3M’s Solid Results Signal Industrial Demand and Pricing Power Driven by Manufacturing Recovery
3M, a multinational conglomerate in the industrial, safety, and consumer goods segments, announced 2Q 2026 earnings on July 21, 2026. Revenue was $6.5 billion, an organic growth rate of 5.4%, driven by broad industrial strength, surging demand in semiconductors and data centers, strong execution and innovation, and a major rebound in China, with Safety & Industrial leading the company…
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NetPlus Members See Positive 2nd Half
NetPlus shared insights from its member survey and their performance” “A strong start to the year for NetPlus Alliance members is also signaling a strong…
Are You a Market Maker or a Market Server?
With this article we’re introducing a new contributor – Frank Hurtte from River Heights Consulting. Frank is known for his industrial sales expertise and has…
MSC 2026 FYQ3 – Navigating the Pivot – Price, Sales Growth and Headcount
Price-Led Growth Gives Way to Early Volume Recovery MSC Industrial reported third quarter results on July 1, 2026. Net sales increased 7.8% to $1.047 billion,…
“Be Like Mike?” Perhaps Data Like Grainger
Grainger probably has more eCommerce experience than any distributor. I remember back when they acquired a stake in MRO.com to form FindMRO.com. People thought they…
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MSC 2026 FYQ3 – Navigating the Pivot – Price, Sales Growth and Headcount
Price-Led Growth Gives Way to Early Volume Recovery MSC Industrial reported third quarter results on July 1, 2026. Net sales increased 7.8% to $1.047 billion, driven mainly by price with a little volume. Price contributed about 720 bps to growth; volume contributed roughly 50 bps, indicating an inflection back to positive volume after Q2 weakness. Gross margin was 41.1%, slightly…
“Be Like Mike?” Perhaps Data Like Grainger
Grainger probably has more eCommerce experience than any distributor. I remember back when they acquired a stake in MRO.com to form FindMRO.com. People thought they were crazy. In reality, it was probably a great experience from a learning perspective. They’ve built an eCommerce machine that also enables them to power Grainger.com and Zoro.com but also is the backbone of the…
The Hidden Tax of Returns: How Industrial Distributors Turn Dead Stock into Cash
Every distributor has seen it: return shelves overflowing with parts that came back from a customer, parts that never sold, and parts that are technically inventory but functionally furniture. Returns are the sleeper line item for industrial distributors (and even manufacturers!) They don’t show up in the sales meeting. They show up in the margin — months later, wearing a…
Can eCommerce Help Your Silver Tsunami?
Noted B2B eCommerce guru Jason Greenwood on his THE ECOMMERCE EDGE (which, if you are in senior management, sales leadership, marketing, or eCommerce you should subscribe) recently wrote about “the silver tsunami” and the opportunity, and role, for eCommerce … and AI. We’ve all seen the number of people retiring from the industry. We all look around at conferences and…
Was there an Elephant in the Room at the Applied AI for Distributors Conference?
Mark McGready, Director Data Analytics and Solutions for IDEA, attended the 2026 Applied AI for Distributors Conference organized by Distribution Strategy Group. While he spoke to attendees about IDEA’s Data Whispers solution and how Nudge (its avatar) helps drive sales, profits and acts as a virtual sales coach and information resource tailored to each distributor’s offering and is based upon…
Manufacturers – Data Cleanup Doesn’t Work on Autopilot
Most distributors are dependent upon their manufacturers for product data (some have internal resources) to power their eCommerce systems and, increasingly, to support AI-powered applications. Most manufacturers rely on their internal staff to develop it. But here’s a sneaky, albeit obvious observation … manufacturers 1) develop new products, 2) occasionally have enhancements / refinements, and 3) desire to upgrade the…
The Most Valuable Feedback You’re Not Reviewing
Every company seeks to improve profitability. While you endeavor to price everything correctly with a goal of achieving the desired margin, there are the inevitable. This why the phrase “sh*T happens” was invented. People are not infallible and most people do not make errors on purpose. Sometimes a typo is a typo. Sometimes mistakes occur because of lack of training…
Q2 Pulse of Industrial Supply is Open till June 22
Fastenal’s headline number for May was 15%. Dig into the numbers and another area (non-contract accounts) is 8%. Online is 11%. The question becomes, what is the market doing? Q2 Industrial Supply Dynamics Q2’s dynamics included higher energy costs, tariff changes, commodity price increases. The industrial segment, overall, appears to be rebounding, especially oil / gas and industrial machinery.…
