MDM news digest

This industry - across virtually all product areas - is providing an unprecedented response to the events of Sept. 11 in the U.S. Manufacturers and distributors of industrial supplies - particularly safety equipment, tools and equipment to assist in search and rescue efforts - have made generous donations of product, time, money and technical assistance into the rescue and recovery sites in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania, and continue to keep workers supplied with protective equipment. Some associations are helping to coordinate assistance efforts.

Kaman Corp., Bloomfield, CT, has agreed to acquire the industrial distribution business of A-C Supply, Milwaukee, WI. The business will become part of Kaman's industrial distribution subsidiary, Kaman Industrial Technologies, based in Windsor, CT. The transaction is expected to close shortly. A-C Supply is a privately held company with revenues last year of approximately $45 million.

Mixed economic vital signs. Before Sept. 11, there were isolated reports by distributors and manufacturers that either August or September was showing some positive signs regarding sales trends. But also several reports of a stronger August than July, followed by a tougher first part of September. This on the heels of government reports that industrial production was down by 0.8% in August, after a 0.1% monthly drop in July. That came after a 1.0% drop in June. Even with the terrorist attacks and consumer confidence taking a punch in the gut this month, there still seems to be some optimism this month that the industrial sector could start to recover some lost ground.

July U.S. machine tool consumption totaled $191.9 million, according to AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology and AMTDA, the American Machine Tool Distributors' Association. This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTC program, was down 18.7% from June and down 42.9% from the total of $336.3 million reported for July 2000. With a year-to-date total of $1,672.2 million, 2001 is down 29.3% compared to the same period in 2000.

New York Fasteners, Paramus, NJ, was awarded five long-term agreements from Pratt & Whitney, an aerospace business unit of United Technologies Corporation, to supply industry-standard fasteners and specialized hardware parts, following a UTC-sponsored competitive online bidding event for 12-point industrial bolt and related assembly components lots totaling $1.6 million.

The new order index for ISMA, the Industrial Supply Manufacturers Association, increased by 3.9 index points in June from its May level. Year-to-date new orders stand 7.5% lower than levels reached during 2000.

Applied Industrial Technologies, Cleveland, OH, is publishing a 450-page catalog in October with more than 14,000 hydraulic and pneumatic products from 45 manufacturers. Calling it Fluid Power Connection, AIT says the products represent the fluid power offering at its 470 U.S. service centers. The catalog contains detailed schematics illustrating how components fit into an entire system to help identify complementary products, as well as a configurator to assist with cylinder selection.

Graybar Electric, St. Louis, MO, has opened its eleventh regional distribution center in Charlotte, NC. The company plans to use the 158,000-square-foot center to provide next-day service to North and South Carolina. Graybar plans to have 16 regional zone DCs in place by next year with the goal of shipping orders to 98% of customers within 24 hours.

SKF, Goteberg, Sweden, and Goodyear have created an alliance to provide value-added service to the industrial power transmission market in Brazil. The Power Transmission Alliance is an alliance between the two companies with the mission to provide customized solutions to optimize the industrial manufacturing performance for their customers. The agreement

covers joint activities in products and services, sales, training, logistics and marketing. The solution kits, provided by the alliance, will create the possibility to improve the performance of industrial machinery and systems involving services and products such as bearings, seals, aligning and monitoring equipment, lubricants, tools, belts, pulleys and hoses. "Forming this alliance with Goodyear furthers our initiative in the market place to provide industrial customers with a complete range of maintenance services. Goodyear's leadership brings complementary technical expertise and product knowledge that will allow the alliance to provide a more complete package," says Alrik Danielson, managing director SKF do Brasil.

Air Liquide America, Houston, TX, has sold its Santa Maria, CA, welding retail store to Central Coast Gases, an independent supplier of welding gases and hardgoods. The divestment is part of an effort to improve profitability and realign the company's Industrial Customers business. Central Coast Gases, a previous distributor for Air Liquide America, also signed an agreement to join the company's newly created ALNET distributor network. Air Liquide is restructuring its hardgoods business and divesting all retail assets, including its small- and medium-sized customers, to the ALNET distributor network. Air Liquide will no longer supply hardgoods directly to these customers; however, they will continue to supply industrial, medical and specialty cylinder gases to the large customer segment of the market.

NAW's Executive Network CEO/CIO Conference will take place Oct. 10-11, 2001 at the O'Hare Hilton in Chicago. Senior-level distribution executives will explore the results of NAW's flagship industry report - Facing the Forces of Change and examine the implications of report findings for wholesaler-distributors with annual sales between $20 and $100 million. For more information, go to www.naw.org.