August 18, 2008

WinWholesale Opens Winnelson Locations

Leave a Comment / Plumbing Products & PVF Distribution, Free, Companies, Top Distributor Sectors, HVACR, News, Subscriber Only / By MDM Staff

WinWholesale Inc., Dayton, OH, has opened Winnelson companies in Lakeland, FL, Bloomington, IL, and Clinton, MO, to provide residential and commercial contractors with plumbing supplies, equipment and accessories.

Bloomington, Lakeland and Clinton Winnelson companies have local ownership and serve central Florida, central Illinois and west central Missouri. Each has a warehouse, counter sales and pickup, and delivery service. In addition, Clinton Winnelson has a product showroom.

There are more than 470 Win local wholesaling companies across the U.S. and more than 100 Noland Company locations. ...

Alfa Laval Buys Hutchison Hayes Separation

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

Alfa Laval Group, a manufacturer in transfer, centrifugal separation and fluid handling, has acquired Hutchison Hayes Separation, Houston, TX, a provider of separation equipment, parts and services to the U.S. energy-related industries. Hutchison Hayes'sales in 2007 were about SEK 150 million.

The acquisition of Hutchison Hayes Separation is in line with the Alfa Laval Group's strategy of acquiring companies that complement the existing business in terms of products, geography or in the form of new sales channels.

In this case, the Alfa Laval Group is adding a complementary channel for centrifugal separation equipment and service.

Hutchison Hayes will operate as a separate ...

Canadian Manufacturing Sales Up 2.1% in June

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

In current dollars, Canadian manufacturers reported $52.5 billion in sales in June, up 2.1% from May and the fifth increase in six months. In constant dollars, manufacturing sales increased 0.6% to $47 billion in June. Industrial prices for petroleum and coal, chemical products, wood products, and motor vehicles rose notably during the month.

By Sector
Increases were widespread as 14 of 21 manufacturing industries, representing 81% of total sales, reported gains.

The largest contribution to the gains in total manufacturing sales came from petroleum and coal product manufacturers. Sales increased by 6.4% in this industry, mirroring the 6.2% rise in prices observed for the month.

Sales by primary metal manufacturers ...

Genuine Parts Co. Office Products Group Agrees to Buy ActionEmco Assets

Leave a Comment / Paper Products & Packaging Distribution, Free, Operations, Top Distributor Sectors, News, Subscriber Only / By MDM Staff

The Office Products Group of Genuine Parts Co., Atlanta, GA -S.P. Richards Company -has agreed to buy the Midwestern U.S. business assets of ActionEmco. ActionEmco is a regional office products distributor.

S.P. Richards is buying the business the company services from its Grand Rapids, MI, distribution center. The company expects the purchase to generate additional annual revenues of $50 million.

Thomas C. Gallagher, president and CEO of Genuine Parts, said: Like S.P. Richards, ActionEmco has been actively involved in the office products industry for many years and both companies have shown considerable growth in their Midwest business over the years. We believe this combination is a very good fit for S.P. Richards, ActionEmco and our customers, and we look ...

Five Star Products Sales Down 12.5% in 2Q

Leave a Comment / Free, Top Distributor Sectors, Building Materials/Construction, News, Subscriber Only / By MDM Staff

Five Star Products, Inc., New York, NY, distributor of paint sundry and hardware products in the Northeast and Middle-Atlantic states, reported revenue for the three months ended June 30, 2008, were down 12.5% to $31.4 million. Profit was $98,000, compared with profit of $567,000 in the prior-year period.

The distributor reported sales of $62.9 million for the first six months of 2008, a 4.4% decrease. The net loss was $609,000.

John Belknap, Five Star CEO, said: Challenging market conditions in our industry obviously have impacted Five Star's second quarter. Neither Five Star nor its customers are immune from negative economic factors affecting, in particular, the housing and home improvement industries."

As previously announced, National Patent ...

Industrial Production Up 0.2% in July

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

Industrial production increased 0.2% in July after having advanced 0.4% in June. Manufacturing output gained 0.4% in July and was boosted by a rise of 3.6% in the production of motor vehicles and parts. Excluding motor vehicles and parts, the index for manufacturing increased 0.2%.

The output of mines moved up 0.9%, while the output of utilities contracted 1.9%. At 111.8% of its 2002 average, total industrial production was 0.1% below its level of a year earlier. In July, the capacity utilization rate for total industry edged up to 79.9%, a level 1.1 percentage points below its average for 1972-2007.

Daniel J. Meckstroth, Ph.D., chief economist for the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI, said: The modest spike of growth occurred as manufacturers adjusted production ...

Report: Latin American Production Growth to Decelerate in 2009

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

Maintaining momentum from a strong 2007 and first quarter 2008, particularly in Brazil and Argentina, a new report projects Latin American-based manufacturers will continue to increase output this year and in 2009. According to the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI Latin America Outlook: 2008-2009, a bi-annual analysis that examines the latest trends and provides a near-term forecast for 16 major industries, manufacturing production growth will decelerate in 2009.

The report focuses on Latin America's three largest economies — Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico — as these countries are responsible for more than 80% of the region's manufacturing output. MAPI raised its forecast for overall manufacturing output in Latin America in 2008 to 4.9% from its 3.8% forecast in the ...

Better Communication with Gen X and Y

Leave a Comment / Human Resources in Wholesale Distribution, Free, Operations, Subscriber Only / By Lindsay Young

The work force is rapidly changing. Soon we will see a massive shift from the Boomers to Gen X in top management at distributors big and small.

It's not uncommon to hear distributor executives talk about how to attract the next generation of management-worthy workers into their companies. BusinessWeek, as part of a bigger package on the workplace, put down a few pieces of advice on how to better communicate and meet the needs of Generations X (born 1965-1980) and Y (1981-1994). The piece provides some good food for thought as the generational shift continues.

Here's the advice she offers:

With technology, keep it ...

Hagemeyer Releases 2008-2009 Safety Catalog

Leave a Comment / Free, Companies, Top Distributor Sectors, Safety Products, News, Subscriber Only / By MDM Staff

Hagemeyer has released its 2008-2009 Safety Products catalog. The 652-page catalog features safety, industrial hygiene, and firefighting products.

We carefully selected a comprehensive assortment of products that will meet the needs of our customers,"says Brad Pulver, senior vice president, product strategy and marketing. "In addition, we have designed the product assortment to assist customers in experiencing a 'one-stop'shopping experience, allowing our customer to focus on their core business or service, by not having to waste time on finding safety products from multiple sources."

Hagemeyer's user-friendly catalog is an expanded version of the original safety catalog and now includes products for the industrial, governmental and industrial hygiene ...