July 2009

Square D’s Long Fight Against Counterfeits

Leave a Comment / Free, Operations, Top Distributor Sectors, Electrical, Legal Issues in Wholesale Distribution, Subscriber Only / Lindsay Young

Schneider Electric won a recent court case against Breakers Unlimited, a Noblesville, IN-based business that purchased counterfeitSquare D products in 2005 and 2006 for resale. Schneider, the parent company of Square D,spoke with MDM in February 2008 about its long fight against counterfeits of its brand. This recent win by Square D is from just one of many lawsuits it has filed to protect its brand. An excerpt from the February 2008 MDM article:

"Counterfeiters had taken their own products and slapped fake Square D labels on them. Historically, counterfeits have been easy to detect. But the counterfeiters have grown more sophisticated, making it more difficult to name a ...

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Crystal Ball Still Foggy On the Economy

Leave a Comment / Economic Trends, Research & Analytics, Free, Subscriber Only / Jenel Stelton-Holtmeier

Though ambiguity still rules the economic future, a consensus is forming that recovery will be a long, slow process. Experts from academia to governments are doing their best to clear the fog in their crystal balls but few hard and fast answers can be found.

That said, there are some interesting insights appearing. In a recent interview with Knowledge@Wharton, Jeremy Siegel, a finance professor at Wharton, noted that demand in several sectors is starting to show signs of increasing.

But don't expect a huge jump in the near future, Siegel advises. Industries like housing and automotive have been battered. So even though we've likely hit the bottom - Siegel expects May, June or July to be declared the official bottom - we still have a long way to climb before we can say things are ...

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Study: Medical Costs Continue to Rise

Leave a Comment / Human Resources in Wholesale Distribution, Free, Operations, Subscriber Only / MDM Staff

With all the news about potential health care reform in the U.S., many publications are looking more closely at the issue - and some surveys have been released looking at where medical costs are going in the next year, and how employers are dealing with the continued increases.

A recent report from PricewaterhouseCoopers says that medical costs continued to grow in late 2008 and early 2009; growth in costs for 2010 is expected to be 9%, slightly lower than in previous years. Employers in the survey said they were ready to push more of these costs for health care to workers, and expect workers to take more responsibility for managing their health in 2010.

Read the full report ...

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Construction Spending Down Slightly in May

Leave a Comment / Economic Trends, Research & Analytics, Free, Top Distributor Sectors, Building Materials/Construction, News, Subscriber Only / MDM Staff

Construction spending in May 2009 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $964.0 billion, 0.9 percent below the revised April estimate of $972.5 billion, according to the U.S. Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce. The May figure is 11.6 percent below the May 2008 estimate of $1,090.7 billion.

During the first five months of this year, construction spending amounted to $368.8 billion, 11.7 percent below the $417.5 billion for the same period in 2008.

Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $649.2 billion, 1.0 percent below the revised April estimate of $655.6 billion. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $240.2 billion in May, 3.4 percent below the revised April estimate of $248.8 billion. ...

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Genuine Parts Co. Names New Auto Parts Group President

Leave a Comment / Free, Top Distributor Sectors, Power Transmission/Motion Control/Fluid Power, News, Subscriber Only / MDM Staff

Genuine Parts Co., Atlanta, GA, has named a Paul D. Donahue president of its U.S. Automotive Parts Group. Donahue was previously responsible for several of the company's automotive business units.

Donahue, 52, joined S. P. Richards Company, the company's office products group, as Executive Vice President - Sales and Marketing in 2003. Prior to that, Donahue was president of Sanford North America, a division of Newell Rubbermaid.

As president of the U.S. Automotive Parts Group, Donahue will oversee 58 distribution centers and 1,100 stores.

Genuine Parts Company is a distributor of automotive replacement parts, industrial replacement parts, office products, and electrical and electronic products in the U.S., ...

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Hagemeyer North America Launches Latest Green Catalog

Leave a Comment / Sales & Marketing, Free, Companies, News, Subscriber Only / MDM Staff

Hagemeyer North America has launched its 2009-2010 Green Book:Sustainable Solutions. The catalog contains 220 pages with 1,500 products and solutions from more than 60 Hagemeyer supplier partners. This is the second year Hagemeyer has offered a catalog dedicated to sustainable products.

"We take economic, social, ethical and environmental issues very seriously," says Brad Pulver, Hagemeyer North America senior vice president, Product Strategy & Marketing. "We believe it's our responsibility not only to combine common sense with keen business sense for a sustainable approach to business, but to serve as a solutions-provider for our customers who are eager to do the same."

Hagemeyer's Green Book is divided into six sections: Energy Management, Test & Measure, Building Products, Water ...

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Zep 3Q Sales Decline 15.3%

Leave a Comment / Chemicals & Plastics Distribution, Free, Companies, Top Distributor Sectors, News, Subscriber Only / MDM Staff

Zep Inc., Atlanta, GA, a producer, marketer, and service provider of cleaning and maintenance solutions, reported sales of $123 million for the third quarter ended May 31, 2009, down 15.3% from the prior year. Profit improved to $5.4 million from $168,000 for third quarter of fiscal year 2008; third quarter 2008's results included restructuring and special charges of $5.9 million.

For this first nine months, sales were $366.7 million, down 13.1%. Profit declined 65.1% to $2.9 million.

Weak customer demand across a number of end-markets and high raw material costs negatively impacted the overall results.

"However, our restructuring and cost reduction measures have gained additional traction, and our third quarter gross profit margin exceeded that of the second quarter by 2.7 ...

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MSC Industrial Direct Sales Down 23.3% In 3Q

Leave a Comment / Free, Companies, Top Distributor Sectors, News, Subscriber Only / MDM Staff

MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc., Melville, NY, a distributor of metalworking and maintenance, repair and operations supplies to industrial customers throughout the U.S., reported sales of $350.5 million for the third quarter ended May 30, 2009, a decrease of 23.3% from the prior year. Profit declined 45.9% to $27.8 million.

For the first nine months of fiscal 2009, sales were $1.135 billion, down 14.7% from the first nine months of fiscal 2008. Profit fell 32% to $99.1 million.

"While our performance in the fiscal third quarter was better than anticipated, visibility remains limited as we continue to operate in one of the most severe economic downturns our industry has ever experienced. Feedback from our customers indicates that market conditions have remained weak without any ...

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Manufacturing Sector Contracts in June

Leave a Comment / Economic Trends, Research & Analytics, Finance, Free, News, Subscriber Only / MDM Staff

Economic activity in the manufacturing sector failed to grow in June for the 17th consecutive month, while the overall economy grew for the second consecutive month, according to the latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business. The PMI in June was 44.8%, an improvement of 2 percentage points over May. A PMI above 50 indicates growth in the manufacturing sector.

The Institute for Supply Management reported: Manufacturing continues to contract at a slower rate, but the trends in the indexes are encouraging as seven of 18 industries reported growth in June. Most encouraging is the gain in the Production Index, which is up 12.1 percentage points in the last two months to 52.5%.

"Aggressive inventory reduction continues and indications are that the de-stocking cycle is at or near the ...

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