2006

Airgas, Inc., Radnor, PA, reported its fiscal 2006 earnings were up 20% to $2.8 billion. For the full fiscal year 2006, net income was $124 million.In fiscal 2006, Airgas acquired 13 companies for a total of $128 million those companies had combined annual sales of $141 million.The company also reported fourth quarter sales were up […]

Cardinal Health, Inc., provider of products and services supporting the health care industry, announced plans to acquire the pharmaceutical wholesale distribution business from The F. Dohmen Co. and certain of its subsidiaries. The F. Dohmen Co. is a privately held family-owned health care services corporation, headquartered in Germantown, WI. With revenue of approximately $1.7 billion,

Industrial Distribution Group, Inc., Atlanta, reported its first quarter revenues for the period ended March 31, 2006, were $140.3 million compared with $137.9 million in the comparable quarter in 2005. Revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2005 includes $2.3 million associated with the company’s Cardinal Machinery business unit which was sold during the

The Boeing Company, Chicago, IL, had agreed to acquire aviation parts distributor Aviall, Inc., Dallas, TX, in an all cash merger for $48 per share or $1.7 billion. Boeing will also assume about $350 million of net debt as part of the transaction. Aviall’s 2005 revenue was $1.3 billion, with more than 25% growth expected

Huttig Building Products Inc., a distributor of millwork, building materials and wood products, reported first quarter 2006 sales of $281.1 million, a 13 percent increase over the year-ago period.The company attributed sales growth to aggressive market and product expansion strategies, as well as to favorable weather. Millwork and building product sales increased 17 percent and

DXP Enterprises, Inc., Houston, TX, reported sales were up 49.6% to $62.5 million in the first quarter ended March 31, 2006, compared with $41.8 million in the first quarter last year. Sales by the two businesses acquired in 2005 accounted for $8.7 million of the sales increase. Excluding sales by those businesses, sales for the

Oldcastle Building Products Inc., the North American operation of building products producer and distributor CRH plc, has agreed to acquire Houston-based MMI Products Inc., Houston TX. MMI’s parent company is Merchants Metals Holding Company.CRH is a worldwide producer and distributor of building products and construction materials, with 2005 sales of over $17 billion. MMI will

DGI Supply, Des Plaines, IL, a DoALL Company, has acquired Groves Industrial Supply Corp. of Houston, TX. Groves is a $35 million, full-line industrial distribution company which focuses on providing MRO products to the Houston market. “We hope to use this acquisition to expand our reach in the Houston market and strengthen our MRO supply capabilities

Kennametal Inc., Latrobe, PA, reported its third quarter 2006 sales were up 6% to $631 million versus the same period last year. Organic growth was 12%. Net income was $33 million compared with $31 million in the same period last year, up 7%. Third-quarter performance reflects the impact of previously announced divestitures. Kennametal sold its UK-based

Applied Industrial Technologies, Cleveland, OH, reported sales for the third quarter 2006 increased 11.4% to $497.2 million from $446.5 million in the same period a year ago. Profit jumped to $19.9 million from $16.3 million in the same period a year ago.  For the nine months ended March 31, 2006, sales increased 10.5% to $1.397

Anixter International Inc., Glenview, IL, reported sales increased 22%  to $1.07 billion in first quarter 2006, compared to sales of $876 million in the year-ago quarter. Net income rose 53% to $31.3 million, from $20.4 million in last year’s first quarter. Sales included $70.1 million from the July 8, 2005 acquisition of Infast Group plc. ‘Sales

an incremental $7.5 billion of inventory to their balance sheets. Naturally, this lean supply chain behavior is being enabled by new technology linkages between trading partners. Wholesalers continuously share order, inventory-to-sales, and shipment data with manufacturers. Manufacturers use real-time analyses of these data to evaluate wholesaler orders, balance inventory-to-sales levels in the channel, prevent leakages

into the supplier’s inventory and information with one click.TipsCommunication is key, he says. Employees who were responsible for the manual side of business operations knew from the start they may not have a job at the end of automation, for example.DeMao recommends distributors looking at automating processes carefully analyze and choose a software provider.“After you

of the inventor, but should be determined based exclusively on official patent documents references such as treaties and dictionaries. By separating claim interpretation from factual determinations, the Federal Circuit turned over to district court judges – as opposed to juries – the task of interpreting claim language. Construction of patent claims is often a pivotal

Minor, Cardinal Health and McKesson Medical-Surgical Solutions.Owens & Minor has implemented margin initiatives to counter ongoing competitive pricing pressures, which management expects will not let up in the near future. Also, as suppliers continue to seek more restrictive agreements with distributors, Owens and Minor has been pursuing fewer alternate sourcing opportunities than in the past,

Stock Building Supply ($4.1 billion in sales), Raleigh, N.C., building materials distributor, has acquired the Wholesale Division of Davis Homes, in Indianapolis, IN. Davis Homes Wholesale ($19.4 million in sales) is the sole supplier of roof trusses, wall panels, door assemblies, framing lumber, windows, sub-flooring, interior and exterior trim, roofing, and sheathing for Davis Homes,