2008 - Page 21 of 59 - Modern Distribution Management

2008

Genuine Parts Co. Office Products Group Agrees to Buy ActionEmco Assets

The Office Products Group of Genuine Parts Co., Atlanta, GA -S.P. Richards Company -has agreed to buy the Midwestern U.S. business assets of ActionEmco. ActionEmco is a regional office products distributor.
 
S.P. Richards is buying the business the company services from its Grand Rapids, MI, distribution center. The company expects the purchase to generate additional annual revenues of $50 million.
 
Thomas C. Gallagher, president and CEO of Genuine Parts, said: Like S.P. Richards, ActionEmco has been actively involved in the office products industry for many years and both companies have shown considerable growth in their Midwest business over the years. We believe this combination is a very good fit for S.P. Richards, ActionEmco and our customers, and we look …

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Five Star Products Sales Down 12.5% in 2Q

Five Star Products, Inc., New York, NY, distributor of paint sundry and hardware products in the Northeast and Middle-Atlantic states, reported revenue for the three months ended June 30, 2008, were down 12.5% to $31.4 million. Profit was $98,000, compared with profit of $567,000 in the prior-year period.
 
The distributor reported sales of $62.9 million for the first six months of 2008, a 4.4% decrease. The net loss was $609,000.
 
John Belknap, Five Star CEO, said: Challenging market conditions in our industry obviously have impacted Five Star’s second quarter. Neither Five Star nor its customers are immune from negative economic factors affecting, in particular, the housing and home improvement industries.”
 
As previously announced, National Patent …

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Industrial Production Up 0.2% in July

Industrial production increased 0.2% in July after having advanced 0.4% in June. Manufacturing output gained 0.4% in July and was boosted by a rise of 3.6% in the production of motor vehicles and parts. Excluding motor vehicles and parts, the index for manufacturing increased 0.2%.
 
The output of mines moved up 0.9%, while the output of utilities contracted 1.9%. At 111.8% of its 2002 average, total industrial production was 0.1% below its level of a year earlier. In July, the capacity utilization rate for total industry edged up to 79.9%, a level 1.1 percentage points below its average for 1972-2007.
 
Daniel J. Meckstroth, Ph.D., chief economist for the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI, said: The modest spike of growth occurred as manufacturers adjusted production …

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Report: Latin American Production Growth to Decelerate in 2009

Maintaining momentum from a strong 2007 and first quarter 2008, particularly in Brazil and Argentina, a new report projects Latin American-based manufacturers will continue to increase output this year and in 2009. According to the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI Latin America Outlook: 2008-2009, a bi-annual analysis that examines the latest trends and provides a near-term forecast for 16 major industries, manufacturing production growth will decelerate in 2009.

The report focuses on Latin America’s three largest economies — Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico — as these countries are responsible for more than 80% of the region’s manufacturing output. MAPI raised its forecast for overall manufacturing output in Latin America in 2008 to 4.9% from its 3.8% forecast in the …

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Better Communication with Gen X and Y

The work force is rapidly changing. Soon we will see a massive shift from the Boomers to Gen X in top management at distributors big and small.

It’s not uncommon to hear distributor executives talk about how to attract the next generation of management-worthy workers into their companies. BusinessWeek, as part of a bigger package on the workplace, put down a few pieces of advice on how to better communicate and meet the needs of Generations X (born 1965-1980) and Y (1981-1994). The piece provides some good food for thought as the generational shift continues.

Here’s the advice she offers:
 
With technology, keep it …

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RONA Same-Store Sales Down 4.4% in 2Q

RONA Inc., Boucherville, Quebec, reported sales of $1.47 billion for the second quarter, a slight increase from the same quarter 2007. Profit was $80.1 million, a 7% decrease from the prior year. Same-store sales for the period were down 4.4%.
 
For the first half of 2008, sales were $2.38 billion, a 1.6% increase over the first half of 2007. Profit dropped 14.8% to $81.1 million. The decline is attributable in part to downward pressure of sales in the construction and renovation industry due to lower consumer confidence levels.
 
Results for the second quarter of 2008 clearly show that the efficiency improvement measures we introduced at the beginning of the year are producing gains and have helped mitigate the downward pressure on sales stemming from the current …

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TriMark USA Agrees to Buy Economy Restaurant Fixtures

TriMark USA, Inc., South Attleboro, MA, a distributor of foodservice equipment and supplies, has agreed to acquire San Francisco, CA-based Economy Restaurant Fixtures, Inc., including its BigTray Division.
 
Jerry Hyman, CEO of TriMark USA said: “This acquisition … puts us into two additional market segments -cash-and-carry and Internet sales, both of which we intend on expanding. It also gives the TriMark family much needed West Coast distribution capabilities.”
 
Economy employs 150 individuals between its San Francisco location and a superstore in Sacramento, CA.
 
TriMark USA is a full-service equipment and supplies distributor with over 900 employees servicing all …

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Wine Distributors Create Joint Venture

Miami, FL-based Southern Wine &Spirits of America, Inc. and Glazer’s Distributors, Addison, TX, have created a joint venture to provide distribution of wine and spirits in serve 38 states. The venture will operate under the name Southern/Glazer’s Distributors of America.
 
The 38 states served by the new venture account for more than 80% of the wine and spirit sales in the U.S.
 
Wayne E. Chaplin, president of Southern Wine &Spirits of America, Inc. and will serve as CEO of the new joint venture, said: The combination of the resources of our two great companies will bring greater scale and synergies to the marketplaces we serve and, therefore, allow us to be better partners to both our suppliers and our retailer customers. Given the highly competitive landscape at …

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WinWholesale Opens Winnelson in Missouri

WinWholesale Inc., Dayton, OH, has opened Clinton Winnelson Co. in Clinton, MO, to provide plumbing contractors in the west-central part of the state with plumbing equipment, parts and accessories. The company serves Henry, Johnson and St. Clair counties.
 
Clinton Winnelson provides counter sales pickup as well as delivery service. The company also has a showroom. Among the brands carried are American Standard, Mansfield, Delta, Moen and NIBCO.
 
WinWholesale Inc. consists of more than 470 corporations that are collectively referred to as The Win Group of Companies.”The companies conduct business-to-business wholesale distribution across a broad range of …

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General Bearing Sales Up 8% in 2Q

General Bearing Corp., West Nyack, NY, reported sales of $35.1 million for the second quarter ended June 28, 2008, an 8% increase over the same period a year ago. Profit was $2.7 million, down 15.5% from the prior year.
 
For the first six months, sales were up 7.9% to $69.2 million. The company recorded profit of $2.7 million, a decline of 22.1% from the prior year.
 
General Bearing manufactures ball bearings, tapered roller bearings, spherical roller bearings, and cylindrical roller bearings and bearing components. Under The General”and the “Hyatt”trademarks, the company supplies original equipment manufacturers in the automobile, truck/trailer, railcar, office equipment, machinery and appliance industries, as well as the industrial aftermarket. …

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Building Materials Holding Corp. Gets Waiver from Lenders

San Francisco, CA-based Building Materials Holding Corp., a provider of building materials and construction services to professional residential builders and contractors, has obtained a temporary waiver of certain conditions to borrowing under its credit facility. The company previously announced that its second quarter financial results were out of compliance with certain financial covenants.
 
The waiver allows BMHC to borrow up to $60 million, through Sept. 30, while it works to finalize a permanent amendment to the credit facility to better reflect current market conditions. The company expects to reach an agreement with lenders without impacting business operations.
 
The company will release details of the second quarter financial results on August …

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Educating the Competition on Pricing

Here’s one potential downside, if you want to call it that, to adjusting your pricing strategy: It makes it more difficult to sell against competitors who may not have taken that route. One of the comments that stuck out in my interviews for the recent pricing article in the Aug. 10, 2008, issue of MDM, Pricing for Profitability, was that poor pricing practices can cause not only an erosion of margins at a single company but in an entire market.

As Robert Graham, president of Engine Warehouse, Houston, TX, told me: “We don’t have exclusivity on every line we sell. We have exclusivity on some, but on other product lines, we have competitors selling the same product and offering similar services, and they are …

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Barnes Distribution Adds 4,200 Products to New Catalog

Barnes Distribution, distributor of maintenance, repair, operating and production supplies and a business of Barnes Group Inc., launched its new master catalog today, adding more than 4,200 new products to its regularly stocked items.
 
New features in the catalog include a welding section and a redesigned fittings and hose section.
 
The addition of these products reinforces the vertical marketing strategy the company announced last year in the transportation, manufacturing, government and natural resources markets, according to a news release.
 
Barnes Distribution is a distributor of maintenance, repair, operating and production supplies. It includes operations in more than 40 …

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Atlas Copco Buys Industrial Power Sales

Atlas Copco Tools and Assembly Systems LLC, USA, a U.S. arm of Swedish manufacturer Atlas Copco, acquired Industrial Power Sales, Inc., a distributor of tools, assembly systems and material handling equipment. The company is headquartered in Raleigh, NC, and employs 61 people.
 
The acquisition will give Atlas Copco better geographical coverage, allowing us to meet the needs of our global and regional customers,” says Mats Rahmstrom, President Atlas Copco Industrial Technique.
 
The company has been a distributor of Atlas Copco’s products in Virginia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi.
 
Atlas Copco is a manufacturer of industrial products and services ranging from compressed air and gas equipment, generators, …

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Park-Ohio Holdings Report 2Q Sales Unchanged

Park-Ohio Holdings Corp., Cleveland, OH, reported second quarter sales of $285.9 million, remaining essentially unchanged from sales for the same period a year ago. Profit was $5.7 million, a 1.7% decrease from second quarter 2007.
 
For the first six months ended June 30, 2008, sales were $553 million. The company reported profit of $9.2 million, a 17% decrease from the first half of 2007.
 
Park-Ohio is a provider of supply chain logistics services and a manufacturer of highly engineered …

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Lawson Products Sales Fall 2.2% in 2Q

Lawson Products, Inc., a Des Plaines, IL-based distributor of services, systems and products to the MRO and OEM marketplaces, reported sales of $126.3 million for its second quarter ended June 30, 2008, a decrease of 2.2% from the prior year quarter. The company reported a loss of $29.7 million, compared with a net loss of $0.3 million in the second quarter of 2007.
 
Charges of $30.4 million related to the settlement of the investigation of the company by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and $3.6 million related to liabilities for unclaimed property contributed to the reported loss.
 
For the six months ended June 30, 2008, sales were $251.3 million, 2.9% lower than the six months ended June 30, 2007 due to lower sales in the MRO business. The net loss for first six …

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Applied Industrial: Strengths Offset Weaknesses in its End-Markets

Industrial distributor Applied Industrial Technologies, Cleveland, OH, held its fourth-quarter and 2008 year-end earnings conference on Friday. Sales in 2008 increased 3.7% to $2.1 billion from fiscal 2007. Profit rose 11% to $95 million.
 
End Markets
As CEO David Pugh says, anything related to housing is a problem,” and “anything related to energy is a boom situation.” According to Pugh, about half of the top 30 industries Applied serves were down, and the other half were flat to up in the past year. The distributor is seeing double-digit declines in sales to the lumber and wood products industry (about 15% of sales), as well as in transportation (4% of sales). Pugh says “some, but not all, of that sales decline was countered by strong increases in power generation, …

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NAW Wants to Educate Members on Health Insurance Plan

Health insurance through associations seems to be a hot topic lately. The Industrial Supply Association just announced a partnership with the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors to provide health insurance options to its members. The program actually has been in place since January of 2008 but this new initiative creates a co-branding experience that will improve access to information for all members of ISA.
 
A recent article on WSJ.com points out that many associations are looking for ways to provide this service to their members. The problem in many cases is that the insurance is actually being sold through bogus or phony associations and the …

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Is Economic Confidence Eroding in Canada?

It seems like eroded confidence in the economy is seeping into our northern neighbor’s boardrooms. According to the second-quarter CICA/RBC Business Monitor report, only 6% of executives are more confident in the Canadian economy than they were a year ago.
 
The survey says that 23% of respondents are very optimistic about the economy, compared with 67% a year ago. Just under half of respondents said they had been negatively affected by the U.S. economy.
 
Respondents in Alberta and Manitoba/Saskatchewan were most optimistic about prospects in their provinces; those in Ontario responded with the least amount of optimism about their province. The province is facing manufacturing losses and impacts from the weak U.S. dollar.
 
The culprit, at least …

Is Economic Confidence Eroding in Canada? Read More »

Report: Health Care Costs Expect to Increase 10.6% in Next 12 Months

Health care costs are expected to increase on average 10.6% in the next 12 months, according to Aon Consulting Worldwide.
 
Aon surveyed more than 70 health care insurers and found that health care costs are projected to increase by 10.6% for HMOs, 10.5% for POS plans, 10.7% for PPOs and 10.5% for CDH plans. These represent the lowest trend rate increases since the study began in 2001, and are slightly lower than one year ago, when HMO cost increases were 10.9%, 10.8% for POS plans, 11.2% for PPOs and 10.7% for CDH plans.
 
Aon Consulting’s U.S. Health &Benefits practice director, John Zern, said of the survey results: While the medical trend rate is still more than twice the consumer price index, it is encouraging to see that health care cost rate increases are …

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