Channel Marketing Group’s Q3 Pulse of Industrial Supply survey finds stronger-than-expected distributor growth, improving digital sales, and continued investment in inventory. But pricing, tariffs, and economic uncertainty remain important considerations heading into year-end. The industrial supply market appears to have found its footing. After a relatively sluggish second … [Read more...] about Industrial Supply Growth Accelerates: What Distributors Should Expect in Q4
Industry Insights
Fastenal Firing on All Cylinders, Driven by Large Accounts, Market Share Gains and Data Centers
Fastenal delivered 15.5% revenue growth and record operating-income growth as large accounts, manufacturing demand, digital programs, and embedded inventory solutions drove market-share gains. Gross-margin pressure and moderating pricing remain watch items, but operating leverage, technology adoption, and data-center-related demand support the outlook. Fastenal announced … [Read more...] about Fastenal Firing on All Cylinders, Driven by Large Accounts, Market Share Gains and Data Centers
Your Best People Are Retiring and Nobody Wrote Any of It Down
While inventory may site on your balance sheet as your most important financial investment, every distributor owner and manager knows that their people are their biggest asset and can also be their biggest liability. They are an asset as they are the #1 differentiator within your business. Without them, a distributor is a vending machine. People interact with customers, with … [Read more...] about Your Best People Are Retiring and Nobody Wrote Any of It Down
Myths of Selling to a Surplus House
Myths of selling to a surplus house All of them keep the profitable check on someone else's desk instead of yours. Every distributor and industrial plant is sitting on a bloated storeroom or warehouse full of parts, most have already talked themselves out of selling it. Usually for years. The reasons sound reasonable, in your head anyways. That's exactly what … [Read more...] about Myths of Selling to a Surplus House
Joint Calls, Am I Suffering from a Split Personality?
I've been thinking about joint calls lately. You know the drill… taking supply-partners out to visit your customers. As I sat down to write about the subject, I found myself conflicted. To the point of wondering if I were developing distributor directed personality disorders. As I sorted through dozens of conflicting thoughts, I even found myself putting a face on the whole … [Read more...] about Joint Calls, Am I Suffering from a Split Personality?
The Parts Nobody Wants to Hold
The Parts Nobody Wants to Hold — and Why You Need Someone Who Will Surplus houses exist because the industrial supply chain produces inventory nobody can afford to keep — and everybody eventually needs. Every Shelf Charges Rent Holding inventory in any industry costs 20–30% of its value, annualized. Capital, storage, insurance, shrinkage, labor — the meter runs whether … [Read more...] about The Parts Nobody Wants to Hold
How Agentic AI Could Change How Industrial Supplies Are Bought
Amidst the conversation about AI, data centers and the industrial construction market, all of which distributors benefit from, there is another conversation that, as typical, starts on the consumer side and then migrates to B2B. This is how AI is / may change business models … and when Inevitably it does not occur as quickly as the Big 4 consulting pundits project … [Read more...] about How Agentic AI Could Change How Industrial Supplies Are Bought
Fastenal Delivers Strong Growth But Exhibits Margin Pressure
Fastenal, best known as the industry’s national distributor of fasteners, announced 2Q26 earnings on July 14. The company delivered another quarter of top-line double-digit growth, but underlying a familiar tension for industrial distributors - can you keep winning share at scale without giving back too much margin? The answer thus far has been “mostly yes,” but with caveats … [Read more...] about Fastenal Delivers Strong Growth But Exhibits Margin Pressure
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 … [Read more...] about 3M’s Solid Results Signal Industrial Demand and Pricing Power Driven by Manufacturing Recovery
The New ISA Board: What It Tells Us About the Industrial Channel
ISA recently announced their 2026 / 2027 Board of Directors to represent the membership and guide the leadership on the member's needs. Further, with ISA having a small staff (by design), the Board of Directors also is the thought-leadership and idea generation segment of the association ... it's a think tank. So, I decided to use AI for two of the things it is best at - … [Read more...] about The New ISA Board: What It Tells Us About the Industrial Channel
