February 1, 2007

New Grainger Catalog: 20% More Products

Companies, Facilities Maintenance (MRO), Free, News, Subscriber Only, Top Distributor Sectors / MDM Staff

W.W. Grainger, Chicago, IL, distributor of facilities maintenance supplies, has released its updated 2007 catalog with more than 138,000 MRO products, an increase of 23,000 over last year.

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Last year, the distributor increased its catalog by 40%, adding 39,000 new products.

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As planned, for 2007 Grainger has added more than 7,000 plumbing products, including high-grade pipes, valves and fittings; 4,000 material handling supplies such as conveyors, hoists and casters; 5,000 fasteners including nuts, bolts and screws; as well as 1,600 security products including locks and hinges.

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The company expects incremental sales from its ongoing product expansion to account for 1 to 2 percentage points of its growth in …

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WESCO 2006 Sales Up 20.3%

Companies, Electrical, Free, News, Subscriber Only, Top Distributor Sectors / MDM Staff

WESCO International Inc., Pittsburgh, PA, reports sales increased 20.3% to $5.32 billion, compared with $4.4 billion in 2005. Profit for the year was $217 million, double the profit of last year.

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The electrical distributor reported sales of $1.37 billion for the fourth quarter 2006, an increase of 11.3% over the same period last year. Profit was $58 million versus $40 million in the prior-year quarter.

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3M Acquires Rite-Lok Adhesives Line

Companies, Finance, Free, Mergers & Acquisitions, News, Subscriber Only, Top Distributor Sectors / MDM Staff

3M, St. Paul, MN, has acquired the Rite-Lok global industrial adhesives product line from Chemence Inc., a specialty chemical company that manufactures consumer and industrial adhesives.

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The line includes anaerobic threadlockers, retaining compounds, gasket makers, thread sealants, structural adhesives, and specialty cyanoacrylate instant adhesives for industrial use such as metal bonding, plastics and rubber. The line also includes high-temperature, low-odor industrial adhesives and rubber-toughened flexible adhesives.

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Anixter Grows Sales to $4.94B in 2006

Companies, Electrical, Fasteners, Free, News, Subscriber Only, Top Distributor Sectors / MDM Staff

Anixter International Inc., Glenview, IL, distributor of communication products, electrical and electronic wire & cable and fasteners, reported sales of $4.94 billion in the year ended Dec. 29, 2006, up from $3.85 billion last year. Profit was $209.3 million in 2006.

Sales in 2006 were boosted by the acquisition of Infast in July 2005, IMS in May 2006 and MFU in October 2006.

Sales in the fourth quarter were $1.3 billion, including $23.5 million from acquisitions. Sales were up 27% from the same period a year ago. Profit increased 160% to $52.4 million. Organic growth was 22% in the fourth quarter.

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Anixter reported it saw strong large-project business, related to data center builds in the enterprise cabling market and energy and natural …

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ISM: Manufacturing Contracts in January

Economic Trends, Free, News, Research & Analytics, Subscriber Only / MDM Staff

Economic activity in the manufacturing sector contracted in January after a one-month expansion, while the overall economy grew for the 63^rd month, according to the latest manufacturing ISM Report on Business.

After a slight rebound in December, the manufacturing sector did not grow in January. New Orders remained positive, but little change has taken place as the PMI has averaged 50.5% in the past four months. In overall terms, manufacturing lost momentum in the second half of 2006 and is starting 2007 in a less than robust fashion, according to the Institute for Supply Management.

Results show a decline in the Inventories Index to the lowest level since February 2002, indicating a significant liquidation is taking place in many supply chains. …

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