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Economic Trends

MDM Forecast: June 2025 Update

The latest MDM Forecast projects stronger 2025 and 2026 revenue growth for U.S. wholesale distribution, driven by sector-specific gains though underlying economic trends suggest caution in interpreting topline numbers. As always, results vary across the 19 industry sectors tracked by the U.S. Census Bureau. Get your sector-specific insights here.

Strategy

Inside LINC Systems’ Growth Platform Strategy

Data & Analytics

Distribution’s Analytics Imperative: Becoming the Disruptor in a Disruptive Market

Tariffs

Analysis: Major Distributors Eye Diversification and Decoupling from China

Sales Compensation

SHIFT Insights: Align Comp with Strategy, Not Just Sales

Mergers & Acquisitions

May M&A Roundup: Slight Rebound, But Still Behind 2024 Pace

Tariffs

How Rockstar CFOs Master Tariff Turbulence, Pt. 2

Mergers & Acquisitions

QXO Details its Vision to Transform Beacon

Tariffs

How Rockstar CFOs Master Tariff Turbulence, Pt. 1

Finance

Cash Flow Red Flags & How to Get Ahead of Them

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK REPORTS

MDM 1Q25 Forecast Report

This comprehensive MDM 1Q25 Forecast is a guide to the industrial economy for wholesale distribution executives, providing a historical, current and future snapshot of numerous key economic indicators in one convenient place.

2024 Annual MDM Economic Outlook

Our 2024 EOR is a comprehensive economic reference guide to the U.S. wholesale distribution industry and its many different verticals. It is comprised of 20 different subreports.

Premium Monthly

MDM May 2025 Premium Monthly

This issue’s content is packed with articles that cover demand for warehouse space; a deep dive on ADI Global Distribution; cash flow red flags and how to get ahead of them; how rockstar CFOs master tariffs; QXO’s plans to transform Beacon; and our monthly MDM Forecast and M&A Roundup.

Market Insight Reports

MDM 1Q25 MarketPulse Report

MDM’s 1Q25 MarketPulse Report consists of the quarterly results, analysis and commentary from the Baird-MDM Industrial Distribution Survey that explored revenue performance, pricing and expectations for the current quarter and rest-of-year.

MDM 1Q25 M&A Report

See our new breakdown of M&A activity by product category, the latest EBITDA trading multiples for 30 top industrial distributors, and our detailed recap of dealmaking activity during January-March, which was notably subdued compared to previous quarters.

Case Studies

MDM Case Study: MSC Industrial Supply

The metalworking and MRO supplies distributor has successfully transitioned from a catalog-driven product house that relied on spot-buys to its role today as a digitally-driven, “Mission Critical” company. Here’s how.

MDM Case Study: Watsco

Watsco has achieved a marketing-leading position in HVACR distribution through a combination of deep supplier partnerships, a buy-and-build philosophy and a technology-first mindset. We examine the company’s recent evolution and where it’s going.

Free

Brady Corporation Acquires Sorbent Products

Brady Corporation, Milwaukee, WI, acquired Sorbent Products Co., Inc., Somerset, NJ.
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Sorbent Products is a manufacturer of synthetic sorbent materials used in a variety of industrial maintenance and environmental applications for spill clean-up, containment and control. Available in a variety of shapes, sizes and configurations, SPC sorbents and spill kits are used indoors and outdoors in virtually every type of industrial market and environmental sector.
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The company has manufacturing operations in the U.S., Belgium and Hong Kong. Sorbent had sales of $47 million in 2006.
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The acquisition of SPC allows Brady to broaden its product portfolio for the MRO market and enhance its position as a provider of products that protect premises.
&nbsp ; …

Building Materials/Construction

Fastenal Sales Grow 13% in 1Q

The Fastenal Company, Winona, MN, sales of $489,157 for the first quarter ended March 31, 2007, an increase of 13.3% over the same period last year. Profit increased 12.9%.
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During the first three months of 2007, Fastenal opened 73 new sites, as it did in the first quarter 2006. There were 2,000 sites as of Dec. 31, 2006.
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Current Initiatives
During the last several years, Fastenal has been pursuing initiatives to improve its operational performance. These include: a new freight model, tactical changes to working capital model, an expanded store model called CSP2, and a ‘master stocking hub’ distribution model.
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The freight model is an effort to haul a higher percentage of products with the Fastenal trucking network and to charge …

Companies

Motion Industries Acquires Jonesboro Bearing

Motion Industries, Birmingham, AL, has acquired Jonesboro Bearing & Supply, Jonesboro, AR. Jonesboro Bearing has two locations: Jonesboro, AR, and Stuttgart, AR.
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Jonesboro is a distributor of bearings, power transmission, industrial supplies and fasteners.
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Motion Industries, a division of Genuine Parts Co. with 2006 sale of $3.1 billion, is an industrial parts distributor of bearings, power transmission products, electrical and industrial automation, hydraulic and industrial hose, hydraulic and pneumatic products, industrial supply products and material handling. It has more than 500 locations including nine distribution centers throughout North …

Economic Trends

February Machine Tool Consumption Down 9.7%

February U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $268.37 million, according to the Association for Manufacturing Technology and the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association. This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTC program, was down 9.7% from January, and down 6.3% from the total of $286.29 million reported for February 2006. With a year-to-date total of $565.54 million, 2007 was up 9.4% compared with 2006.

These numbers and all data in this report are based on the totals of actual data reported by companies participating in the USMTC program.

The first two months of the year fit the forecast pattern of slower growth in 2007,” said John B. Byrd III, AMT President. “The strength of U.S. manufacturing activity is likely to …

Building Materials/Construction

Saint-Gobain Building Distribution Expands

Saint-Gobain’s Building Distribution Sector has acquired three distributors in Europe: Vemac (Italy), Discesur (Spain) and Sch& auml; fer (Germany).
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Vemac is one of the country’s largest builders’merchants based in Abruzzo. The business has 10 branches, employs 187 people and recorded net sales of & euro; 66 million in 2006.
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Following the opening of a second La Plateforme du B& acirc; timent store at the beginning of 2007 in Milan, Saint-Gobain Building Distribution reinforces its presence in the Italian market.
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Discesur is the No. 2 distributor of tiles in Spain. With a large showroom (4,000 m2) in Madrid, the business recorded net sales of over & euro; 55 million in 2006 and employs 101 people. Through this acquisition, Saint-Gobain Building …

Building Materials/Construction

Gibraltar Buys Three Manufacturers

Gibraltar Industries, Inc., Buffalo, NY, has acquired NorWesCo, Noll Manufacturing, and M & N Plastics from The Employee Ownership Holding Company. The companies, which have annual sales of $60 million, operate manufacturing facilities in Fife, WA; Portland, OR; and Stockton, CA.
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They manufacture more than 4,000 products that serve the building, HVAC, and lawn and garden markets. They sell to retailers, building product distributors, roofing/concrete distributors, lumber yards, and contractors.
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Gibraltar Industries is a manufacturer, processor, and distributor of products for the building, industrial, and vehicular markets. The company serves a variety of industries in the U.S. and throughout the world. It operates 89 facilities in 26 states, Canada, …

Economic Trends

Wholesale Revenues Up Slightly in February

Sales. The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that February 2007 sales of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’sales branches and offices, after adjustment for seasonal variations and trading-day differences but not for price changes, were $340.8 billion, up 1.2 percent (+/-0.5%) from the revised January level and were up 7.1 percent (+/-1.2%) from the February 2006 level. The January preliminary estimate was revised downward $0.5 billion or 0.1 percent. February sales of durable goods were down 0.8 percent (+/-1.0%) …

Management

Is Channel Management an Oxymoron?

Our cover story this week in Modern Distribution Management on channel management has been a fascinating subject to research. There are some significant role shifts taking place. We gained a lot of input from innovators in manufacturing and distribution, including many more beyond those quoted in article.
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It was also a difficult topic to get beyond the generalizations, stereotypes and misperceptions that in fact too often form the basis for relationships and ultimately policies in many companies. For some people, channel management is an oxymoron, because they are using the same pricing and marketing formulas in place 10 or 20 years ago. But we found others who are finding some good …

Building Materials/Construction

Spenard Builders Supply Acquires Polar Supply

Anchorage, AK-based Spenard Builders Supply, a division of Pro-Build Holdings, Denver, CO, has acquired Polar Supply Co., which operates in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Kenai, according to the Home Channel News.

Polar Supply specializes in products required to build and maintain roads, bridges and pipelines and adds to Spenard’s commercial product offerings.

Polar Supply’s three facilities will each operate as a separate division within Spenard, focusing on major commercial contractors, pipeline and oil companies.

Based in Anchorage, Spenard Builders Supply …

Management

Changing Channels

This article is available to non-subscribers through online access below, or by purchasing the series, Changing Channels, in the MDM Store.

While the basic concepts for effective channel management haven’t changed, new competitive pressures have changed the focus to channel profitability. Here’s an analysis of the key shifts taking place in independent distribution channels. Part 2 of this article will outline manufacturer-distributor emerging best practices in channel management.

Relationships between manufacturers and distributors have been a topic of conversation at conventions for decades. The tension has always been there,” says Marshall Jones, a past president of the Specialty Tool and Fastener Distributors Association. “But the sources of that tension have changed.

Distributors and manufacturers are navigating uncharted territory and areas that until now maintained some …

Subscriber Only

MDM April 10, 2007

This is the pdf of this issue of Modern Distribution Management. Apply the full $24.95 pay-per-view cost toward an annual subscription (within 30 days of purchase), which includes two issues a month plus access to more than six years of online archives and market data. Call 1-888-742-5060 or email [email protected] to …

Economic Trends

Global Economic Report: Soft, Stable Landing in 2007-08

Tighter global monetary policies, the unwinding of investment excesses, and the moderation that tends to accompany maturing expansions all point to an imminent period of slower growth for the global economy, according to a new quarterly report.

In the MAPI Quarterly Forecast of U.S. Exports, Global Growth, and the Dollar: Second Quarter 2007 Through Fourth Quarter 2008, economist Cliff Waldman concludes that the impact of the housing downturn in the United States and the near-term path of the embryonic investment slowdown in China are the two key variables that will determine the strength and stability of the world economy during 2007 and 2008.&nbsp ;

Financial markets have been nervous about the U.S. and Chinese outlook,” he writes, “but most indications …

Economic Trends

Monthly Wholesale Trade: February 2007

Sales. February 2007 sales of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’sales branches and offices, after adjustment for seasonal variations and trading-day differences but not for price changes, were $340.8 billion, up 1.2 percent from the revised January level and were up 7.1 percent from the February 2006 level. February sales of durable goods were down 0.8 percent from last month, but were up 4.4 percent from a year ago. Compared to last month, sales of lumber and other construction materials were down 3.0 percent and sales of electrical goods decreased 1.8 percent. February sales of nondurable goods were up 3.2 percent from last month and were up 9.8 percent from last year. Compared to last month, sales of petroleum and petroleum products increased 8.8 percent …

Management

Commentary: The Slippery Subject of Channel Management

Channel management is a slippery subject. The most jaded observers might argue the term has largely become an oxymoron, as stories of mismanagement and dysfunctional practices seem like commodities.

But as the lead article in this issue outlines, distributors and manufacturers are finding ways to leverage the current shifts in markets to focus and define their value. Channel participants are grappling with many complex issues -converging channels, private label brands, new product programs, new discount models.

The key emphasis today is active management. One size can’t fit all. Those who gain some understanding of how customers are shifting in their sourcing needs and problems, and then build programs and policies to meet those needs, find a competitive differentiator …

Free

MDM News Digest 3707

VWR International, Inc., West Chester, PA, $3 billion supplier to the global research laboratory industry, has acquired the remaining 76 percent interest in KMF Laborchemie Handels GmbH, a German-based scientific laboratory supply distributor. KMF has 70 employees, all based in Germany, with annual revenues of US$45 million.More …&nbsp ;

Platinum Equity, Los Angeles, CA, has completed its acquisition of Strategic Distribution, Inc., MRO distributor to industrial and institutional customers in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. The acquisition is a public-to-private transaction and Strategic Distribution Inc. has been delisted from the NASDAQ exchange, with each share of common …

Economic Trends

MDM Inflation Index: February 2007

Modern Distribution Management’s February Inflation Index, which measures a cross-section of industrial supplies, was up 0.29% from the previous month, and up 3.27% from February 2006.

Summary of&nbsp ; MDM Inflation Index for the past 12 months:

February 2007 Index 269.4
January 2007 Index 268.7
December 2006 Index&nbsp ; 267.1
November 2006 Index 266.5
October 2006 Index 265.9
September 2006 Index 265.6
August 2006 Index 265.2
July 2006 Index 264.0
June 2006 Index 263.0
May 2006 Index 262.1
April 2006 Index 262.1
March 2006 Index 262.1
February 2006 Index 261.2

Please click below on Related Document to view a print-ready pdf of the&nbsp ; MDM Inflation Index for February 2007, …

Economic Trends

U.S. MARKET ANALYSIS: Saw Blades

Saw Blades represented a market in 2006 of $1.22 billion, according to estimates by Industrial Market Information, Minneapolis.&nbsp ;

These charts show the top ten industries, by SIC code, consuming these products; and the 2006 end-user consumption of these groups sorted by the nine
government market regions.

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Companies

WinWholesale Acquires Tri-State Electric Supply

WinWholesale Inc. has acquired Tri-State Electric Supply, a regional distributor of electrical products based in Cincinnati, OH, the Dayton Business Journal reported. The acquisition gives WinWholesale a chance to build a stronger presence in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.
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Tri-State had $24 million in revenues in 2006. Tri-State has branches in Dayton and Columbus.
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WinWholesale had $2.6 billion in revenues in 2006 and opened 16 new locations in 2006. It distributes commercial, industrial and residential supplies. …

Companies

Eaton Acquires UK-Based Aphel Technologies

Diversified industrial manufacturer Eaton Corporation, Cleveland, OH, has acquired UK-based Aphel Technologies Limited, a supplier of high-density, fault-tolerant power distribution solutions for data centers, technical offices, laboratories and retail environments.
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In 2006, Aphel Technologies had sales of $12.3 million.
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The acquisition of Aphel Technologies expands our power quality and distribution offerings to customers in key European markets,” said Randy Carson, Eaton senior vice president and president – Electrical Group.
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Eaton Corporation is a diversified industrial manufacturer with 2006 sales of $12.4 …

Free

Premier Farnell Moves Into China

UK-based Premier Farnell plc, a global distributor of electronic components and industrial products, has launched its business in China as Premier Electronics. It is focused on the local needs of China’s electronic design engineering community.
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The launch of Premier Electronics, which included the opening of a new warehouse and distribution centre in WaiGaoQia, is set to play a key role in Premier Farnell’s strategy to increase its focus on the global electronic design engineering segment.
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In a release, Premier said it would focus on tailoring its business to the local culture, and not assume a cookie cutter approach to internationalizing the business.”
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In China, Premier will offer a fully transactional Web site and catalogue in the …

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.

The Downtime Dilemma: How Proactive Training Reduces Risk and Improves Output

In plant environments and wholesale distribution, unplanned downtime doesn’t just delay projects, it jeopardizes…

Five Imperatives: How Distributors Can Maximize Value Today

Based on in-depth interviews with over 25 distribution leaders, a survey of 100 respondents,…

2025 Distributor Report: How Demand Generation Tools Activate Untapped Revenue Streams

Prokeep partnered with Channel Marketing Group to create these exclusive survey insights from distributors…

Building Contractor Loyalty

This multi-month research effort includes surveys, interviews, extensive publication scanning, and deep synthesis to…

Market Prospector

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Turn your sales data into actionable data with Market Prospector. A web-based SAAS tool that gives you insight into your market, your territories, your customers and new prospects too.

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MDM Forecast: June 2025 Update

Inside LINC Systems’ Growth Platform Strategy

Distribution’s Analytics Imperative: Becoming the Disruptor in a Disruptive Market

Analysis: Major Distributors Eye Diversification and Decoupling from China

SHIFT Insights: Align Comp with Strategy, Not Just Sales

May M&A Roundup: Slight Rebound, But Still Behind 2024 Pace

How Rockstar CFOs Master Tariff Turbulence, Pt. 2

QXO Details its Vision to Transform Beacon

How Rockstar CFOs Master Tariff Turbulence, Pt. 1

Cash Flow Red Flags & How to Get Ahead of Them

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK REPORTS

MDM 1Q25 Forecast Report

2024 Annual MDM Economic Outlook

Premium Monthly

MDM May 2025 Premium Monthly

Market Insight Reports

MDM 1Q25 MarketPulse Report

MDM 1Q25 M&A Report

Case Studies

MDM Case Study: MSC Industrial Supply

MDM Case Study: Watsco

Investment Banking Directory

The Downtime Dilemma: How Proactive Training Reduces Risk and Improves Output

Five Imperatives: How Distributors Can Maximize Value Today

2025 Distributor Report: How Demand Generation Tools Activate Untapped Revenue Streams

Building Contractor Loyalty

Market Prospector

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