Motion Industries, the industrial parts group of Genuine Parts Company, Atlanta, GA, has acquired Drago Supply Company, a regional industrial supplies distributor headquartered in Port Arthur, TX. Drago Supply has eight locations in Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana. More
DXP Enterprises, Inc., Houston, TX, has acquired Massachusetts-based PFI, LLC, for $65 million. PFI distributes fasteners, rivets and hose clamps. The company has locations in Georgia, North Carolina, Illinois, Ohio, Texas, California, Massachusetts and Florida. More
Interline Brands, Inc., Jacksonville, FL, distributor and direct marketer of maintenance, repair and operations products, has acquired Eagle Maintenance Supply, Inc., a $17 million distributor of janitorial and sanitary supplies to the institutional marketplace. More
Precision Castparts Corp., a Portland, OR-based manufacturer of metal components for aerospace, power generation, automotive and general industry, has agreed to acquire Airdrome Holdings, LLC, which consists of Airdrome Precision Components and AF Aerospace Ltd. More
Anixter International Inc., Glenview, IL, distributor of communication products, electrical and electronic wire &cable, fasteners and other small parts, has acquired French distributor Sofrasar SA and partnership interests and shares in Germany-based Camille Gergen GmbH &Co, KG and Camille Gergen Verwaltungs GmbH. Anixter is paying $40 million in cash and assuming $19 million in debt. More
Graybar, St. Louis, MO, distributor of electrical, telecommunications and networking products and related supply chain management and logistics services, reported a 5.5 percent increase in sales in the first half 2008 to $2.7 billion. Profit grew 19 percent to $47.4 million. More
Bunzl plc reported sales for the six months ended June 30, 2008, were up 14 percent. Bunzl also recently purchased Marca Protección Laboral SL and Marvel Protección Laboral SL. Marca and Marvel supply personal protection equipment, principally workwear and clothing, to redistributors throughout Spain. The company has also acquired the business of Higiene en Colectividades SA, a distributor of cleaning and hygiene products. More
U.S. manufacturing contracted in August, according to the latest Manufacturing ISM Report on Business. The PMI indicates a slight decline in manufacturing during August. This month’s report shows the first signs of lower prices as the Prices Index fell significantly, though still at an inflationary level. Export orders picked up additional momentum. More
New orders for manufactured durable goods in July increased $2.9 billion or 1.3 percent to $219.3 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced. This was the third consecutive monthly increase and followed a 1.3 percent June increase. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 0.7 percent. Excluding defense, new orders increased 2.8 percent. More
The Canadian price indexes for manufactured goods and raw materials registered lower monthly growth in July than in the previous four months, increasing 0.4 percent and 1.4 percent respectively, primarily as a result of the slowdown in the rise of petroleum prices. The Canadian dollar rose 0.4 percent in relation to the U.S. dollar in July, after declining 1.7 percent in June. More
Industrial and construction supplies distributor Fastenal Company,
After declining 5.3% in June, the value of Canadian building permits increased 1.8% to $6.4 billion in July, mainly as a result of multi-family dwelling permits in Central Canada and industrial construction intentions in
The U.S. manufacturing recession continued its downward trend in the second quarter and medium-term prospects show only minimal improvement, according to the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI Quarterly Industrial Outlook — Second Quarter 2008, a report that analyzes 27 major industries. On an annual basis, MAPI forecasts a decline in the industrial sector this year. Manufacturing production is expected to fall 0.5% in 2008 before showing marginal improvement to 1.6% growth in 2009. Manufacturing industrial production, measured on a quarter-to-quarter basis, declined at a 1% annual rate in first quarter 2008 and at a 3.9% annual rate in second quarter 2008.
June U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $360.43 million, according to AMT – the Association for Manufacturing Technology and the American Machine Tool Distributors’Association. This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTC program, was level with May, and up 2.0 percent from the total of $353.40 million reported for June 2007. With a year-to-date total of $2,318.34 million, 2008 is up 15.3 percent compared with 2007. More
Parker Hannifin Corp., Cleveland, OH, manufacturer of motion and control technologies, has acquired German manufacturer Lingk & Sturzebecher of Stuhr, Germany. L&S’s composite material technology will enable Parker to develop hydraulic components with significantly reduced energy burden for the power systems of machines equipped with hydraulics. More
Baldor Electric Company, Fort Smith, AR, a manufacturer of industrial electric motors, power transmission products, drives and generators, has acquired Poulies Maska, Inc., Ste-Claire, Quebec, a manufacturer of sheaves, bushings, couplings and related mechanical power transmission components. More
3M, St. Paul, MN, has acquired Polyfoam Products Inc., a structural adhesives company specializing in foam adhesives for tile roofing and other adhesive products for the building industry. More
Zilliant, provider of price optimization and management software, has formed a strategic alliance with Advanous, a provider of pricing and margin management solutions to distributors. The alliance focuses on the distribution sector of Zilliant’s business and leverages distribution-focused Advanous’industry expertise. More
Kennametal Inc., Latrobe, PA, has agreed to acquire Tricon Metals & Services, Inc. Closing is planned for October 2008. Tricon will become part of Kennametal’s Advanced Materials Solutions Group (AMSG). More