June 11, 2008 - Modern Distribution Management

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June 11, 2008

Canadian Capacity Utilization at Lowest Level in 15 Years

Leave a Comment / Economic Trends, Research & Analytics, Free, News, Subscriber Only /

Source: Statistics Canada
 
Canadian industries significantly reduced their use of production capacity in the first quarter, pushing the rate to its lowest level in 15 years. Most of the sectors that make up the industrial group, particularly the automotive sector, contributed to the decline. Only the oil and gas extraction sector posted an increase in capacity utilization.

In the first quarter, industries operated at 79.8% of their capacity compared with 81.8% in the fourth quarter of 2007. The current rate is 7.3 points below the peak of 87.1% reached in the fourth quarter of 2000.
 
The industrial capacity utilization rate is the ratio of an industry's actual output to its estimated potential ...

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Wrap-N-Pack Acquires The Freight Container Company

Leave a Comment / Paper Products & Packaging Distribution, Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions, Free, Operations, Top Distributor Sectors, News, Subscriber Only /

Wrap-N-Pack, Farmingdale, NY, a distributor of industrial packaging, has acquired Maspeth, NY-based The Freight Container Company, Inc.
Freight Container supplies corrugated packaging materials, which will be added to the packaging options already available from Wrap-N-Pack.
The acquisition of Freight Container is Wrap-N-Pack's third acquisition in the past year. ...

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Drives LLC Sells Majority Interest to Investor

Leave a Comment / Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions, Free, Top Distributor Sectors, Power Transmission/Motion Control/Fluid Power, News, Subscriber Only /

Richard L. Scott Investments has taken a majority stake in Drives LLC, Fulton, IL, a manufacturer of conveyor and power transmission roller chains and auger products.
 
Drives CEO David Vogel said the sale will enable Drives to accelerate growth and expand via acquisition. Vogel will retain the positions of president and CEO.
 
Drives holds market positions in industries including food processing, material handling, mining &metals, energy drilling, unit packaging, agriculture, forest &lumber products, and paper processing. The company has operations in 34 countries.
 
Richard Scott is founder and former chairman &CEO of Columbia/HCA Healthcare ...

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Home Depot Plows HD Supply Proceeds Back Into Business

Leave a Comment / Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions, Free, Companies, Subscriber Only /

With home sales down, and with that, sales of home improvement materials, Home Depot's timing in reinvesting the money made in part by selling off HD Supply may be raising some eyebrows. CEO Frank Blake spoke with The Wall Street Journal about the big decisions he has made and why it was important that they be made now.
 
Blake told the paper that the decision to invest more than $3 billion in company improvements over the next two years was not a difficult one to make. There's absolutely a benefit in making changes during a downturn,"he said. "It's easier for everyone to understand the need for the change when things are tougher and the risks are lower."
 
Blake has already used proceeds from the HD Supply sale to implement a new centralized distribution system. ...

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