MDM News Digest 3804

Chicago-based facilities maintenance distributor Grainger responded to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Eastern Wisconsin alleging the distributor had overcharged the U.S. government by charging more than the agreed-upon 26-percent markup as well as illegally relabeled products manufactured in non-trade agreement countries so they could be sold to the U.S. government. Grainger is required by contract with the General Services Administration to prevent product from countries that do not have reciprocal trade agreements with the U.S. from being offered for sale to government agencies. Grainger said: The company takes this allegation seriously. Although Grainger believes the company has fully complied with its contract, it intends to carefully review the allegations to ensure it meets its obligations to its customers."The complaint was initially filed by Brian M. Holbrook, a former district sales manager of government sales at Grainger. More
Platinum Equity has agreed to buy Industrial Distribution Group, Inc., Atlanta, GA, distributor of maintenance, repair, operating and production (MROP) products and integrated supply services to manufacturers and other industrial users, for about $113 million. With the acquisition, IDG will go private. Platinum Equity also owns Strategic Distribution. More
The Power Transmission Distributors Association (PTDA) reported that distributors and manufacturers in North America experienced overall growth in sales in 2007. However, while still positive, sales of PT/MC products are slowing. U.S. distributors'saw a 6.8 percent increase in product sales in 2007. More
Raw material and energy costs topped the list of cost pressure concerns in 2008, according to a recent survey by Prime Advantage, a buying consortium for small and mid-sized manufacturers, focused on the top economic concerns in 2008. More than 46 percent agreed raw materials were a major concern. Energy costs were the second biggest concern, and logistics and supply chain costs followed closely. More
Lakeland Industries, Inc., manufacturer of protective apparel, has agreed to acquire Brazilian protective apparel supplier Qualytextil S.A. for $12.5 million. More
Bearings Specialty Company, Canton, MA, has purchased Machine Parts Corp., Providence, RI, and Machine Drives, Hartford, CT. Machine Parts and Machine Drives will operate as divisions of Bearings Specialty Company. More
Rexel, distributor of electrical supplies, has acquired Suzhou Xidian in China. The acquisition is the second in China in the past 12 months. More
Wheeler's Building Materials, Rome, GA, has filed for Ch. 11 bankruptcy protection. The distributor and manufacturer, which serves the struggling residential sector, has 15 distribution facilities throughout Atlanta, North Georgia, Birmingham, AL, and Charlotte, NC. The company also has three manufacturing facilities and a sales support center. More
United Stationers Inc., Deerfield, IL, reported sales in 2007 grew 2.2 percent to $4.6 billion. The increase reflected continued strong growth in the janitorial and breakroom supplies category. More
Watsco, Inc., Coconut Grove, FL, reported sales in 2007 of $1.76 billion, including $121 million from locations acquired

or opened in the past 12 months. Revenues on a same-store basis fell 7.6 percent, reflecting a 5 percent decline in sales of HVAC equipment (45 percent of sales). More
Genuine Parts Company reported sales in 2007 were $10.84 billion, up 4 percent compared with 2006. Profit for the year was $506.3 million, up 7 percent. Industrial distributor Motion Industries reported sales were up 8 percent in 2007, and EIS, GPC's Electrical/Electronic Group, reported a 7 percent increase in sales. More
Barnes Group Inc., Bristol, CT, aerospace and industrial components manufacturer and distributor, reported sales in 2007 grew 14 percent to $1.44 billion, and profit was up 37 percent.  More
Electrical distributor and integrator Hagemeyer NV reported sales of €6.4 billion in 2007 (US$9.4 billion at current exchange rates). Organic revenue growth was 4.3 percent for the year, decreasing from 5.7 percent in the first half to 3.1 percent in the second half. About 75 percent of the organic revenue growth for the year was attributed to price increases. More
Canadian wholesalers sold $520.7 billion worth of goods in 2007, a 4.7 percent increase over the previous year, according to Statistics Canada. All seven wholesale sectors registered stronger growth in 2007, led by the "other products"sector, which consists primarily of wholesalers of agricultural fertilizers and supplies, chemicals, recycled materials and paper products, as well as by the personal and household goods sector. The automotive sector was the only area to record growth significantly below the national average during 2007. The increase in wholesale sales was spread, with every province and territory posting gains in 2007. More
Canada's manufacturing sector managed to stay afloat in 2007, according to Statistics Canada. Sharp price-driven increases for both petroleum and primary metals provided buoyancy, as sales edged up 0.3 percent over 2006 levels to $612.9 billion. Manufacturing of primary metals rose 5 percent on sharp demand from Asian markets. Alternatively, motor vehicle (-3.2 percent) and wood product (-15.8 percent) manufacturers saw sales drop in the face of challenging market conditions. More

The Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI Quarterly Economic Forecast predicts that inflation-adjusted GDP growth will slow to 1.3% in 2008 before improving to 2.5% in 2009. GDP growth will be down an average of 0.6 percent in the first two quarters before returning to growth in the second half of 2008. Manufacturing production growth will show a significant decline from an already low 1.9% growth in 2007 to an estimated 0.5% in 2008, preceding a solid upswing to 3.4% in 2009.