Exhibit 31

BIG ASSUMPTIONS:

• No mathematical model will ever give us the true, discounted-cash-flow, net-present-value profitability ranking for our customers. The KISS approach to model making works best.
• Freaks of nature and most interesting opportunities happen at the "living edges" of ecosystems and our business. By looking deeply into what is going on at the extremes of our business via ranking reports, we are most apt to find new � knowledge, insights and methods � which can make our company different than the other, commodity-selling distributors.
• When we look at edges in our business through different lenses, we will see results that don�t fit with our traditional thinking. We need to first brainstorm on all of the questions we can think of and order them in a helpful sequence to then start pushing the "wheel of learning (Slide show # 11, Slide # 8 at www.merrifield.com) to make first good thought experiments followed up by some quick questions to other stakeholders to gauge their interest or resistance.
• As we develop new mental models for dealing with new results, we must also unpack the emotion-laden, old beliefs that don�t want to accept the new results (Slide show # 11, Slides 4 & 5 at www.merrifield.com). By blending what is still effective of the old with the new, we can then try pushing the wheel of learning to do rubber-meets-the road experiments.
• We will necessarily have to make "good mistakes" and start "failing forward" to get process-smart with new methods that will carry us to new north star, breakthrough results for all stakeholders.
• Below is a frontier question map for top 10+ most profitable customers. Can we look at both the list of customers and the questions to start a "dialogue" that will lead us to co-creating new knowledge by openly sharing: thoughts, history, facts, stories, feelings, etc.

QUESTIONS

• Do a common item needs analysis for biggest, best, similar accounts within a niche.
• Beef up the fill rates for those items bought by 2 or more customers.
• Print out custom lists for each customer of what they haven�t been buying from the common list.
• Assign a project manager to review the list with each customer to see if we can change their purchasing systems (and habits) for buying a number of the oversight items on a systematic, larger average order basis to benefit us both.
• Do a survey of the core customers in each target niche that identifies their common miscellaneous product supply vendors and items looking for more miscellaneous items that we can add to inventory and our new, improved, co-created replenishment system.
• Make sure that all employees know the top X most profitable, core customers by heart and that their reflexive answer should be "YES!" no matter what the customer requests or needs. (Could we give them all some case study training on what type of "heroic extra effort service(s)" they could possibly do?

• why more people are buying more items from Wal-Mart SuperCenters; and
• why big industrial accounts have been consolidating suppliers and even going to integrated sole supply deals.

15. If a customer has not requested us to work with them to take their buying processes to the next level to lower total procurement cost, what percent would be amenable to our teaching them total value purchasing system ideas? Or should we wait for them to get enlightened and react; or, wait for another competitor to try to steal our best accounts with a "breakthrough, new way to do business together"?
16. If we used the most profitable customers as proxies for all other customers in the same niche within a profit center trading area, how many customers would there be in total? After we get process-smart with our best, most cooperative, most creative core customers, should we work our way on down the ranking list for one niche at a time?
17. We need to look for more ways to more perfectly sell total value to the core customers in our #1 historic best niche of customers. How can we find some new opportunities?
18. What if we stapled ourselves to both their purchasing paper work flow and our billing paper work flow into and through the customers� places? Could we find some inter-business, paper-based systems re-engineering improvement opportunities?
19. What if we followed the flow and use of our products through the customer�s entire business and utilization experience? Could we find ways to deliver the right product to the right place the right way every time that could significantly improve the customer�s productivity, lack of downtime or general satisfaction?
20. If we spend time hanging out with the people who must get and apply the goods we sell, can we find any frustration, excess cost or time inefficiencies in their world? How could we take that pain away and get rewarded for it?
21. Can anyone think of a customer niche for which the company found a "golden nugget" of additional service opportunity which allowed the company to gain significant, profitable market share? Can we do it again with a systematic discovery process? How will we know if we don�t
"push the wheel of learning" and try some cheap, quick, good experiments? (How do you think P&G discovered that people were having a hard time lifting their jumbo Tide containers, so they put a spigot on the bottom of the big container?)
22. If we insisted that ALL employees at a profit center know by heart the top 5+ most profitable customers, should we give them some "Yes, what�s the question/problem Mr. Great Customer training? Ritz Carlton, for example, allows their housekeepers to spend up to $2000 of company resources to smooth any customers ruffled feathers before having to check with a supervisor. But, they do give them some background and scenario based training.