It's a new year, and the first major industrial news item of 2017 came Thursday with Stanley Black & Decker's announced acquisition of Sears' Craftsman brand. Still, our blog about Fastenal's new P.O.D.'s offering drove the most traffic.
Here's this week's Top 5
Fastenal Set To Upend Industrial Vending Again With New PODs: Featuring ID's exclusive interview with two FAST Solutions executives, learn about Fastenal's new Products-On-Demand offering, or P.O.D.s, aimed to provide a selection of Fastenal products in areas that don't have a local store. This item was posted Dec. 28, but since there was no Top 5 last week with the holidays, I'm including it here since it was our most-viewed item for a second week in a row.
Stanley Black & Decker Buying Craftsman Brand From Sears: Stanley B&D expects the deal, valued at $900 million, to generate about $100 million of annual sales growth for approximately the next 10 years.
Video - Get To Know Kimball Midwest - No. 40 On ID's Big 50 List: Get a company overview of Columbus, OH-based MRO distributor Kimball Midwest.
Amazon Wants Flying Warehouses. Yes, Really: Amazon has been awarded a patent for what it calls the Airborne Fulfillment Center — essentially a blimp carrying products and drones that would deliver to customers from a height of 45,000 feet.
ID's Top 10 Articles Of 2016: Sales management is a major topic for the industrial distribution audience, and four of our top articles reflected that. Our annual Big 50 List was No. 1 as expected, while readers had big interest in the topics of millennials and sales management.
U.S. Rig Count Up Another 5 Last Week; Oil Price At 18-Month High: The year-over-year gap in the U.S. active oil and gas rig count continues to close, while the price of Brent Crude oil has now climbed nearly 26 percent since Nov. 14.
