45 x 90 mm Aluminium Profile: Stock Planning for Distributors

01Which lengths should a distributor actually hold?

Three, and the split is decided by what a customer can cut down versus what they cannot join up. Hold 6 m as the master length, 3 m as the fast-moving length, and cut 1.5 m and 2 m from 3 m on demand rather than stocking them. A customer who needs 1.5 m will accept a 3 m length if the price is per metre; a customer who needs 6 m cannot use two 3 m lengths without a joint, and the joint is usually unacceptable.

The ratio that works in practice is roughly 55 percent 6 m and 45 percent 3 m by length, weighted further towards 3 m if your customers are fabricators with small vehicles and towards 6 m if they are project buyers. Review it every quarter against actual cut lengths, not against what customers said they wanted.

02Why does 45 x 90 cover more enquiries than any other single SKU?

Because it sits at the intersection of two slot systems. At 45 mm pitch with six 10.2 mm slots and M10 nuts, it takes the 45 series accessories directly, and its 90 mm face carries two slots at the same pitch, which lets it work as a beam in frames that were designed around a 90 mm module. Very few sections cross over like that.

It is also the smallest section in the range that carries a genuine two-slot face. A 45 x 60 gives you four slots total, one per face; the 45 x 90 gives six, with two on the wide face, which is what a panel or a rail needs.

• 4.10 kg/m, so a 6 m length is about 25 kg: one person can handle it, which matters for a distributor’s own labour.
• About 68 cm4 about the strong axis, enough for a 2.4 m span at normal panel loads.
• Takes M10 slot nuts, the same as the 45 x 180, so one accessory line covers both.
• Heavy wall version at 4.85 kg/m uses the same accessories, so a customer who upgrades does not have to change hardware.

03How do you fill a mixed container without wasting volume?

A 20 foot container holds about 28 cubic metres and around 20 to 24 tonnes of aluminium, whichever limit comes first. For extrusion bundles the volume limit almost always binds before the weight limit, because a bundle of hollow sections is mostly air. That is why the mix should be planned by bundle footprint, not by tonne.

The practical approach is to fix the number of bundles first, then allocate them across sections. A 6 m bundle of 45 x 90 in a timber cradle occupies roughly 0.5 m of container width, so a 20 foot box takes about four bundles across and four high, giving sixteen bundle positions. Allocate those sixteen before you think about tonnage.

Two practical constraints. Accessories go on top of the bundles, not in a separate pallet, or you lose a bundle position. And leave the last position partly empty rather than filling it with a slow-moving section: an under-filled position costs a little freight, an over-stocked slow mover costs working capital for a year.

04How do the payment term and the exchange rate set the price band?

A distributor’s margin is thin enough that the financing term moves it more than the unit price does. Two orders at the same FOB price, one on 30 days and one on 90 days, are not the same cost, and the difference is usually larger than the discount a supplier will give for a slightly bigger quantity.

Work the band from three inputs: the landed cost, the carrying cost of the payment term, and the currency exposure between order and arrival. For an order placed today and landing in seven weeks, a two percent move in the exchange rate is larger than most quantity discounts.

05How do you write a batch colour clause a supplier can actually meet?

Most colour disputes come from a clause that says “uniform colour” without saying against what, over what area, and under what light. A supplier cannot meet that, so they accept it and then argue about it later. A clause that can be met names four things: the reference, the measurement condition, the acceptance limit and the remedy.

1. The reference. A retained physical sample, signed and dated by both sides, held by each. Not a colour code, because an anodised finish is not a paint colour and does not have a Pantone equivalent.
2. The measurement condition. Daylight, north facing, or a defined light box at 6500 K. Never under sodium or mixed lighting, which is where most disputes are born.
3. The acceptance limit. For clear anodising, a Delta E of about 1.5 between batches is a workable limit; for black, 1.0. State whether the comparison is batch to batch or batch to the retained sample.
4. The remedy. Replacement of the affected bundles, or a credit, and the time limit for raising it. Without a remedy the clause is a statement of intent.

06What five numbers should be on the enquiry?

A distributor’s enquiry is a stocking decision, so the numbers are about coverage and cash, not about one project.

Length mix

the 6 m and 3 m split, and whether you want 1.5 m cut or supplied

Sections and ratio

how the bundles split across 45 x 90, 45 x 60 and 40 x 40

Finish

mill finish for stock, AA15 anodised for the lines that sell anodised

Payment term

30/70 or letter of credit, because it changes the landed cost

Repeat schedule

one container or four a year, which changes the die and press planning

Colour clause

the reference sample and the Delta E limit, stated at enquiry

Related sections and categories

The 45 x 90 is listed with the rest of the range under 45 Series Aluminium Profiles. The 45 x 90 mm heavy wall version at 4.85 kg/m takes the same accessories, and the finish options are under anodised aluminium profiles.