After Grainger posted a moderate improvement in the third quarter, company executives dished on the distributor’s approach to acquiring new customers and how it is bolstering the company. Here's what they shared.
Eric Smith
Former MDM Senior Editor Eric Smith was an award-winning business journalist whose coverage focuses included economic news and insights, industry trends, M&A, and analysis of small businesses and public companies across the wholesale distribution marketplace.
Posts By Eric Smith
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According to the Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization Report, manufacturing output decreased 0.3% during the month; industrial production was still 6.4% below its pre-pandemic February level.
Analytics tools not only help distributors become more agile, but in this time of increasingly complex supply chains, they can also alleviate stock-outs — and ease customers’ minds. But don’t forget the key components of building this capability.
Despite just 2.5% sales growth in the third quarter, Fastenal is poised to take market share in industrial distribution, according to one analyst. See what the distributor has working in its favor.
Where did distributor revenues land in the third quarter? What’s the outlook for 4Q and beyond? We answer those questions and more in this preview of the latest MDM-Baird Distribution Survey — and the results might surprise you.
John Caplan, the president of North America and Europe for Alibaba.com., says that digital trade shows are one virtual event that could be here to stay even when we’ve moved past the COVID-19 crisis.
The news of out the White House that President Trump tested positive for COVID-19 — on the first day of the fourth quarter, no less — rattled the market and served as a potential blow to the rebounding economy. What else is in store for the last three months of 2020?
The start of fall has brought some familiar rhythms to the latest batch of economic reports — some good, some bad — and this balance has a familiar feel for wholesale distributors.
Improve efficiencies, reduce overhead and get paid faster with these eight ways to overhaul your accounts receivable (AR) process — which is always critical but especially so now.
On MDM’s most recent webcast, Stellar Industrial Supply President and CEO John Wiborg outlined the importance of investing in a strong culture before exploring new technologies.
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Industrial distributor Fastenal saw its sales mix continue to return to normal in August, and the company again reduced its total workforce, this time by 7.5%, which is part of a larger industry trend toward omnichannel selling.
For the last six months, distributors have been dealing with an unprecedented disruption to their sales and business operations. The abrupt arrival of hurricane season is another reminder of the need for robust supply chain planning and an airtight disaster mitigation plan.
Ludwig Meister took an uncommon path on its digital journey, beginning with the backend processes and then focusing on the front-facing, sales-friendly site. CEO Max Meister explains why.
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August has brought some more good news to the U.S. economy in general and distribution in general based on the latest round of data reports showing continued momentum, but the industry has plenty of work yet to complete.
Digital offering for customers is one of the four levers that distributors can pull to help them take share during the pandemic — or amid any disruption.
It’s a new era at WESCO International, which rode the acquisition of Anixter International to a 2Q revenue and EPS beat in its first earnings report since the epic deal closed in June. But pitfalls remain as a massive integration looms for the two distribution giants.
Market conditions weren’t favorable for Applied Industrial Technologies Inc. in the fiscal fourth quarter, but the distributor navigated the COVID-plagued business landscape as well as possible thanks to cost-reduction measures it will extend into 2021.
