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Strategy

Grainger’s High-Touch Advantage: How the MRO Leader Turned Customer Problems into a Growth Engine

Grainger’s largest business is no longer just about supplying MRO products. Its High-Touch model is built around helping customers reduce procurement friction, inventory waste, labor strain and operational complexity. We explore that business unit in the first of a three-part deep dive series into the company that has long dominated MDM's Top Distributors Lists.

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Market Analysis

Large Distributors are Gaining Pricing Power 6X Faster than You. Here’s the Data

Mergers & Acquisitions

May M&A Roundup: Ferguson Adds a Half Dozen & Rexel Inks Midwest Boost

Market Analysis

Vendor Costs are Eating Your Margin. Your Bigger Competitors Don’t Have that Problem

Quarterly MDM-Baird Distribution Survey

Research: Competitive Pressure in Distribution Persists, Intensifies Driven by Scale

Economic Trends

MDM Forecast: May Update

Data & Analytics

Market Analytics, Pt. 3: From Insight to Intervention – Activating the Growth Engine

Expert Perspective

Graybar’s Mazzarella on AI, Advocacy and Distribution’s Human Advantage

Mergers & Acquisitions

QXO Maps Out Post-Deal Playbook as it Integrates Beacon, Kodiak and Adds TopBuild

ERP

DNOW Says MRC ERP System Has Stabilized as Optimization Work Continues

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK REPORTS

MDM 2Q26 Forecast Report

This comprehensive MDM 2Q26 Forecast is a guide to the U.S. wholesale distribution economy, providing a historical, current and future snapshot of numerous key economic indicators in one convenient place along with our exclusive sector-specific forecasts for 19 different product categories. Its economic indicator data is updated through May 15.

MDM 1Q26 Forecast Report

This comprehensive MDM 1Q26 Forecast is a guide to the U.S. wholesale distribution economy, providing a historical, current and future snapshot of numerous key economic indicators in one convenient place along with our exclusive sector-specific forecasts for 19 different product categories. This report was freshly updated in late February.

Premium Monthly

MDM May 2026 Premium Monthly

Our May issue is packed with articles that cover the margin pressure gap between large and small distributors; a deep dive into Grainger’s impressive 1Q; parts 2 and 3 of Tom Gale’s data analytics series; updates on DNOW’s MRC Global integration and ERP headaches; our monthly MDM Forecast and M&A Roundup; a Wiring products Market Profile; and more.

Market Insight Reports

MDM 1Q26 M&A Report

See our breakdown of M&A activity by product category, the latest EBITDA trading multiples for 27 publicly traded industrial distributors; our latest Premium articles, which take deep dives into the M&A strategies of two prominent companies; and our detailed recap of dealmaking activity during January-March, which was the busiest three-month stretch since May-July 2024.

MDM 1Q26 MarketPulse Report

MDM’s 1Q26 MarketPulse Report consists of the quarterly results, analysis and commentary from the latest Baird-MDM Industrial Distribution Survey — conducted early April — that explored revenue performance, pricing and business expectations for the current quarter and rest-of-year. It includes a wealth of market-specific data and commentary from survey respondents.

Case Studies

MDM Case Study: Singer Industrial

How has Singer Industrial grown into a 55-plus-company platform while preserving local leadership and culture? This MDM Case Study explores the industrial rubber, fluid power and automation distributor’s coordinated autonomy model, acquisition strategy and technology investments that are helping drive scale, efficiency and long-term growth.

MDM Case Study: Ludwig Meister

Ludwig Meister shows how disciplined sequencing — not flashy tech — drives real innovation. Authored by former MDM CEO and Editor Tom Gale, this case study details how the German distributor built a data-driven, AI-enabled operation by prioritizing internal processes, clean data and execution before transforming sales and customer experience.

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Market Analysis

Large Distributors are Gaining Pricing Power 6X Faster than You. Here’s the Data

This piece analyzes recent MDM survey data to compare pricing power divergence between large and small distributors. It's measurable, and most small companies haven't seen it yet, says author Nelson Valderrama.

Mergers & Acquisitions

May M&A Roundup: Ferguson Adds a Half Dozen & Rexel Inks Midwest Boost

A healthy month saw Ferguson share news of six newly-added companies, while Rexel added a considerable Midwest booth with its latest bolt-on. Get our rundown of every deal we published about during May, along with our updated monthly deal count and breakdown of year-to-date transactions by product category.

Market Analysis

Vendor Costs are Eating Your Margin. Your Bigger Competitors Don’t Have that Problem

New MDM data reveals that sub-$100M distributors face a fundamentally different margin threat than their larger peers — and the pressure is about to get worse.

Quarterly MDM-Baird Distribution Survey

Research: Competitive Pressure in Distribution Persists, Intensifies Driven by Scale

Distributors say national players and PE-backed consolidation are challenging the competitive landscape. Check out commentary and survey results from the latest MDM-Baird Industrial Distribution Survey.

Economic Trends

MDM Forecast: May Update

Our latest update shows another healthy upgrade for the U.S. wholesale distribution industry's 2026 annual revenues - skewed by oil & gas price assumptions as well as other inflationary impacts. Get your much more valuable sector-specific revenue forecasts here.

Data & Analytics

Market Analytics, Pt. 3: From Insight to Intervention – Activating the Growth Engine

The third and final part of this series moves from insight to execution — showing how distributors can use RFM analysis, churn signals and customer lifecycle analytics to prioritize accounts, sharpen sales focus and build a more disciplined, data-driven growth engine.

Expert Perspective

Graybar’s Mazzarella on AI, Advocacy and Distribution’s Human Advantage

Graybar Chairman, President and CEO Kathy Mazzarella — who also serves as NAW’s Chairman — recently joined NAW’s Distributors Deliver Podcast to discuss AI adoption, advocacy, organizational agility and leadership. The conversation offers distributors a roadmap for navigating disruption while preserving the human relationships that define the industry. Here’s our key takeaways and analysis.

Mergers & Acquisitions

QXO Maps Out Post-Deal Playbook as it Integrates Beacon, Kodiak and Adds TopBuild

QXO used a new investor Q&A document to outline how it plans to integrate Beacon and Kodiak, extract value from its pending TopBuild acquisition and continue building a tech-enabled building products distribution platform. We lay it all out and discuss what to watch for.

ERP

DNOW Says MRC ERP System Has Stabilized as Optimization Work Continues

DNOW says MRC Global’s troubled U.S. ERP system has “stabilized” but remains unoptimized, as the distributor details operational improvements, lingering financial impacts and signs of recovery following months of disruption tied to the Oracle rollout. We detail and analyze the latest updates here.

Market Analysis

Deep Dive: Inside Grainger’s Best Quarter in 3 Years

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Quarterly MDM-Baird Distribution Survey

Research: Pricing, Operating Costs Lead Concerns Around Geopolitical Risk to Business

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Data & Analytics

Market Analytics, Pt. 2: The Growth Engine – Sales Transformation Starts with Data

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Mergers & Acquisitions

April M&A Roundup: QXO, Watsco Lead Less Active Month

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Quarterly MDM-Baird Distribution Survey

Research: Pricing Power Holds Steady While Pressure Builds Beneath the Surface

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Sales & Marketing

Why Stellar Industrial Supply Doesn’t “Sell” — and Wins More Business Because of It

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Featured Blog

Digital, Data and CX: How Stellar Industrial Turns Technology into Competitive Advantage

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Economic Trends

MDM Forecast: April Update

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Market Analysis

Fastenal Points to Market Improvement as its Outperformance Continues

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Pricing

Winning the Race: Why Manual Cost Updates are Costing Distributors Millions

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Mergers & Acquisitions

March M&A Roundup: Major Deals Aplenty

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Sales & Marketing

Why Stellar Industrial Supply Doesn’t “Sell” — and Wins More Business Because of It

The MROP supplies distributor has built a service-first sales culture that rejects transactional selling in favor of long-term customer value. The third part of our Stellar deep dive explores how that philosophy shapes its sales strategy, talent approach and growth — and why it’s resonating across the industrial distribution sector.

Pricing

Winning the Race: Why Manual Cost Updates are Costing Distributors Millions

Vendor costs are shifting weekly, but most distributors are still updating them manually — and bleeding margin with every delay. With a racing analogy throughout, this piece argues that manual cost updates are no longer a manageable inefficiency but a systematic profit killer.

Pricing

Where SPAs Fail, How to Fix Them, and Disciplines of Optimization

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Pricing

The 1% Problem: Why Even Best-in-Class Distributors Leave SPA Margin on the Table

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Pricing

The Hidden Margin of SPAs, and their Strategic Advantage

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Emerging Markets

Distributors Bet on Data Center Wave, Position for Long-Term Market Growth

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Pricing

Taking a Home Remodel Approach to Contract Pricing Governance

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Pricing

While Most Distributors Bleed Profits from Tariff Chaos, Contract Pricing Leaders Thrive

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Pricing

Turning Value into Price: A Distributor’s Playbook in Uncertain Times

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Technology

The Salesperson Hook: Build Sales Technology that Sells Itself

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Tariffs

A Few Words on Elasticity, the Future of Tariffs and Distributors’ Response

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Strategy

Beyond Supply: How Distributors Can Add Value as an Information Hub Amid Tariff Turmoil

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Branding for Distributors

Fastenal Just Inked a Partnership with an MLB Team. Here’s Why

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Market Analysis

Report: Truck Equipment Distributors Expect to Outperform Manufacturers in 2025

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Pricing

Inside MSC Industrial’s Big Pricing Reset

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Sales & Marketing

From SHIFT 2024: Customer-Based Sales Strategies

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Finance

MDM Research: Large Distributors Spending Less on Industry Events

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Strategy

Inside Ferguson’s Private Brand Strategy

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Market Analysis

MDM Data: Distributors Report Challenging Margins, Market Competition

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Quarterly MDM-Baird Distribution Survey

Survey: How Will Supplier Pricing Impact Distributors’ Gross Margin in 2024?

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Market Analysis

Large Distributors are Gaining Pricing Power 6X Faster than You. Here’s the Data

Mergers & Acquisitions

May M&A Roundup: Ferguson Adds a Half Dozen & Rexel Inks Midwest Boost

Market Analysis

Vendor Costs are Eating Your Margin. Your Bigger Competitors Don’t Have that Problem

New MDM data reveals that sub-$100M distributors face a fundamentally different margin threat than their larger peers — and the pressure is about to get worse.

Quarterly MDM-Baird Distribution Survey

Research: Competitive Pressure in Distribution Persists, Intensifies Driven by Scale

Economic Trends

MDM Forecast: May Update

Data & Analytics

Market Analytics, Pt. 3: From Insight to Intervention – Activating the Growth Engine

Expert Perspective

Graybar’s Mazzarella on AI, Advocacy and Distribution’s Human Advantage

Mergers & Acquisitions

QXO Maps Out Post-Deal Playbook as it Integrates Beacon, Kodiak and Adds TopBuild

ERP

DNOW Says MRC ERP System Has Stabilized as Optimization Work Continues

Market Analysis

Deep Dive: Inside Grainger’s Best Quarter in 3 Years

Grainger delivered its strongest quarter in three years with accelerating sales growth, expanding margins and broad-based customer demand. This deep dive breaks down the distributor’s key 1Q26 metrics, pricing and tariff actions, earnings call commentary, updated guidance and what the results signal about industrial market conditions.

Quarterly MDM-Baird Distribution Survey

Research: Pricing, Operating Costs Lead Concerns Around Geopolitical Risk to Business

In an analysis of the latest Baird-MDM Industrial Distribution survey, distributors signaled concern that geopolitical conflict, such as the Iran War, could trigger cascading effects across pricing, operating costs and customer demand.

Data & Analytics

Market Analytics, Pt. 2: The Growth Engine – Sales Transformation Starts with Data

Distributors know their markets — but struggle to turn that insight into growth. Part 2 of this deep dive series breaks down the data foundations needed to connect market potential to account-level action, align sales teams and build a more effective growth engine.

Mergers & Acquisitions

April M&A Roundup: QXO, Watsco Lead Less Active Month

Deals involving industrial distributors were less frequent than the robust pace we saw in January-March, though it included another landmark pending transaction in building materials via QXO.

Quarterly MDM-Baird Distribution Survey

Research: Pricing Power Holds Steady While Pressure Builds Beneath the Surface

The 1Q26 Baird-MDM Industrial Distribution survey shows pricing power holding steady, but commentary reflects a more divided market shaped by competition, costs and customer behavior. We analyze the data here.

Sales & Marketing

Why Stellar Industrial Supply Doesn’t “Sell” — and Wins More Business Because of It

Featured Blog

Digital, Data and CX: How Stellar Industrial Turns Technology into Competitive Advantage

Stellar Industrial Supply blends third-party platforms with in-house development to deliver a more seamless, data-driven customer experience. We continue our company deep dive as this piece explores how its buy-vs.-build strategy, automation efforts and digital mindset are helping the distributor scale efficiently while deepening customer value.

Economic Trends

MDM Forecast: April Update

Our latest update shows another major upgrade for the U.S. wholesale distribution industry's 2026 annual revenues - skewed by oil & gas price assumptions as well as other inflationary impacts. Get your much more valuable sector-specific revenue forecasts here.

Market Analysis

Fastenal Points to Market Improvement as its Outperformance Continues

Pricing is still playing a large — albeit decelerated role — in the company’s strong results, while management was upbeat on underlying demand. Get our in-depth breakdown of Fastenal’s 1Q metrics.

Pricing

Winning the Race: Why Manual Cost Updates are Costing Distributors Millions

Mergers & Acquisitions

March M&A Roundup: Major Deals Aplenty

After 2 straight years of $100 million-plus deals that were few and far between, 2026 has already seen plenty either completed or announced, including a handful in March.

This category can only be viewed by members. To view this category, sign up by purchasing MDM Premium Subscription (monthly) or MDM Premium Subscription (annual).

Market Analysis

Large Distributors are Gaining Pricing Power 6X Faster than You. Here’s the Data

Mergers & Acquisitions

May M&A Roundup: Ferguson Adds a Half Dozen & Rexel Inks Midwest Boost

Market Analysis

Vendor Costs are Eating Your Margin. Your Bigger Competitors Don’t Have that Problem

New MDM data reveals that sub-$100M distributors face a fundamentally different margin threat than their larger peers — and the pressure is about to get worse.

Quarterly MDM-Baird Distribution Survey

Research: Competitive Pressure in Distribution Persists, Intensifies Driven by Scale

Economic Trends

MDM Forecast: May Update

Data & Analytics

Market Analytics, Pt. 3: From Insight to Intervention – Activating the Growth Engine

Expert Perspective

Graybar’s Mazzarella on AI, Advocacy and Distribution’s Human Advantage

Mergers & Acquisitions

QXO Maps Out Post-Deal Playbook as it Integrates Beacon, Kodiak and Adds TopBuild

ERP

DNOW Says MRC ERP System Has Stabilized as Optimization Work Continues

Market Analysis

Deep Dive: Inside Grainger’s Best Quarter in 3 Years

Quarterly MDM-Baird Distribution Survey

Research: Pricing, Operating Costs Lead Concerns Around Geopolitical Risk to Business

Data & Analytics

Market Analytics, Pt. 2: The Growth Engine – Sales Transformation Starts with Data

Mergers & Acquisitions

April M&A Roundup: QXO, Watsco Lead Less Active Month

Deals involving industrial distributors were less frequent than the robust pace we saw in January-March, though it included another landmark pending transaction in building materials via QXO.

Quarterly MDM-Baird Distribution Survey

Research: Pricing Power Holds Steady While Pressure Builds Beneath the Surface

Sales & Marketing

Why Stellar Industrial Supply Doesn’t “Sell” — and Wins More Business Because of It

Featured Blog

Digital, Data and CX: How Stellar Industrial Turns Technology into Competitive Advantage

Economic Trends

MDM Forecast: April Update

Market Analysis

Fastenal Points to Market Improvement as its Outperformance Continues

Pricing

Winning the Race: Why Manual Cost Updates are Costing Distributors Millions

Mergers & Acquisitions

March M&A Roundup: Major Deals Aplenty

After 2 straight years of $100 million-plus deals that were few and far between, 2026 has already seen plenty either completed or announced, including a handful in March.

Investment Banking Directory

Work with a banking partner that knows your business. Get detailed information on investment banks with expertise in the wholesale distribution industry.

Before You Automate: Why Lead Time Accuracy Is the Foundation of Smarter Purchasing

Lead time accuracy has become one of the most critical and overlooked challenges facing…

In Pursuit of Value: Where 400+ Distributors are Investing in AI Today

Nearly every distributor is investing in AI. The question has shifted from “What can…

Payments as a Competitive Advantage

Credit approval and payment workflows remain a persistent source of friction for many distributors,…

AI Pricing Agents

Pricing is no longer a periodic exercise for distributors—it is a continuous challenge shaped…

Market Prospector

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Grainger’s High-Touch Advantage: How the MRO Leader Turned Customer Problems into a Growth Engine

Large Distributors are Gaining Pricing Power 6X Faster than You. Here’s the Data

May M&A Roundup: Ferguson Adds a Half Dozen & Rexel Inks Midwest Boost

Vendor Costs are Eating Your Margin. Your Bigger Competitors Don’t Have that Problem

Research: Competitive Pressure in Distribution Persists, Intensifies Driven by Scale

MDM Forecast: May Update

Market Analytics, Pt. 3: From Insight to Intervention – Activating the Growth Engine

Graybar’s Mazzarella on AI, Advocacy and Distribution’s Human Advantage

QXO Maps Out Post-Deal Playbook as it Integrates Beacon, Kodiak and Adds TopBuild

DNOW Says MRC ERP System Has Stabilized as Optimization Work Continues

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK REPORTS

MDM 2Q26 Forecast Report

MDM 1Q26 Forecast Report

Premium Monthly

MDM May 2026 Premium Monthly

Market Insight Reports

MDM 1Q26 M&A Report

MDM 1Q26 MarketPulse Report

Case Studies

MDM Case Study: Singer Industrial

MDM Case Study: Ludwig Meister

Investment Banking Directory

Before You Automate: Why Lead Time Accuracy Is the Foundation of Smarter Purchasing

In Pursuit of Value: Where 400+ Distributors are Investing in AI Today

Payments as a Competitive Advantage

AI Pricing Agents

Market Prospector

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