This week's Top 5 was a mixed bag, highlighted by company strategy news out of February's Grainger Show, Fastenal's monthly sales report, and expansion for Affiliated Distributors.
Here's this week's Top 5:
Takeaways From Grainger Show 2015: What started as a small sales meeting in Orlando, FL. more than a decade ago has since turned into the continuously expanding Grainger Show. In its eleventh year, the trade show brought together thousands of the mega-distributor’s customers, suppliers and employees. More than 17,000 people attended this year’s event, held Feb. 15-17, looking at the 750 booths of supplier displays, gaining insight at the many educational seminars and networking with experts of every industry. During a media roundtable at the 2015 Grainger Show, CEO Jim Ryan sat down to discuss some recurring themes Grainger is seeing in the marketplace. Some of the topics Ryan says Grainger is focusing on most include its social media commitment, its e-Commerce channel and the continued agenda surrounding safety.
Sales Call Preparation Leads To Right Place, Right Time (article): Sales guru Paul Reilly of Reilly Sales Training has been ever-popular on ID over the last few months, and he had another big hit this week as this article discusses the vastly overlooked practice of sales call preparation.
Affiliated Distributors Announces Power Transmission Division: AD made a major announcement Monday with the news of its new Power Transmission division, which is led by Bill Childers, AD's vice president/managing director of power transmission. Childers joins AD with 43 years of experience in the industry.
Amazon Wants To Put 3D Printers In Delivery Trucks (blog): As part of its endless drive to speed up delivery and reduce warehouse costs, Amazon recently applied for patents for an on-demand 3D printing service in mobile manufacturing hubs, including delivery trucks. While it may not have a practical application in industrial distribution right now, with more technology refining, on-site 3D printing could one day have a considerable impact on the market.
Fastenal Reports February Sales: Fastenal reported monthly sales of $298.2, up 8.6 percent year-over-year. Daily sales increased the same amount to $14.9 million. Sales to both manufacturing customers and non-residential construction customers grew 6.4 percent, while employee headcount increased by 6.6 percent year-over-year, or 1,181.
