that was we locked down our locations. We closed the front door of our branches. We asked our customers to call ahead. We'd have a product ready for them. We are a supply chain partner for our customers. Most of our sales go out the back door of our branch, and we deliver it to our customers' facilities. So by letting us on their premises, they're placing a trust in us. And we wanted to honor that trust.

在七月的電話會議上，我們簡要回顧了年初幾個月我們採取的措施，當時我們一直在聽取上海團隊關於他們從新冠疫情中汲取的第一手經驗。我們也談到了三月我們採取的措施，那就是封鎖所有辦公地點。我們關閉了所有分店的大門，並要求客戶提前致電。我們會提前準備好產品。我們是客戶的供應鏈夥伴。我們的大部分銷售都是從分店的後門發出，然後由我們直接配送到客戶的工廠。客戶允許我們進入他們的場所，就是對我們寄予信任。我們希望不辜負這份信任。

Here's a quick recap of information that I've been sharing on a weekly and monthly basis with our employees as we progress through this COVID-19 era. We never shut down as an organization, I think everybody knows that. 94% of our population because of their role, don't have the ability to work remotely. They might work in a branch there on site. They might work at a distribution center. They might drive a truck. They might work in our manufacturing division. They're in some role that requires them to be present. If I look at that population in the months of March to May, we were seeing 2 to 5 cases per week. And at the end of May, we had 41 cumulative cases within the Fastenal organization. Now we have roughly 21,000 employees, so that was 0.2%.

以下是我在新冠疫情期間每周和每月與員工分享的一些資訊的簡要回顧。我想大家都知道，我們公司從未停工。由於工作性質，我們94%的員工無法遠距辦公。他們可能在公司分公司現場工作，可能在配送中心工作，可能開卡車，也可能在我們的製造部門工作。他們的工作性質決定了他們必須到崗。回顧3月到5月，我們每週新增2到5例。到5月底，Fastenal公司累計確診病例41例。我們公司大約有21,000名員工，所以感染率是0.2%。

In the month of June, as some businesses were coming back to work and there was a little more activity, we saw our case count on a weekly basis jump quite dramatically, and we were seeing about 14 cases per week. And at the end of June, cumulatively, we were approaching 100. We had 97 cases, which is 0.5% of our 21,000 people. July saw it increase a little bit more, 16 cases per week. In August, 20 cases per week. September, we saw an interesting change in that trend. We dropped to about 17 cases per week. And at the end of the quarter, cumulatively, we've had 344 cases within the Fastenal Blue Team family. Again, if I did my math right, and these aren't audited numbers, these are my notes, that's about 1.6%, of 21,000.

六月，隨著一些企業復工復產，經濟活動增加，我們的每週病例數出現了顯著增長，達到每週約14例。六月底，累計病例數接近100例，達到97例，占我們21,000名員工總數的0.5%。七月份病例數略有上升，達到每週16例。八月份，每週20例。九月份，這一趨勢出現了有趣的轉變，每週病例數下降到約17例。到本季末，Fastenal Blue Team團隊累積病例數達到344例。如果我的計算沒錯的話（這些數據未經審計，僅代表我的個人記錄），這大約佔21000名員工總數的1.6%。

In the first week of October, we saw the case count come in at 14, again, positive trend. I have no idea what our trends will be in October, November and December and as we enter the new year. But I do know our group of employees have been taking responsible steps to protect themselves, their families and their customers they serve, while providing a much needed supply chain to the marketplace. With those 14 cases, cumulatively, we're at 358. Again, that's as of last week. At that time, when I received the report, we had 21 people currently out. And the typical duration we're seeing is about 15 days. So about 2 weeks' worth.

10月第一周，新增病例14例，這又是一個正面的趨勢。我不知道10月、11月、12月以及新年伊始的趨勢會是如何。但我知道，我們的員工一直在採取負責任的措施，保護自己、家人和他們服務的客戶，同時為市場提供急需的供應鏈。加上這14例，累計病例達358例。這是上週的數據。當時我收到報告時，有21人正在休假。通常情況下，休假時間約為15天，也就是約兩週。

If I go to the flip book, we talk a little bit about our daily sales. So while it's not on the sheet, in Q2, we grew 10.3%. In Q3, that reduced 2.5%. Operating income in Q3 grew 2.9%. Our incremental margin was in the mid-20s. Really pleased with those numbers from the standpoint of, when I think of safety, safety provided us a bridge between where the economy was prior to COVID-19, as the economy shut down and where it is today. So it's been providing us a bridge.

如果我翻閱財務報表，我們會簡單介紹一下每日銷售狀況。雖然報表上沒有顯示，但第二季我們的銷售額成長了10.3%。第三季下降了2.5%。第三季的營業收入成長了2.9%。我們的增量利潤率在20%左右。從安全角度來看，我對這些數據非常滿意。安全措施為我們提供了一座橋樑，連結了新冠疫情爆發前的經濟狀況、經濟停擺時期以及如今的經濟狀況。所以，它一直為我們提供支撐。

If I look at discrete business pieces of our Fastenal business, fasteners and safety, as we've talked in prior calls, make up about half of our revenue.

如果我看一下 Fastenal 業務的各個獨立業務部分，正如我們在之前的電話會議中討論過的，緊固件和安全產品約占我們收入的一半。

In the second quarter, our Fastener business, our oldest product line, our most mature product line, our product line that really links to what's going on in the industrial world, sales dropped 16%. In Q3, that improved to negative 7%.

第二季度，我們的緊固件業務——我們歷史最悠久、最成熟的產品線，也是與工業界發展息息相關的產品線——銷售額下降了16%。第三季度，這一數字有所改善，降至下降7%。

Safety products grew 116% in the second quarter. It came in to -- it came back out of the stratosphere and grew 34% in Q3. And if you look at all the remaining products that aren't fasteners or safety, they contracted about 8% in Q2, about 2% in Q3.

安全產品第二季成長了116%。第三季增速回落至34%，不再像之前那樣高得驚人。而除緊固件和安全產品以外的其他所有產品，第二季下降了約8%，第三季下降了約2%。

And so the trends are telling me the environment we operate in is healing itself, is improving. And again, safety has provided an incredible bridge as we've gone through this.

因此，種種跡象表明，我們所處的環境正在自我修復，正在改善。而且，安全問題再次為我們渡過難關提供了強大的保障。

Earlier, I mentioned great people. When I think of the last 6 months, I'm really impressed with our ability to adapt really quickly to the new normal, incredibly impressed with our ability to successfully manage costs and how we're holding each other accountable. In fact, this afternoon, I have a call with a subset of our regional leaders, I have another call scheduled tomorrow, where we're going to talk through elements of our P&L, where they're not pleased with us. And us being Dan and Holden and the folks that support them because our expenses grew a bit more than theirs. Actually, our expenses didn't improve as well as theirs did. And some things I'm going to share with them our profit sharing contribution that goes to the entire organization that's based on our level of profitability, Q3 to Q3 is up 40%. I'm personally proud of that. It means we're finding success together and we're sharing that together.

之前我提到我們擁有優秀的人才。回顧過去六個月，我們能夠如此迅速地適應新常態，並成功控製成本，以及我們彼此之間互相監督，都讓我印象深刻。事實上，今天下午我將與部分區域領導進行電話會議，明天還有一次，我們將討論損益表中他們不滿意的地方。我們指的是丹、霍爾頓以及他們的團隊成員，因為我們的支出成長略高於他們。實際上，我們的支出改善情況不如他們。我還要和他們分享一些訊息，例如我們根據獲利水準向整個組織提供的利潤分成，第三季到第四季成長了40%。我個人為此感到自豪。這意味著我們共同取得了成功，並且共同分享了這份成功。

We made a big acquisition of technology back in the first quarter in March. So in both Q2 and Q3, we have a sizeful amortization expense that's now in the numbers. We introduced mobility across the organization. We deployed just under 8,000 devices in the last 9 months. So that's an expense that went from 0 to something that's not 0, it's a $1 million-plus increase of investments we're making to improve the long-term health of the business.

我們在三月的第一季進行了一項大型技術收購。因此，第二季和第三季都有一筆數額可觀的攤還費用計入了財務報表。我們在整個公司推行了行動辦公。在過去的九個月裡，我們部署了近8,000台設備。這意味著這部分支出從零增加到了超過100萬美元，這是我們為改善公司長期發展而進行的投資。

We found great success, interestingly enough, in our ability to sell clearance items, clearance products, products that have been on our shelf, whether they're in our branch or distribution center, and this isn't COVID products. This is stuff that we've accumulated over time. We saw an incredible jump from Q3 to Q3, like 200%. It's a small number, but we're finding success. We're resourceful in this marketplace.

有趣的是，我們發現清倉商品銷售取得了巨大成功。這些商品都是我們貨架上的存貨，無論是在分店或配送中心，而且並非新冠疫情相關的產品。這些都是我們長期累積的庫存。第三季到第四季度，我們的銷售額實現了驚人的成長，增幅高達200%。雖然數字不大，但我們確實從中獲得了成功。在這個市場中，我們善於利用各種資源。

As you can expect, our purchasing of inventory, we did a great job with inventory. Our purchase discounts we earned are less this year than they were a year ago. And so I'll be having that conversation with our team, but we hold each other accountable and that's how you successfully manage expenses in an organization.

正如您所料，我們在庫存採購方面做得非常出色。不過，我們今年獲得的採購折扣比去年減少。因此，我會和團隊討論這個問題，但我們彼此負責，這才是成功管理組織開支的關鍵。

Most importantly, when I think of great people, we've retained the talent of our organization, in ways many other organizations haven't had the ability to do. And safety -- and our safety sales played a role in that, and I'm proud of that. But we continue to invest in the future. Our training has actually expanded in a COVID era, even though we don't have our instructor-led training at all this year. Our online training and our virtual instructor-led trainings, our school of business, our Fastenal School of Business, did an incredible pivot and our folks in the field are embracing it in incredible ways.

最重要的是，說到優秀人才，我們成功地留住了公司的人才，這是許多其他公司無法做到的。安全性——尤其是我們的安全銷售——在這方面發揮了重要作用，我為此感到自豪。但我們仍在繼續投資未來。在新冠疫情期間，我們的培訓實際上有所擴展，儘管今年我們完全沒有線下講師授課的培訓。我們的線上培訓、虛擬講師授課培訓、我們的商學院——Fastenal商學院——都進行了令人矚目的轉型，而我們的第一線員工也以令人難以置信的方式積極擁抱這些轉型。

Earlier, I mentioned we deployed almost 8,000 mobility devices, and we created a more efficient platform for providing service to our customer. I believe in the last 6 months, we've widened the moat that Fastenal enjoys by demonstrating the following in the marketplace to our customers: we're a great supply chain partner, we solve problems and we invest to deliver. And we have a great group of analysts that have historically covered us. And I'm not saying that to glaciate myself to the analyst community, I'm saying that because it's a fact.

之前我提到過，我們部署了近8000台行動設備，並創建了一個更有效率的平台來為客戶提供服務。我相信，在過去的六個月裡，我們透過在市場上向客戶展示以下幾點，進一步鞏固了Fastenal的競爭優勢：我們是優秀的供應鏈合作夥伴，我們能夠解決問題，並且我們致力於投資交付。此外，我們還擁有一支長期以來一直關注我們的優秀分析師團隊。我這麼說並非為了討好分析師，而是因為這是事實。

I was reading one of the -- a couple of the analyst reports that came out earlier this morning and I asked Holden about it. And in there, I saw where we have $30 million of slow-moving PPE inventory. We made a big investment in products to support the marketplace in the early part of this year. If you're in our supply chain team, if you're in our forecasting team, you've done a great job. And I think there are folks in our organization that are looking at our PPE inventory and say, geez, we have a bunch, and they're scared about it, nervous about it, it's probably a better word.

我今天早上看了其中幾份分析報告，就此事問了霍爾頓。報告裡提到我們有價值3000萬美元的滯銷個人防護裝備庫存。今年年初，我們為了支持市場需求，對相關產品進行了大量投資。如果你是我們供應鏈團隊或預測團隊的成員，你們的工作非常出色。我認為我們公司裡有些人看到這些個人防護裝備庫存後會說：「天哪，我們庫存也太多了吧！」他們對此感到擔憂，或者說緊張，或許用「緊張」這個詞更貼切。

And I look at it and say, this $30 million of inventory, our sales in Q2 surged dramatically. The inventory that's explicitly in this -- and the reason I know these numbers, I was talking to our Board about it yesterday. Our sales of these products that we have this inventory on, from Q2 to Q3, the quantity of our sales went up 18%. So this isn't something that all of a sudden there was a big need for in Q2, and that need's gone away and Fastenal's sitting with all this inventory. Based on the sales in Q3, we do have months of supply. Frankly, in today's chaotic world, I consider that an asset, not a problem. And it will support us as we move through this. And I'm happy we have it. So if you need 3-ply masks, give us a call because the marketplace needs them, and I'm glad we have them.

我看了看，發現這3000萬美元的庫存，我們第二季的銷售額大幅成長。這筆庫存——我之所以知道這些數字，是因為我昨天和董事會討論過——我們這些庫存產品的銷量，從第二季到第三季成長了18%。所以，這並不是說第二季突然出現了大量需求，然後需求消失了，Fastenal公司就積壓了這麼多庫存。根據第三季的銷售情況，我們有足夠的庫存，足夠幾個月可以使用。坦白說，在當今這個混亂的世界裡，我認為這是一種優勢，而不是問題。它將在我們渡過難關的過程中為我們提供支持。我很高興我們擁有這些庫存。所以，如果您需要三層口罩，請聯繫我們，因為市場需要它們，我很高興我們能夠提供。

The -- moving on to the surge activity, as Holden mentions in the flipbook, it did ease. However, pandemic products continued to contribute to high sales, as mentioned earlier, safety was up 34%. Growth drivers improved, the signings improved from Q2 to Q3. Sales is about what happened today. Growth drivers and momentum of growth drivers is about what happens tomorrow.

——接下來談談銷售激增的情況，正如霍爾頓在宣傳冊中提到的，銷售激增的情況有所緩解。然而，如前文所述，疫情相關產品持續推動了高銷量，安全產品銷售成長了34%。成長動力有所改善，簽約量也從第二季到第三季有所成長。銷售反映的是當下的情況，而成長動力及其動能則關乎未來。

Our tomorrow improved from Q2 to Q3, and I feel really good about that. We're not back to the hundreds. And the hundreds is our stated internal stretch goal that we put in place last December. Obviously, got thrown out the window in March when the world kind of -- didn't kind of, when the world shut down. But our stated goal is, can we get to 100 signings of vending devices a day? Can we get to 100 signings of Onsites per quarter? And that's what we've invested in infrastructure to support because we think that's a sign of great engagement with customers and a great ability to take market share, but they did improve from Q2 to Q3.

我們的業績從第二季到第三季有所提升，我對此感到非常滿意。雖然還沒回到之前的數百台，但數百台是我們去年12月制定的內部挑戰目標。顯然，3月全球疫情爆發，世界幾乎停擺，這個目標就隨之落空。但我們之前的目標是：能否達成每天100台自動販賣機簽約量？能否實現每季100台現場服務簽約量？為此，我們投資了基礎設施，因為我們認為這是客戶參與度高、市場佔有率成長潛力大的標誌。而且，這些指標確實從第二季到第三季有所提升。

Lastly, on that page, Holden talks about a conservative capital structure. Basically, we have a great balance sheet, and that great balance sheet improved in the quarter. And one of the things I said to Holden back in March, and the finance team in general, Holden, Sheryl and the entire team, I said, what distribution businesses do in environments like this, is we're not investing in working capital the same way. And we actually become a cash generator because we harvest some working capital. And I'm really impressed with our supply chain team, our finance team, our district and regional leaders on what they did to produce the cash flow of this year.

最後，霍爾頓在那一頁談到了保守的資本結構。基本上，我們的資產負債表非常穩健，而且本季情況進一步改善。我在三月就跟霍爾頓、整個財務團隊（包括霍爾頓、謝麗爾和所有團隊成員）說過，在這種環境下，經銷企業不會像以往那樣投資營運資本。我們實際上會透過釋放部分營運資本來創造現金流。我對我們的供應鏈團隊、財務團隊以及各區域和地區領導為實現今年現金流所做的工作印象深刻。

And so if I look at it in 9 months because then you take out some of the noise of the cash -- the tax payment deferrals from Q2 to Q3. 9 months in, our earnings are up 8.3%. Our operating cash flow is up 32.2%, $190 million increase over the last year. We pulled back some CapEx. And our free cash flow, operating cash minus CapEx, is up 62% year-over-year. And there is a little lift in there because there's about $19 million of social security tax that's deferred until next year. Absent that, the 32% and 62% goes to 29% and 57%. My compliments to Holden, Sheryl, the team. Great job. And it means we have a balance sheet that's ready to support our future.

因此，如果我以9個月為週期來看，因為這樣可以剔除一些現金流的干擾因素──例如第二季到第三季的稅金延期支付。 9個月後，我們的獲利成長了8.3%。我們的經營現金流成長了32.2%，比去年同期增加了1.9億美元。我們削減了一些資本支出。我們的自由現金流（經營現金流減去資本支出）較去年同期成長了62%。這其中還有一些成長，因為大約有1900萬美元的社保稅款延期到明年繳納。如果剔除這部分，32%和62%的增幅將分別降至29%和57%。我要向霍爾頓、謝麗爾以及整個團隊表示祝賀。他們做得非常出色。這意味著我們擁有一個足以支撐未來發展的資產負債表。

Flipping to the vending dispenses information that we shared last quarter. Again, most of this, you saw last quarter. You see the dip over Thanksgiving, you see the impact of Christmas and New Year. You see the impact of Easter in early April. And you see where we -- history says we should be by the end of March and where we were by the middle of April. You saw there was some recovery. But as of June, the blue line, which is current versus the gold line, which is history -- or yellow, depending on the quality of your monitor, we were 15 points below where history says we should be. By the end of September, that 15 points is now 9. We're not back to where we should be, but the health is better. And once we got into September, I'm pleased to say we are above where we started last October. Again, not where we should be, but a great performance. And vending is really about consumption of products in the marketplace. It's a real real-time -- a great real-time indicator of activity.

切換到自動販賣機銷售數據，可以看到我們上個季度分享的資訊。同樣，大部分數據您在上個季度已經看過。您可以看到感恩節期間的下滑，聖誕節和新年期間的影響，以及四月初復活節的影響。您還可以看到，根據歷史數據，我們在三月底應該達到的水平，以及我們在四月中旬的實際水平。您可以看到，當時出現了一些復甦。但到了六月份，藍線（代表當前水平）與金線（代表歷史水平，或者根據您的顯示器質量，也可能是黃線）相比，我們比歷史水平低了15個百分點。到九月底，這15個百分點已經縮小到9個百分點。我們還沒有恢復到應有的水平，但情況有所改善。進入九月後，我很高興地告訴大家，我們的水準已經高於去年十月的水準。再次強調，雖然還沒有達到應有的水平，但表現非常出色。自動販賣機銷售實際上反映的是市場上的產品消費。它是一個非常即時的指標，能夠很好地反映市場活動。

The next page is about unique users. Here, you get a little more noise because the way we calculate it, if you have a business day out, so you get the Thanksgiving noise, the Christmas, New your noise, Easter. You see where we would have been in that March time frame. You see where we bottomed out in mid-April at 85 and where we ended the quarter.

下一頁是關於獨立用戶數的。這裡會出現一些波動，因為我們的計算方式是，如果考慮到假日，例如感恩節、聖誕節、新年和復活節，就會有波動。您可以看到我們在三月的訪問量，以及四月中旬的最低點（85），以及季度末的訪問量。

So at the end of the quarter, we were 8 points down. Right now, we're 7 points down. We're -- we continue to narrow the gap. The -- and this is about employment activity. The first one is dispensing, this is employment.

所以，季末我們落後8個百分點。現在，我們落後7個百分點。我們正在繼續縮小差距。這——這是關於就業活動的。第一個是配藥量，這是就業狀況。

I'm really glad we have the vending business, not just for the -- what it gives us some visibility, but the fact how it helps us grow. And it gives us a reason and our customers a reason to allow us to keep coming in their facilities. And that's one of the ways that we're really entrenched in the business of our customers, and you see it shining through in this type of environment.

我很高興我們開展了自動販賣機業務，這不僅是因為它提高了我們的知名度，更重要的是它幫助我們實現了成長。它讓我們和我們的客戶都有理由繼續允許我們進入他們的場所。這是我們真正融入客戶業務的方式之一，在這種環境下，這一點體現得尤為明顯。

Final page I'll talk to in the flip book is Page 6. As mentioned earlier, our signing activity is still below where we were pre pandemic, but it's making a comeback.

我要講的最後一頁是翻頁書中的第6頁。如同先前所提到的，我們的簽名活動仍然低於疫情前的水平，但正在逐漸恢復。

Onsites, we signed 62 in the third quarter, and I feel really good about the momentum of that. We need that momentum to come back to support us in the future. That's future growth. One thing I shared with our Board of Directors yesterday that I thought was an interesting development, and that is, if you look at government business, historically, a relatively small piece of our business, obviously, it became a more sizable piece of our business in the second quarter. We're getting Onsite traction in the government world, too.

在現場服務方面，我們第三季簽下了62份合同，我對目前的成長動能感到非常滿意。我們需要保持這種成長勢頭，以支持我們未來的發展。這就是未來的成長。昨天我與董事會分享了一個我認為很有意思的進展：政府業務歷來在我們業務中所佔比例相對較小，但顯然，它在第二季度佔比顯著提升。我們在政府領域的現場服務也取得了進展。

So at the last September, 25 of our Onsites were with governmental entities. That might be a K-12 school district. That might be a college or higher ed. That might be something else in the government sector, but 25 of them. By March, that had grown to 29. At the end of September, we have 35. That's a 40% increase in Onsite business with government customers. It tells me that some of that government business we picked up is going to be sticky.

所以，去年九月，我們25個現場服務客戶是政府機構。這些機構可能是中小學學區，也可能是大學或其他高等教育機構，或其他政府部門，但總之是25個。到了三月份，這個數字成長到了29個。九月底，我們達到了35個。這意味著我們與政府客戶的現場服務業務成長了40%。這說明我們新增的這些政府業務中，有些將會是長期穩定的客戶。

And 60% of that occurred in the last 6 months. And I don't know about the rest of you, but I've never seen government move real fast in a lot of things in life. This is incredibly fast-paced change when I look at that business.

其中60%的變動發生在過去六個月。我不知道你們其他人怎麼想，但我從未見過政府在很多事情上行動如此迅速。就這個產業而言，這種變化速度簡直令人難以置信。

College, higher ed, 56% increase over last year. We actually, in the third quarter, signed our first health care Onsite. Don't know what that means for the future, but it is an interesting development.

大學及高等教育領域，較去年成長56%。事實上，我們在第三季簽署了第一份醫療保健現場培訓合約。雖然不知道這對未來意味著什麼，但這確實是一個值得關注的進展。

The rest of the information, I think it's pretty straightforward in the reading. In March, our e-commerce sales. And so when we look at e-commerce, even though vending is e-commerce in a way, we don't include that in our number. But it is a digital sale. This is still constrictly at EDI and web orders. For the first time ever in March, that topped over 10% of our sales. In the second quarter, it dropped back because most of the COVID surge was not going through EDI. It was reacting, engaging directly face-to-face with customers from a safe distance. In August and September, our e-commerce as a percentage of business, again, topped over 10%. And for the quarter, we were over 10%.

其餘訊息，我認為讀起來相當直白。三月份，我們的電商銷售額……雖然自動販賣機在某種程度上也屬於電商範疇，但我們並未將其計入我們的統計數據。不過，它確實屬於數位銷售。這裡仍然嚴格指透過EDI和網路訂購的訂單。三月份，電商銷售額首次超過了我們總銷售額的10%。第二季度，這一比例有所回落，因為疫情期間的大部分訂單並非透過EDI完成，而是透過與顧客保持安全距離的面對面直接互動的方式完成的。八月和九月，我們的電商銷售額再次超過了總業務的10%。整個季度，電商銷售額也超過了10%。

With that, I'll set up and turn it over to Holden.

這樣，我就可以把它設定好並交給霍爾頓了。

Great. Thanks, Dan. Flipping to Slide 7. Third quarter 2020 sales were up 2.5%. Like last quarter, strong sell-through of safety products offset weakness in our traditional manufacturing and construction customers.

太好了，謝謝丹。翻到第7張投影片。 2020年第三季銷售額成長2.5%。與上季一樣，安全產品的強勁銷售抵消了傳統製造和建築客戶需求疲軟的影響。

Sales of safety products were up 34%. Sales to state and local government and health care customers grew 131% in the period, and this certainly includes sales related to COVID mitigation. However, we're also seeing restocking, prestocking and share gains as we receive follow-on orders from customers that we added in the second quarter.

安全產品銷售額成長了34%。同期，面向州和地方政府以及醫療保健客戶的銷售額成長了131%，這當然包括與新冠疫情防治相關的銷售額。此外，隨著我們收到第二季新增客戶的後續訂單，我們也看到了補貨、預售和市場份額的成長。

As a result, we're not characterizing strength here in the third quarter as surge as the reasons behind our customers buying have become much more varied. We do view this favorably, however, as it affirms our belief that we will be able to retain relationships that began in the chaos of the second quarter. That is likely what allowed us to outperform our original expectations for safety growth in the third quarter.

因此，我們並不將第三季的強勁成長定義為激增，因為客戶購買背後的原因變得更加多元化。不過，我們對此持正面態度，因為它印證了我們先前的信念：我們能夠維繫在第二季混亂時期建立的客戶關係。這很可能是我們第三季安全產品成長超出預期的原因。

All other products declined 4.2%, including Fasteners, which declined 6.9%. This represents a deceleration in rates of decline as the economy has reopened and production has rebuilt following the disruptions of the second quarter. In fact, we saw a sequential, low single-digit improvement in both hub picks and vending dispenses in each month of the third quarter, suggesting gradual but steady gains in the underlying business conditions. At this time, we believe customer activity levels are down mid-single digits from pre-pandemic levels.

除緊固件外，其他所有產品銷量均下降 4.2%，其中緊固件銷量下降 6.9%。這表明，隨著經濟重啟和生產在第二季度中斷後逐步恢復，銷售下降速度有所放緩。事實上，第三季每個月的配送中心取貨量和自動販賣機出貨量均實現了個位數環比成長，顯示企業基本面正在穩步改善。目前，我們認為客戶活躍度較疫情前水準下降了個位數中段。

As it relates to the near-term outlook, I think everyone understands that coronavirus is still with us. But at this point, customers are navigating around the issue without having to close operations. As a result, business activity continues to trend steadily, albeit gradually upward. Against the backdrop of multiple months of better than 50 readings in the PMI, and an RVP commentary about customers reengaging in growth at driver discussions, conditions are encouraging. Remember that we are entering the low-volume and holiday-impacted fourth quarter, which can always introduce a bit of unpredictability. Still, it's good to see some degree of normalization settling in.

就近期前景而言，我認為大家都明白新冠疫情仍在持續。但目前，客戶們正在想辦法應對這一問題，而無需關閉。因此，業務活動持續穩定成長，儘管成長速度較為緩慢。鑑於採購經理人指數 (PMI) 連續數月高於 50，以及區域副總裁在與司機的討論中提到客戶正在重新投入成長，目前的情況令人鼓舞。需要注意的是，我們即將進入銷量較低且受假日影響的第四季度，這總是會帶來一些不確定性。儘管如此，看到某種程度的正常化趨勢正在顯現，仍然令人欣慰。

Now to Slide 8. Gross margin was 45.3% in the third quarter of 2020, up 80 basis points sequentially and down 190 basis points versus the third quarter of 2019. The most significant factor in the third quarter behind the annual decline is low margins for COVID-related safety and jan san products.

現在來看第8張投影片。 2020年第三季毛利率為45.3%，季增80個基點，較去年同期下降190個基點。導致第三季毛利率年減的最主要因素是與新冠疫情相關的安全和清潔用品的低利潤率。

In contrast to the second quarter, when this pressure was a byproduct of inefficient supply chains and our own speed and sourcing products, pressure in the third quarter is from 2 different sources. First, for certain products, demand continues to outpace supply and costs have begun to rise. We began addressing these products with price actions beginning late in the third quarter. Second, other products like 3-ply masks and disposable respirators are oversupplied and prices have declined. We believe this will correct itself based on the sell-through of these products out of our inventory. However, this process may take until the second half of 2021.

與第二季因供應鏈效率低下以及我們自身採購速度和產品採購方式造成的壓力不同，第三季的壓力來自兩個面向。首先，某些產品的需求持續超過供應，成本開始上漲。我們從第三季末開始採取價格措施來應對這些產品。其次，其他產品，例如三層口罩和一次性呼吸器，供應過剩，價格下降。我們相信，隨著這些產品庫存的售罄，這種情況會得到改善。然而，這一過程可能需要到2021年下半年才能完成。

Collectively, COVID-related safety and jan san was about 14% of sales in the third quarter, and the gross margin was down mid- to high single digits on that group of product. The remaining decline in gross margin is for mix and cyclical and organizational factors such as rebates, deleveraging of certain fixed costs, higher import costs, et cetera. Aside from specific lines associated with COVID, the pricing environment is stable.

第三季度，與新冠疫情相關的安全防護用品和清潔用品約佔總銷售額的14%，該類產品的毛利率下降了中高個位數。毛利率的其餘下降是由於產品組合變化、週期性因素以及組織因素（例如返利、部分固定成本的去槓桿化、進口成本上升等）造成的。除與新冠疫情相關的特定產品線外，定價環境保持穩定。

This decline in gross margin was slightly more than offset by leveraging of SG&A and higher sales of PP&E, which produced 200 basis points of operating expense leverage over the third quarter of 2019. 6.3% lower FTE at the end of period and lower bonuses as a result of the weaker environment, generated very strong leverage of employee expenses, while lower travel expense, lower fuel costs and continued tight control of operating expenses, generally, enabled leverage of our other operating costs. The result was an operating margin of 20.5%, up 10 basis points and an incremental margin of 24%. Putting it all together, we reported third quarter 2020 EPS of $0.38, up 3.5% from $0.37 in the third quarter of 2019.

毛利率的下降被銷售、管理及行政費用（SG&A）的槓桿作用以及固定資產（PP&E）銷售額的增長略微抵消，使得營運費用槓桿作用較2019年第三季度提高了200個基點。由於市場環境疲軟，期末全職員工人數減少了6.3%，獎金也相應減少，這導致員工費用槓桿作用顯著增強；而差旅費、燃油成本的降低以及對運營費用的持續嚴格控制，則使得其他運營成本的槓桿作用得以發揮。最終，營業利益率達20.5%，較上年同期成長10個基點，增量利潤率達24%。綜上所述，我們公佈2020年第三季每股收益為0.38美元，較2019年第三季的0.37美元成長3.5%。

Now turning to Slide 9. We produced $289 million of operating cash flow in the third quarter of 2020, representing 131% of net income and up 12.3% from the third quarter of 2019. This strong cash generation is despite having paid $104 million of taxes deferred from the second quarter as part of the CARES Act, and is attributable to higher earnings and farming working capital in the period.

現在來看幻燈片9。2020年第三季度，我們實現了2.89億美元的經營現金流，佔淨利潤的131%，比2019年第三季度增長了12.3%。儘管我們根據《新冠病毒援助、救濟和經濟安全法案》（CARES Act）支付了從第二季度遞延的1.04億美元稅款，但現金流依然強勁，這主要歸功於該期間更高的收益和農業營運資金。

Accounts receivable is up 2.1%. We did collect the $75 million in surge-related balances that existed at the end of the second quarter, though follow-on orders from some customers simply replaced surge balances with regular way balances. As a result, receivables increased largely in line with sales.

應收帳款成長2.1%。我們已收回第二季末因銷售高峰期而產生的7,500萬美元應收帳款，但部分客戶的後續訂單只是將高峰期應收帳款替換為正常應收帳款。因此，應收帳款的成長與銷售額的成長基本一致。

Receivables' quality remains excellent. Inventories were down 1%, $50 million in COVID-related stock at the end of the second quarter was around $30 million at the end of the third quarter, and we'll continue to work down this balance over the next few quarters.

應收帳款品質依然優異。庫存下降了1%，第二季末與新冠疫情相關的5000萬美元庫存到第三季末約為3000萬美元，我們將繼續在未來幾季降低這一餘額。

Meanwhile, the combination of weak demand and efforts to streamline our inventories translated to declining inventory at our branch locations and moderating inventory growth in our onsites and hubs.

同時，需求疲軟和我們精簡庫存的努力導致我們分支機構的庫存下降，現場和樞紐的庫存增長放緩。

Our net capital spending range for 2020 remains $155 million to $180 million. We achieved record net income and record operating cash flow over the first 9 months of 2020. This allowed us to acquire the assets of Apex, deploy significant resources to secure critical products and carry working capital for customers during the chaos of the second quarter and return $480 million to investors in the form of dividends and share repurchase.

我們2020年的淨資本支出範圍仍為1.55億美元至1.8億美元。 2020年前9個月，我們實現了創紀錄的淨利和經營現金流。這使我們能夠收購Apex的資產，投入大量資源以確保關鍵產品的供應，並在第二季度市場動盪期間為客戶提供營運資金，並以股息和股票回購的形式向投資者返還4.8億美元。

At the same time, net debt is just 2.5% of total capital, and substantially all of our revolver remains available for use. We retain ample capacity to pay our dividend, finance working capital as demand improves or take advantage of any other business opportunity that may arise.

同時，淨債務僅佔總資本的2.5%，且我們幾乎全部的循環信貸額度仍可供使用。我們擁有充足的能力支付股息，在需求改善時為營運資金提供融資，或抓住任何其他可能出現的商機。

That is all for our formal presentation. So with that, operator, we will take questions.

我們的正式介紹就到這裡。接下來，操作員，我們將接受提問。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question is coming from David Manthey of Baird.

（操作說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Baird 公司的 David Manthey。

I have kind of a long-term question here, just to reorient on your -- on the growth drivers of the business. Could you update us on how you see the total available market for vending and Onsites relative to where you are today? And then a little bit more near term. If you could just give us an update on the LIFT initiative. I think you had some pretty good early returns on the pilot programs, and I'm wondering if you're moving forward with those more broadly yet.

我這裡有個比較長期的問題，想藉此機會重新了解貴公司業務的成長驅動因素。您能否更新一下您對自動販賣機和現場服務市場整體潛在規模的看法，以及貴公司目前的市場狀況？另外，能否也談談近期的情況？能否介紹一下LIFT計劃的最新進展？我記得試點計畫初期取得了不錯的成果，我想知道貴公司是否正在推進這些計畫的推廣。

Yes. So a few things there. I'm going by memory here, Dave. I think what we've talked in the past about is, we believe there's around 15,000. There's a potential for about 15,000 Onsites based on what we know today, and what we know today is largely confined to North America. And -- but that's a number we've talked about internally.

是的。有幾點要說明。戴夫，我這是憑記憶說的。我想我們之前討論過的是，我們認為大約有15000個現場服務點。根據我們目前掌握的信息，潛在的現場服務點數量約為15,000個，而我們目前掌握的資訊主要集中在北美地區。而且——但這只是我們內部討論過的數字。

I hope that's a number we've talked about externally in the past. Holden is not giving me a dirty look, so -- but suffice it to say, it's a really big market. The reason it's so big is because of our frugal cost structure, we can find success in an Onsite doing $100,000 a month -- doing $150,000 a month, where most of the marketplace struggles with the onsite model when you get below $250,000, $300,000 a month. Putting one person in an office and doing sourcing is not an onsite in our mind. An onsite is you're there engaged in their business. But we're able to find success in a lot of our places.

我希望我們之前已經對外討論過這個數字。霍爾頓並沒有對我翻白眼，所以──總之，這是一個非常大的市場。它之所以如此之大，是因為我們精打細算的成本結構，即使每月營業額只有10萬到15萬美元，我們也能透過現場服務取得成功。而大多數市場上的公司，如果每月營業額低於25萬到30萬美元，現場服務模式就很難成功。在我們看來，光是安排一個人在辦公室裡做採購工作，根本不算現場服務。真正的現場服務是指你深入客戶現場，並參與他們的業務。但我們確實在很多地方都取得了成功。

The vending is -- the vending, suffice it to say, I personally believe the number is over 1 million, but I don't know how much over 1 million, and I don't know how much energy I'm going to put into figuring that one out. The wildcard on vending is, historically, vending was about putting in a vending box. And because we were reliant on a third-party for vending, it was a separate system from everything else we did.

自動販賣機－總之，就自動販賣機而言，我個人認為數量超過100萬，但我不知道具體超過多少，也不知道我會投入多少精力去弄清楚這個問題。自動販賣機的變數在於，從歷史上看，它指的是放置一個自動販賣機。而且由於我們依賴第三方供應商提供自動販賣機服務，所以它與我們開展的其他所有業務都是一個獨立的系統。

But there's places where we have vending where a bin stock works. And -- but we want to illuminate the supply chain. So what we're doing now after acquiring it is, we're melding the technologies together. So some places we'll use vending and some places we'll use a bin stock that has replenishment automation in. In other words, we know how full the bin is. We know how -- either through RFID technology or infrared technology or some other technology.

但有些地方，我們使用自動販賣機，而散裝貨架也能滿足需求。我們希望讓供應鏈更加透明化。因此，收購完成後，我們正在將各種技術整合起來。有些地方我們會使用自動販賣機，有些地方我們會使用配備自動補貨系統的散裝貨架。換句話說，我們能夠掌握貨架的剩餘量。我們透過RFID技術、紅外線技術或其他技術來做到這一點。

And so suffice it to say, it's an incredibly big market. I believe between vending and bin stock, it could address 70% of the true spend that exists in the marketplace. And so you can size it on that based on a device that does between $1,000 and $2,000 a month in business, what that yields for a number.

所以，毋庸置疑，這是一個極為龐大的市場。我相信，自動販賣機和貨架庫存加起來，可以滿足市場上70%的實際消費需求。因此，你可以根據一台每月營業額在1000到2000美元之間的設備來估算其規模，看看它能帶來多少收益。

The final point, and Holden, remind me on the final point.

最後一點，霍爾頓，提醒我最後一點。

LIFT.

舉起。

LIFT. LIFT, we -- and for those of you that aren't familiar with that LIFT is, the acronym stands for Local Inventory Fulfillment Terminal. And the way we're approaching it initially, it's a terminal that replenishes vending, but it could replenish other things such as bin stocks in the future. We had some pilots. We have a handful of pilots we did. The first one was in Phoenix, Arizona, but we've added since then. What -- the only thing that's changing -- well, first off, the initial results are really positive because it allows us to become more efficient in replenishment of vending. It also pushes us to make the model better. And what I mean by that is a greater standardization of products going into the vending because we're replenishing multiple machines, multiple branches, multiple business units out of one facility. And so we're doing some aggregation.

LIFT。 LIFT，我們——對於不熟悉LIFT的人來說，它是Local Inventory Fulfillment Terminal（本地庫存履行終端）的縮寫。我們最初的設想是，它是一個自動販賣機補貨的終端，但未來也可以補貨其他商品，例如貨架上的庫存。我們進行了一些試點計畫。我們已經開展了幾個試點計畫。第一個試點計畫在亞利桑那州鳳凰城，之後我們又增加了試點計畫。唯一的變化是——首先，初步結果非常積極，因為它使我們能夠更有效率地補貨。它也促使我們改進模式。我的意思是，我們需要提高進入自動販賣機的商品的標準化程度，因為我們現在要從一個設施為多個機器、多個分店、多個業務部門補貨。所以我們正在進行一些整合。

What we're really doing now is the movement is we're moving more and more of the LIFTs we're doing in the next 12 months into distribution centers to make it part of our distribution network.

我們現在真正要做的是，在接下來的 12 個月裡，我們將把越來越多的 LIFT 專案轉移到配送中心，使其成為我們配送網路的一部分。

But really excited about the potential there, and we're moving forward on it.

但我們對那裡的潛力感到非常興奮，我們正在推進這項工作。

And I might chip in a couple of things, Dave. First, on the market size, the numbers that Dan cited were numbers that we sort of derived some time ago. We haven't necessarily updated them on a regular basis, but we do touch base with the owners of those businesses, and there's not a belief that anything has changed in terms of that opportunity.

戴夫，我可能還要補充幾點。首先，關於市場規模，丹提到的那些數字是我們之前估算出來的。我們並沒有定期更新這些數據，但我們會和這些企業的業主保持聯繫，他們普遍認為這方面的市場機會並沒有改變。

In fact, when you hear Dan describe the performance that we have in some of the educational facilities and government facilities, that was not a market that was envisioned in the original study. And so we're seeing -- in addition to the opportunity exists in the original study, we're seeing an expansion of the potential applications.

事實上，當丹描述我們在一些教育機構和政府機構中的應用效果時，你會發現這並非最初研究設想的市場。因此，除了最初研究中提到的機會之外，我們還看到潛在應用範圍的擴大。

As it relates to the LIFT performance, right now, we still got relatively few. I think we will ramp up the rollout on that based on the performance. And so we don't have a lot of sort of long-standing metrics that we can hang our hat on. But in our oldest one, we did see things such as the dollars per FTE in those regions get better and the signings improve in that region, and quite frankly, the service level as measured by the number of returns improve.

就 LIFT 專案的表現而言，目前我們的專案數量仍然相對較少。我認為我們會根據專案的表現逐步擴大規模。因此，我們目前還沒有很多可以長期參考的指標。但在我們最早開展的計畫中，我們確實看到一些指標有所改善，例如，這些地區的每位全職員工的收入（$/FTE）有所提高，簽約量也有所增加，坦白說，以退貨數量衡量的服務水平也有所提高。

And so yes, I think you're right. The initial data from the initial rollouts of the LIFT have been encouraging enough that I think you'll see us put more of those in the market in their various capacities and forms and perhaps accelerate that in the coming 18 months.

所以，是的，我認為你是對的。 LIFT 初期推廣的初步數據令人鼓舞，我認為我們將會把更多不同容量和形式的 LIFT 推向市場，並且可能在未來 18 個月內加快這一進程。

Our next question is coming from Nigel Coe of Wolfe Research.

我們的下一個問題來自 Wolfe Research 的 Nigel Coe。

I just wanted to kind of dig back into the inventory reductions and also the tight lid on employee hiring. Given the sequential improvement we're seeing and the relative optimism perhaps from the field, how long can you restrain employee costs so aggressively going forward and inventories as well? That's my first question.

我只是想再深入探討一下庫存削減以及嚴格控制員工招聘的問題。鑑於我們目前看到的持續改善以及來自第一線員工的相對樂觀情緒，你們還能如此積極地控制員工成本和庫存多久？這是我的第一個問題。

Yes. On employee costs, remember that restraining of those expenses really is not a function of what we do in Winona. It's really a function of the decisions that are being made by the individuals in the field that are running their businesses, whether that be a branch or district or a region.

是的。關於員工成本，請記住，控制這些費用實際上並非取決於我們在威諾納的運作方式，而是取決於第一線業務人員（無論是分公司、地區還是區域）的決策。

So I don't want to give you the impression of a degree of control that we don't, by choice, exercise in our culture and our model. The reality, Nigel, is the reason that we protected our talent the way we did through what it certainly initially looked, but it was going to be a pretty nasty downturn, was specifically so that we'd be able to move quickly when conditions allowed.

所以我不想讓你們覺得我們刻意迴避了某種程度的控制，而實際上，我們並沒有出於自身意願在我們的文化和模式中行使這種控制權。奈傑爾，事實是，我們之所以採取那種方式保護我們的人才，即便當時的情況看起來確實很糟糕，但實際上卻是一場相當嚴峻的衰退，正是為了讓我們能夠在條件允許時迅速行動。

And with demand sort of getting gradually better and with our customers increasingly reengaging in conversations about growth drivers. In many respects, that moment has come. And as a result, we fully expect that much as we saw in September, we saw an uptick in FTE relative to what we've seen in the month before. I wouldn't be surprised if you continue to see some of that.

隨著需求逐漸好轉，客戶也越來越積極參與關於成長驅動因素的討論中，從許多方面來看，時機已經成熟。因此，我們完全預期，正如我們在9月份看到的那樣，全職員工人數（FTE）相對於上個月有所增長。如果這種情況持續下去，我不會感到驚訝。

Travel expenses. I wouldn't be surprised again if you saw that come up from where it's been. And so the answer is difficult to answer because we don't control it coming out any more than we controlled it going in. Those are decisions made locally. And the field has made great decisions about it going in. And we trust that they're going to make fantastic decisions about it coming out that's going to allow us to be both disciplined with expenses because let's not forget, we're going into a volume challenge, seasonal period, and we're all aware of that.

差旅費。鑑於之前的情況，如果再次出現這個問題，我不會感到驚訝。所以這個問題很難回答，因為我們對差旅費的控制權和之前一樣有限。這些都是本地決策。而且，專案組在專案啟動前已經做出了非常明智的決定。我們相信，他們在專案結束後也會做出同樣出色的決定，這將有助於我們嚴格控制支出。別忘了，我們即將面臨業務量挑戰，正值旺季，這一點我們都很清楚。

But I think they're going to be able to exert a great deal of discipline over their cost structure because it makes sense to do so and they've shown an ability to do it, while deploying the resources necessary to take advantage of the opportunities that are reopening again. And that's probably how I'd answer that question. I hope that gives you something you're looking for.

但我認為他們能夠很好地控製成本結構，因為這樣做是合理的，而且他們也展現出了這種能力，同時還能調動必要的資源來抓住重新開放帶來的機會。這大概就是我對這個問題的回答。希望我的回答能對您有幫助。

As it relates to the second question on inventory, the inventory kind of reacts the same way, right? When demand is weak, inventory naturally can come down as customers naturally need less of it. And when demand gets better, then it goes the other way. And so there certainly is a -- if demand gets better and we would welcome that, then that would come with some improvement in inventory as well.

關於第二個關於庫存的問題，庫存的反應也大致相同，對吧？當需求疲軟時，庫存自然會下降，因為顧客的需求自然會減少。而當需求好轉時，情況則相反。所以，如果需求好轉（我們當然樂見其成），庫存也會隨之改善。

Now that said, I'll tell you, we're doing a lot of things to get better at managing our inventory, one of which is we're really moving product through our internal supply chain really smoothly today, right? We've gone through a period where we've been closing branches. We're addressing slow-moving products. We're -- which is sort of historical product that we've brought into the business over years. We're -- we have different types of model stockings that we're engaging with. And that's required us to move products through the supply chain at an accelerating rate. And whether it goes store to hub, hub to hub, hub to customer and branch, we've really made the movement of that product much smoother and at a higher velocity than I think what we've seen before. And that's an improvement.

話雖如此，我必須說，我們正在採取許多措施來改善庫存管理，其中一項就是我們現在內部供應鏈的產品流動非常順暢，對吧？我們經歷了一段關閉部分門市的時期，也正在處理滯銷產品。這些滯銷產品是我們多年來引進的，屬於歷史遺留產品。我們正在採用不同的庫存模式。這就要求我們加快產品在供應鏈中的流動速度。無論是門市到配送中心，或是從配送中心到顧客和門市，我們都讓產品的流動更加順暢，速度也比以往更快。這確實是一項進步。

We've introduced budgets on inventory to the field that I think that they try to operate to, which has been an improvement. We're working with supplier partners. It's really time shipments better. As you know, we have a long supply chain. And so if we can get those shipments timed better, that actually works for us. And obviously, we've been a little bit more aggressive with nonperforming inventory, such as you saw in some of that clearance stuff.

我們已經向第一線員工引入了庫存預算，我認為他們正在努力按照預算執行，這確實是一個進步。我們正在與供應商合作夥伴密切合作，力求更好地掌握出貨時機。如您所知，我們的供應鏈很長。因此，如果我們能夠更好地安排發貨時間，這對我們來說是有利的。顯然，我們對滯銷庫存的處理也更加積極，例如您看到的那些清倉商品。

So we're doing a lot of things that I think will continue to lead to an improvement in our days on hand over time. But if demand gets better and the Onsite signings we accelerate, that's going to put some need into the inventory again.

所以我們正在採取很多措施，我認為這些措施會隨著時間的推移不斷改善我們的庫存週轉天數。但如果需求好轉，現場簽約速度加快，那又會再次增加庫存需求。

We call that a good problem.

我們稱之為幸福的煩惱。

That's a good problem.

這是個幸福的煩惱。

Our next question is coming from Ryan Merkel of William Blair.

下一個問題來自威廉·布萊爾的瑞安·默克爾。

First off, Dan, you mentioned the investment in mobility. Just talk about what your vision is for how this is going to help sales and customer service? And then I'm curious what the early feedback has been?

丹，首先，你提到了對行動科技的投資。請談談你對這項投資將如何幫助提升銷售和客戶服務的願景？另外，我很想知道目前的初步回饋如何？

Yes. I'll give the vision from the team because I do more listening to them than talking at them. The -- part of it is just to ease things that are basic. So think of when I make a delivery, historically, I print off a bunch of packing slips at the branch, and I take them with me. And I get those signatures on the packing slips and I bring them back and I file them away and if there's something that doesn't get paid and I need a proof of delivery at some point in the future, I'm digging through a file cabinet.

是的。我會傳達團隊的想法，因為我更傾向於傾聽他們的意見，而不是對他們說教。 ——這部分只是為了簡化一些基本流程。例如，以前我送貨的時候，會在分公司印製一堆裝箱單，然後帶過去。拿到裝箱單後，我會把它們帶回來存檔。如果以後有貨沒付清，需要出示送貨證明，我就得翻文件櫃找。

Now we have signature capture. And now that doesn't mean we always get a signature because sometimes the person doesn't want to touch the device in a COVID world. And so we're working through that. But it's -- that's a whole bunch of back-office -- streaming the back-office function, which that brings no value to our customer supply chain. And it's figuring out how to tap into that.

現在我們有了簽名採集功能。但這並不意味著我們總是可以獲得簽名，因為在新冠疫情期間，有時人們不願意接觸設備。所以我們正在努力解決這個問題。但這涉及到大量的後台工作——後台功能的串流傳輸，這對我們的客戶供應鏈沒有任何價值。我們正在想辦法如何利用這些功能。

Another one is when I'm out visiting a customer, going to -- when I'm going to the vending machine, now that we own the technology that is the vending machine, our mobility device talks to the vending machine. And so we're not working with a keyboard, a really obtuse keyboard on a vending machine to do inventory transactions. We have a device in our hand, and it's talking to our point-of-sale system, incredibly efficiency enhancement. We're using mobility with our LIFT facilities. So I can fill machines and transmit it to the point-of-sale that it's filled, and it automates a lot of processes behind scene.

還有一個例子是，當我外出拜訪客戶，去自動販賣機那裡時——現在我們擁有了自動販賣機的技術，我們的行動裝置可以與自動販賣機連接。這樣我們就不用再用自動販賣機上那笨重的鍵盤進行庫存交易了。我們手裡拿著一個設備，它就能與我們的銷售點系統通信，這大大提高了效率。我們正在將行動裝置與我們的LIFT系統結合使用。所以我可以給自動販賣機補貨，並將補貨資訊傳輸到銷售點系統，這在後台實現了許多流程的自動化。

Another one is if I'm out talking to a customer, and they have a question about something, I actually have the means to answer the question. I don't need to write it down, get back to the branch, look up at my point-of-sale system and call them back. I can answer it on the spot. I can order it on spot, for that matter. And so it allows you to do a lot of things right now. Just like a cell phone, think of the efficiency that brings to almost every human being on the planet today. I can take care of something right now rather than writing it down and making a phone call when I get back to a phone.

還有一點就是，如果我在外面和客戶交談，他們問了什麼問題，我可以直接回答。我不需要記下來，回到分行，查看我的銷售點系統，然後再打電話過去。我可以當場回答。事實上，我也可以當場下單。所以，它能讓你立刻完成很多事情。就像手機一樣，想想它為當今地球上幾乎每個人帶來的效率提升。我可以立刻處理一些事情，不用記下來，等回到辦公室再打電話。

So it allows us to do a lot of things. And it allows our team to be more mobile in the COVID environment. Being more mobile is great because I don't need to go back to the branch at the end of the day along with everybody else and congest up an area because everybody has to work on the same terminal.

所以它讓我們能夠做很多事。它也讓我們的團隊在新冠疫情環境下更加靈活。彈性辦公非常棒，因為我不需要像其他人一樣在一天結束時回到分行，避免因為大家都要在同一台終端上工作而造成擁堵。

The other piece, it allows us to illuminate for the customer when deliveries are made, when our schedule is coming. And so our customer has greater visibility to their own supply chain, something that was difficult to do in the past.

另一方面，它也能讓我們向客戶清楚地展示交貨時間和預計交貨日期。這樣一來，客戶就能更清楚地了解自身的供應鏈狀況，這在過去是很難做到的。

And the final one is because we're getting orders in earlier in the day, our distribution center can be picking orders we get at 10 o'clock, at 10 in the morning, not at 6 in the evening because that's when the order was entered when they got back to the branch at 5 o'clock on the East Coast or 5 o'clock in the Central Time Zone. It allows you to move work up. If we could pick earlier in the day, our trucks can leave earlier in the day, and more of our branches get a truck by 6 or 7 in the morning rather than 7 or 8 in the morning. So it does a lot of downstream efficiencies.

最後一點是，由於我們能更早收到訂單，我們的配送中心就可以在上午10點（而不是下午6點）揀貨，因為訂單通常是在東部時間下午5點或中部時間下午5點員工回到分公司後才錄入的。這使得我們可以提前處理工作。如果我們能更早揀貨，我們的貨車就能更早出發，這樣一來，更多分公司就能在早上6點或7點而不是7點或8點就收到貨。因此，這大大提高了下游環節的效率。

All right. That's very helpful. And then secondly, I guess, maybe for Holden. I was hoping you could quantify the safety surge in dollars for 2020 that may not repeat in '21. I have my estimate, of course, but I just wanted to sanity check it.

好的，這很有幫助。其次，我想，也許對霍頓汽車來說，我希望您能量化一下2020年安全投入的激增幅度（以美元計），看看2021年是否還會出現這種情況。當然，我自己也有一些估算，但我只是想確認一下。

Well, I think we talked about second quarter. And again, when we think about surge, I'm really confining the dialogues to the second quarter because I don't really know how you differentiate surge from market share gains from customers that are restocking post an issue or prestocking in anticipation of -- I don't know how you differentiate that in Q3 and beyond.

嗯，我想我們討論過第二季。再說一遍，當我們談到激增時，我真的只討論第二季度的情況，因為我真的不知道如何區分激增和客戶在問題出現後補貨或提前囤貨所帶來的市場份額增長——我不知道在第三季度及以後該如何區分這些情況。

And I believe, last quarter, we talked about $350 million to $360 million in surge revenue that one conclusion could be that it may not recur, but one thing I would point out and talked a little bit in my presented remarks or my prepared remarks was we are winning business. If I think just about health care and government, in the second quarter, we had 5,400 accounts that we did not have in the first quarter.

我相信，上個季度我們談到了3.5億至3.6億美元的收入激增，其中一個結論可能是這種情況不會再發生。但我需要指出一點，我在之前的發言稿中也略有提及，那就是我們正在贏得業務。僅就醫療保健和政府業務而言，第二季我們新增了5,400個第一季沒有的客戶帳戶。

Now remember, in our system, an account is not a customer. A customer can have multiple accounts. But we have 5,400 accounts with customers in the second quarter in health care and government that we did not have in the first quarter.

請記住，在我們的系統中，帳戶並不等同於客戶。一個客戶可以擁有多個帳戶。但是，我們在第二季新增了5,400個醫療保健和政府產業的客戶帳戶，而第一季並沒有這些帳戶。

In the third quarter, of those 5,400, in July, 1,000 of them ordered again. In September, I think 850 of them ordered again, right? So that surge business of $350 million to $360 million, will all of it replicate? I mean we hope not, right? To some degree, we don't want to -- we'd like this whole COVID thing to back off. But some of that is being replaced with regular-way business, with customers that we raised our profile with that we didn't have that we now do, and we'll retain some of that.

第三季度，這5,400家客戶中，7月有1,000家再次下單。 9月份，我想應該是850家再次下單了，對吧？那麼，這3.5億到3.6億美元的業務激增，會全部複製嗎？我的意思是，我們希望不會，對吧？某種程度上，我們不希望──我們希望新冠疫情能夠消退。但部分業務正被常規業務所取代，這些客戶是我們之前沒有聯繫過，現在透過提升品牌知名度而建立起來的，我們會保留一部分這樣的客戶。

And so the -- I suppose the quick answer is $350 million to $360 million, but I don't think that the whole is going to be that big. But unfortunately, right now, I'm not really sure what that is at this point. We're going to need more time to really sort of evaluate the data and understand the marketplace and how it evolves. I think that's just a perspective that's worth providing.

所以——我猜最簡單的答案是3.5億到3.6億美元，但我認為最終規模不會那麼大。但遺憾的是，目前我還不確定具體金額。我們需要更多時間來評估數據，了解市場及其發展趨勢。我認為這只是一個值得一提的觀點。

The other wildcard you need to at least consider is when does -- the activity we're seeing in Q3 and the activity we're seeing in Q4, when does that -- some of that subside and we get to whatever our new normal of life in this world is, is it people over the age of 70 wearing masks a lot? I don't know. Is it more sanitizing done? Or are we back in -- 2 years from now is it feel a lot like it felt a year ago. Only time will tell.

另一個需要考慮的不確定因素是，我們在第三季和第四季看到的這種活躍狀態何時會減弱，我們才能恢復到所謂的新常態。新常態是指70歲以上的老人常戴口罩嗎？我不知道。消毒工作會更頻繁嗎？或者我們會回到過去那種狀態──兩年後，感覺會跟一年前很像嗎？只有時間才能給出答案。

Personally, what we've challenged our team to prepare themselves for is regardless of your opinion on when a vaccine may or may not be available, and regardless of your opinion on how fast we can produce, I mean, to provide vaccinations for the population that we have, not just in this country or in this continent, but in this globe, is going to take time.

就我個人而言，我們要求團隊做好準備的是，無論你認為疫苗何時可能或不可能問世，也無論你認為我們能以多快的速度生產，我的意思是，為我們現有的人口提供疫苗，不僅是在這個國家或這個大陸，而是在這個全球範圍內，都需要時間。

And I feel sufficient to say to our employees, we better plan on being in this kind of environment for at least through another 12 months. And how it tweaks and changes and goes up and down between now and then, time will tell, but that's where your head needs to be. And so if that's truly there, that tells me there's going to be a certain level of this extra layer of safety in janitorial products, I believe, for quarters to come.

我覺得有必要告訴我們的員工，我們最好做好至少在未來12個月內繼續在這種環境下工作的準備。至於這段時間情況會如何調整、變化、起伏，時間會給出答案，但你們必須對此保持警覺。如果情況確實如此，我相信，在未來幾個季度裡，清潔用品領域將會保持一定的安全保障。

And let's not forget as well because, obviously, I know the point of the question and understand that. When we're comping against that product, we're also comping against a Fastener business that was down 17% -- 16%, 17% in the same period that...

而我們也不能忘記，因為我當然知道這個問題的重點，也理解這一點。當我們與該產品進行比較時，我們也同時與同期下滑了17%——16%、17%的緊固件業務進行比較…

And 7% this quarter.

本季成長7%。

And 7% this quarter, right? So I understand the point of the question, right? I mean, there certainly is a difficult comparison to be had in Q2. But just bear in mind that we have an easy comparison in fasteners if the market has come back at that point. And we do believe that we have picked up market share. And so that $350 million to $360 million doesn't just go away completely because we picked up business we didn't have in Q1 last year.

這季度是7%，對吧？所以我明白你問這個問題的意思，對吧？我的意思是，第二季的確存在比較困難的情況。但請記住，如果市場屆時已經復甦，那麼緊固件業務的比較就很容易了。而且我們相信我們已經獲得了市場份額。因此，那3.5億到3.6億美元的收入不會完全消失，因為我們獲得了去年第一季沒有的業務。

Our next question is coming from Michael McGinn of Wells Fargo.

下一個問題來自富國銀行的麥可‧麥金。

If I can start on the Onsites. Historically, your branch Onsite or consolidation efforts have been somewhat mirrored by Onsite signings in those same markets or at least that's been my understanding. Given we're in somewhat uncharacteristic times, what is the net impact on your SG&A this year? And maybe next year as the signings pick back up? And do you see a void left in those markets or anything like that?

如果我能先談談現場業務的話。以往，貴行在分公司的現場業務拓展或整合工作，與這些市場的新客戶簽約量基本同步，至少我是這麼理解的。鑑於目前情勢特殊，今年這對貴行的銷售、管理及行政費用（SG&A）有何影響？明年隨著新客戶簽約的回升，情況又會如何？您是否預見到這些市場會出現業務空白或其他類似問題？

The void in the markets related to SG&A from what?

市場中與銷售、一般及行政費用相關的空白來自哪裡？

Yes. So the branch consolidations, they're accelerating where Onsites have decelerated. Historically, my understanding has been you maybe consolidate a branch and a couple of those large customers served by that branch are able to convert to an Onsite. Now this is different. Does that maybe kick start things again in 2021?

是的。所以，分公司的整合正在加速，而現場服務（Onsite）的整合速度則有所放緩。以往我的理解是，可能整合一個分支機構，然後該分支機構服務的幾個大客戶可以轉為現場服務。現在情況不同了。這是否會在2021年再次推動業務成長？

So the first thing I would say is I wouldn't so explicitly tie branch closings to Onsite openings. I can't rule out that there haven't been some branches that have been closed maybe in small markets where there's very few customers because some Onsites have gotten created.

首先，我想說的是，我不認為關閉分店和開設線上門市是必然聯繫在一起的。我不能排除有些分店關閉是因為在一些客流量很小的市場開設了線上門店，而這些分店可能因此關閉。

I think that probably has happened. But in general, they've been independent decisions. The decision to close a branch has more often been because it's a smaller branch that maybe the path of scaling it doesn't look today like it might have looked 5 years ago, 7 years ago when it got opened.

我認為這種情況很可能發生過。但總的來說，這些都是獨立做出的決定。關閉某個分支的決定通常是因為該分支規模較小，其擴展路徑可能與 5 年前、7 年前剛創建時有所不同。

And the Onsite decision is similarly somewhat independent. So I would be cautious about tying those 2 explicitly together that way. I think that they're more independent than you're giving credit for.

現場面試的決定也同樣具有一定的獨立性。因此，我不建議將這兩者直接聯繫起來。我認為它們的獨立性比你想像的還要強。

The only place that you could make a link is roughly half of our branches, I think it's 55%, are in large metropolitan areas with more than 0.5 million people. And so there, there is some connection, but it's not -- think of it more as we open Onsites in a market like Minneapolis St. Paul. And we go directly engage with customers Onsite. Over time, it might mean to serve the market in Minneapolis Saint Paul. Fewer branches make sense because instead of having 30 or 40 branches in the market, we might have 15 to 20 branches in the market and 40 Onsites.

唯一能找到關聯的地方是，我們大約一半的分支機構（我認為是 55%）位於人口超過 50 萬的大都會區。所以，這之間確實存在一些聯繫，但並非直接相關——你可以把它理解為我們在像明尼阿波利斯-聖保羅這樣的市場開設了線下服務點。我們會直接在服務點與客戶互動。隨著時間的推移，這可能意味著我們需要服務整個明尼阿波利斯-聖保羅市場。減少分支機構數量是合理的，因為我們可能不需要在市場上設立 30 到 40 家分支機構，而是只需 15 到 20 家分支機構和 40 家線下服務點即可。

And so you're really morphing how you're approaching it, but it's more of a case of the one allowed the other to operate in a different fashion it's more efficient.

所以你實際上是在改變你處理問題的方式，但這更多的是一種讓另一種以不同的方式運作，從而提高效率的情況。

So if you don't tie the openings and closings of the 2 together, does that change your question?

所以，如果你不把這兩個的開頭和結尾連結起來，你的問題會改變嗎？

No, I'm all said. Just -- I'll take it a different direction from here. So given that you were able to take some early actions regarding stocking ahead of COVID and shown an attitude for skating to where the puck is going, not where it is. And also trying to remain as apolitical as possible. You've always paid your fair share of taxes, and you've also benefited from fair and open trade. So looking into '21, what is the most important factor for your business in your mind?

不，我已經說完了。只是——我想換個話題。鑑於您在新冠疫情爆發前就採取了早期儲備措施，並且展現了未雨綢繆、未雨綢繆的態度，同時也盡可能保持政治中立。您一直以來都按時繳納稅款，也受益於公平開放的貿易。那麼展望2021年，您認為對您的企業而言最重要的因素是什麼？

I'll give mine and then Dan can give his, but I think it's reaccelerating the growth driver activity. And again, part of that is simply when do customers reengage with us because that kind of shut down during the second quarter as our customers are dealing with some more pressing issues at the time. But those growth drivers are key to what allows us to gain market share.

我先說說我的看法，然後丹再說說他的看法，但我認為這正在重新加速成長驅動因素的發揮作用。當然，部分原因在於客戶何時會重新與我們互動，因為在第二季度，由於客戶當時正忙於處理一些更緊迫的問題，這種互動一度停滯。但這些成長驅動因素是我們贏得市場佔有率的關鍵。

And so when Dan talks about the hundreds, the 100 vending a day and the 100 Onsites a quarter, I think sort of getting back to that level, give or take, of signings for our growth drivers is critical not only for 2021 growth, but probably more importantly for 2022, 2023, et cetera. I think -- we're built on growth drivers and growth and those are sort of core to it. So that's, I think, a very important element of us -- for us right now.

所以當丹談到每天數百台自動販賣機、每季100個現場銷售點時，我認為，對於我們的成長驅動因素而言，恢復到那個水準（上下浮動）至關重要，這不僅對2021年的成長至關重要，而且對2022年、2023年及以後的發展可能更為重要。我認為——我們依靠成長驅動因素和成長而發展，這些因素是我們的核心。所以，我認為這對我們來說——目前來說——是一個非常重要的因素。

Michael, I love the way you asked the question. You're looking -- you have an apolitical question, looking for an apolitical answer. I only wish our media on both sides of the fence could do the same. And from my standpoint, we're a supply chain partner to our customers. We operate in the same environment all of our peers do. We have no unique advantage or are not uniquely hurt by anything that changes, we react to it. We reacted to COVID.

邁克爾，我非常欣賞你提問的方式。你提出的問題不涉及政治，你所尋求的答案也不涉及政治。我真希望我們兩黨的媒體都能做到這一點。就我個人而言，我們是客戶的供應鏈夥伴。我們和其他同行一樣，在相同的環境下運作。我們沒有任何獨特的優勢，也不會因為任何變化而遭受獨特的損失，我們只是做出反應。我們對新冠疫情做出了反應。

Because of our decentralized nature, because of our true belief in people and giving them the freedom to make decisions, we just move faster because we're not looking -- everybody isn't looking to somebody else to tell them what to do. We do and we support each other. And so if the trading patterns between nations on the planet changes, we will morph to that change just like our industry will, and just like our customers will, and the marketplace will.

正因為我們秉持去中心化的理念，正因為我們真正相信人，並賦予他們決策的自由，我們才能更快地行動，因為我們無需——每個人都無需仰賴他人的指示。我們自主行動，互相支持。因此，如果全球各國之間的貿易格局發生變化，我們也會隨之調整，就像我們的產業、我們的客戶以及整個市場一樣。

And I think our actions over the last several years in a tariff environment and now in a COVID environment demonstrate the sheer strength of the Fastenal distribution model as a supply chain partner to our customers.

我認為，過去幾年我們在關稅環境下以及現在在新冠疫情環境下所採取的行動，充分展現了 Fastenal 分銷模式作為我們客戶供應鏈合作夥伴的強大實力。

It is 5 minutes to. I think we have time for one quick question if there's one more.

還有5分鐘。我想如果還有最後一個問題，我們還可以快速問一個。

Our next question is coming from Hamzah Mazari of Jefferies.

下一個問題來自傑富瑞集團的哈姆札·馬扎里。

My quick question is, just at a high level, if you could just compare what does the sales cycle look like today during COVID on Onsites? I know you mentioned sort of 62 signings, but -- versus pre-COVID. Is the sales cycle just pushed out by a few months? Is it longer? Is it sort of an in-person type meeting you have to have? Just give us a sense of, is there pent-up demand here from signings that were sort of midway through that got essentially closed due to COVID and will reopen? Just any thoughts, high-level, as to the sales cycle.

我的問題很簡單，能否概括地談談疫情期間現場銷售的周期變化？我知道您提到大約簽了62份合同，但與疫情前相比，銷售週期是延長了幾個月嗎？還是更長了？是否必須進行面對面的會談？能否簡要說明一下，是否存在一些因疫情而擱置的合同，在進行到一半時被取消，現在又重新開放，從而積壓了大量需求？請您就銷售週期的整體情況談談您的看法。

Yes. I don't think the sales cycle has changed at all assuming you can do a sales cycle. And what I mean by that is there's some business -- it is when times get crazy, some people kind of duck their head and say, okay, let's figure out what we are. It's status. It's kind of like in the movie Apollo 13 when everything is falling apart in the rocket going through the moon. Okay, guys, what's status? What do we have on the ship that works?

是的。我認為銷售週期本身並沒有改變，前提是你能理解銷售週期。我的意思是，有些企業——尤其是在情況嚴峻的時候——會選擇逃避，然後說，好吧，我們得好好想想自己到底是什麼。關鍵在於地位。這有點像電影《阿波羅13號》裡，火箭飛越月球時，一切都開始崩潰。好吧，夥計們，地位是什麼？我們飛船上哪些東西還能用？

And that's what a lot of companies go through as they kind of shut down and they say, okay, what are we doing? And Fastenal, we're going to give you the Heisman and say we can't talk today. So it's not that the sales cycle is drawn out. It might be the sales cycle doesn't occur.

很多公司都會經歷類似的困境，它們會被迫停擺，然後問自己：我們該怎麼辦？而Fastenal公司則會直接宣布：今天我們沒空談。所以，問題不在於銷售週期被拉長，而是銷售週期根本無法進行。

And so the real question is, when does it start to occur? I mean, one of the things that hurt us in 2020 on top of COVID is, an outgrowth of COVID was, we didn't have our normal customer expo in the spring, which is a great igniter for change because you get a chance to really engage with folks, and you really are able to talk about what we are.

所以真正的問題是，這種情況何時開始發生？我的意思是，除了新冠疫情之外，2020 年對我們造成打擊的一件事是，新冠疫情的後果之一是，我們沒能舉辦往年春季的客戶博覽會。客戶博覽會是推動改變的絕佳契機，因為它提供了一個與客戶真正互動、真正介紹我們業務的機會。

We're not in the e-commerce platform. We're not somebody to hop on. And if we have it, great, and if we don't, you're kind of SOL. We are your supply chain. And we'll find stuff for you. And so we're slowly -- our customers are willing to take that call even if it's a virtual call.

我們不屬於電商平台，也不是那種隨便就能上去的商家。如果我們有貨，那當然好；如果沒有，那您就只能自認倒霉了。我們是您的供應鏈，我們會幫您找到貨源。所以，我們的客戶也逐漸願意接受我們的電話服務，即使是線上通話。

It doesn't have to be in person. It's nice if it is, but it doesn't have to be. In some ways, we might move faster in a virtual world because we're not waiting for a resource to be there, maybe somebody at the plant can't make a meeting, but they can if it's done virtually.

不一定非得是面對面的。如果能面對面當然最好，但並非必須。在某些方面，虛擬世界或許能讓我們行動更快，因為我​​們不需要等待資源到位。例如，工廠裡有人可能無法參加會議，但如果是線上會議，他們就能參加了。

And so in some ways, it might shorten the sales cycle. I do believe this. I believe it's expanded the demand because the marketplace is more appreciative of a great supply chain partner after the last 6 months than maybe they were in the past, and when I say expand, my example earlier with government. I think a lot of those folks would kind of look at us in the past and say, you want to what, that's different, and we don't do different. And now they're looking at it and saying, we need to do different. We need to embrace change. So I think it's expanded it.

因此，從某種程度上來說，這可能會縮短銷售週期。我確實相信這一點。我相信它擴大了需求，因為在經歷了過去六個月的種種挑戰之後，市場比以往任何時候都更加重視優秀的供應鏈合作夥伴。說到擴大需求，就像我之前舉的政府例子。我認為過去很多政府部門會看著我們說：「你們想做什麼？這不一樣，我們不會改變。」 而現在，他們開始反思，並意識到「我們需要改變，我們需要擁抱變革」。所以我認為這擴大了需求。

I see we're at about 2 minutes before, so I won't give you a follow-up, sorry, but holding is available right after the call.

我看到距離通話結束還有大約 2 分鐘，所以很抱歉，我不會再給您後續訊息了，但是通話結束後就可以繼續等待了。

I'd just like to close with my thanks to the Fastenal team for everything you've done, not just the last 3 months, but for the last 6 months, and frankly, for years. Many of you have been with us years, and you've seen us through good times and bad. And we make -- we find success together. I want to thank you our shareholders for participating today.

最後，我要衷心感謝Fastenal團隊所做的一切，不僅是過去三個月，更是過去六個月，坦白說，是多年來的付出。你們中的許多人已經和我們一起走過了多年，見證了我們的順境和逆境。我們共同創造了成功。我也要感謝各位股東今天蒞臨現場。

And in closing, on October 28, my wife and I will celebrate 25 years. And Jenn, thanks if you're listening. Have a good day, everybody. Take care.

最後，10月28日是我和妻子結婚25週年紀念日。珍妮，如果你在聽，謝謝你。祝大家今天過得愉快。保重。

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your participation. This concludes today's event. You may disconnect your lines or log off the webcast at this time, and have a wonderful day.

女士們、先生們，感謝各位的參與。今天的活動到此結束。您可以斷開線路或退出網路直播，祝您度過美好的一天。