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May 2018 News

Grainger's head of communications to retire

Grainger announced that Laura Brown, senior vice president, communications and investor relations, will retire effective July 1.

IDCO membership tops 70

IDCO Co-op announced that Houston Hose & Specialty Co. Inc. and Geib Industries Inc. have joined the organization.

Smidler joins M&A firm

Falls River Group LLC, a mergers and acquisition firm serving middle market clients, announced that Steven J. Smidler has joined the team as an executive transaction advisor.

Columbus McKinnon reports strong fiscal year results

Columbus McKinnon Corporation reported full-year sales of $839.4 million, a 31.8 percent increase over $637.1 million last year.

GDP increased by 2.2 percent in Q1

Real gross domestic product increased at an annual rate of 2.2 percent in the first quarter of 2018, according to the most recent estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

RBC Bearings sales grew by 10 percent

RBC Bearings reported net sales for fiscal 2018 of $674.9 million, a 10 percent gain on sales of $615.4 million in the previous fiscal year.

All Industrial Tool Supply partners with GlobalShopex

All Industrial Tool Supply has launched international e-commerce and shipping capabilities through a partnership with GlobalShopex.

RIDGID names new director of product management

Steven Shepard has been named director of product management for RIDGID in Elyria, Ohio.

Lawson Products opens Alberta DC

Lawson Products held an open house to celebrate its new distribution center in Alberta, Canada.

IDCO names Hose Honors suppliers

IDCO Co-op announced the finalists of its 2018 Hose Honors program, which recognizes performance of IDCO-endorsed suppliers.

AD eCommerce Solutions passes three million SKUs

AD announced that its eCommerce Solutions offering has surpassed three million SKUs, representing more than 2,000 manufacturers.

Turtle & Hughes launches e-commerce platform

Turtle & Hughes launched an e-commerce platform with the latest search and web-crawling technology on a redesigned turtle.com website.

Epicor kicks off user conference with three announcements

Epicor Software made three announcements to kick off the start of Epicor's global user conference Insights 2018, highlighted by the introduction of its Kinetic Design Common Cross-Platform UX Framework.

Radians acquires Neese Industries

Safety Supply Corporation, a manufacturer of personal protective equipment and parent of Radians Inc., has acquired Neese Industries Inc., a provider of flame-resistant clothing and protective rainwear.

Fairmont Supply launches new e-commerce site

Fairmont Supply announced the launch of its enhanced eCommerce website.

NetPlus Alliance purchases grew by 20.5% in Q1

NetPlus Alliance, a North American industrial and contractor supplies buying group, posted a 20.5 percent increase in purchases in the first quarter of 2018.

Little change in economic growth in April

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index ticked up to +0.34 in April from +0.32 in March.

Motion Industries acquires Power Industries

Motion Industries has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Power Industries Inc., also known as Santa Rosa MRO, headquartered in Santa Rosa, California.

PTDA Index climbs to 72.6

The fourth quarter 2017 Sales History & Outlook Report (SHOR) released by the Power Transmission Distributors Association (PTDA) indicates the average PTDA distributors’ index for total sales during 2017 was 5.4 percent above 2016.

Emerson to acquire Aventics

Emerson announced it has agreed on terms to acquire Aventics from Triton for a cash purchase price of €527 million (US $621 million).

Hyde IBS names process engineer

Hyde Industrial Blade Solutions appointed Justin Hence to the position of process engineer at the manufacturer of industrial knives and blades.

Staples offers to buy Essendant

Essendant Inc. has confirmed that it received an unsolicited proposal from Staples Inc. to acquire all shares of Essendant stock for $11.50 per share in cash.

Vaughan & Bushnell  acquires Dasco Pro

Vaughan & Bushnell Manufacturing Co.has acquired substantially all the assets of Dasco Pro Inc., a manufacturer of chisels and punches.

DXP names new accounting officer

DXP Enterprises announced that Eugene Padgett has been appointed chief accounting officer.

Industrial production rises for third consecutive month

Industrial production rose 0.7 percent in April for its third consecutive monthly increase.

IDCO welcomes new members

IDCO Co-op, a cooperative for independent distributors serving the industrial community with hose, fittings, gaskets, rubber materials and related products, recently welcomed three new members.

Flexovit earns excellence award

Flexovit USA received the 2018 Award for General Excellence at the sixth annual Buffalo Business First Manufacturing Awards.

Home Depot sales rise 4.4 percent

The Home Depot reported sales of $24.9 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2018, a 4.4 percent increase from $23.9 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2017.

Rexnord sales up 8 percent

Rexnord said its fiscal year 2018 sales were $2.1 billion, an 8 percent increase from $1.9 billion in fiscal 2017.

Mallory Safety acquires Essential Safety Products

Mallory Safety and Supply announced the acquisition of Essential Safety Products.

Weiler appoints VP of sales

Weiler Abrasives Group has promoted Jason Conner to the position of vice president of sales for the U.S. and Canada.

March manufacturing technology orders increased

U.S. manufacturing technology orders continued to rise in March, increasing 42 percent over February 2018 and 23 percent over March 2017.

Shanahan named Turtle & Hughes co-CEO

Turtle & Hughes Inc. has selected Kathleen Shanahan as company co-CEO.

Underhill named group president of Kimberly-Clark North America

Kim Underhill, president of Kimberly-Clark Professional, has been named group president Kimberly-Clark North America.

Midwest Industrial Rubber acquires New England Belting

Midwest Industrial Rubber has acquired New England Belting Company, an independent provider of specialty belts including edge belts, wave solder belts, timing belts and vacuum belts.

QA1 names new marketing manager

QA1 named Dave Kass as its new marketing manager.

MCE opens 7th ParkerStore in Wisconsin

RitterTech-WI, a division of Motion & Control Enterprises (MCE), is opening a ParkerStore near Janesville, Wisconsin, its seventh ParkerStore in the state.

Pinnacle Climate Technologies names executives

Pinnacle Climate Technologies named a new executive vice president of sales and marketing and a vice president of engineering. 

DXP posts 19.9 percent sales gain

DXP Enterprises reported first-quarter sales increased 19.9 percent to $285.9 million, compared to $238.5 million for the first quarter of 2017.

Standard Locknut welcomes Decker in sales leadership role

Kevin Decker has joined Standard Locknut LLC as director of distribution sales.

ISM: Economic growth to continue throughout 2018

Economic growth is expected to continue in the U.S. throughout 2018, say the nation's purchasing and supply executives in their Spring 2018 Semiannual Economic Forecast.

Kaman posts sales gain of 4.5 percent

Kaman Industrial Technologies posted first-quarter sales of $283.9 million, a 4.5 percent increase from $271.6 million in the same quarter last year.

Martin Supply names VP of operations

Martin Supply announced that Bryan Augsburger has joined the company as vice president of operations.

MRC Global hits Q1 sales of $1 billion

MRC Global reported sales of $1.010 billion for the first quarter of 2018, 12% higher than the fourth quarter of 2017. 

Machining Marketplace launched

Machining Marketplace announced the launch of a new e-commerce procurement solution built specifically for manufacturing markets. 

Fastenal sales climb 19.1 percent in April

Fastenal recorded a 19.1 percent sales increase in April, with sales climbing to $409.3 million compared to $343.7 million in April 2017.

Manufacturing employment increased in April

Employment in manufacturing increased by 24,000 in April according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Manufacturing productivity rose 0.5 percent

Manufacturing sector labor productivity rose 0.5 percent in the first quarter of 2018, as output increased 3.3 percent and hours worked increased 2.8 percent.

NOW Inc. posts profit in Q1

NOW Inc. said its first-quarter revenue was $764 million, up 21 percent year over year and up 14 percent sequentially.

Harvey Gerstman Associates adds OccuNomix

Harvey Gerstman Associates announced that it is now representing OccuNomix, a manufacturer of high visibility work apparel, in its Northeast and Mid-Atlantic territories.

Airgas acquires Weiler Welding

Airgas announced that it recently acquired Weiler Welding Company Inc., an industrial gas, beverage gas and welding supply business headquartered in Moraine, Ohio.

Allied Motion posts record sales

Allied Motion Technologies reported first-quarter revenue increased 25 percent to a record $76.6 million driven primarily by organic growth.

Jason Industries sales decline 4.5 percent

Jason Industries said its net sales in the first quarter decreased 4.5 percent to $167.3 million.

Johnson Level acquired by Swedish firm

Hultafors Group of Goteborg, Sweden has acquired Johnson Level and Tool Mfg. Co. Inc. of Mequon, Wisconsin.

Graybar reports 7 percent sales gain

Graybar reported record net sales of $1.6 billion for the first three months of 2018, a 7.0 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

Fastenal urges rejection of mini-tender offer

Fastenal Company is urging shareholders to reject a mini-tender offer made by TRC Capital Corporation to purchase up to two million shares of Fastenal's common stock.

MSC acquires AIS

MSC Industrial Supply has acquired All Integrated Solutions (AIS) from New York-based private equity firm High Road Capital Partners.

Manufacturing activity slowed in April

Manufacturing activity slowed in April as the Institute for Supply Management purchasing index registered 57.3 percent, a decrease of 2 percentage points from the March reading of 59.3 percent.

March construction spending rises compared to year ago

Construction spending during March 2018 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.285 trillion, 3.6 percent above March 2017.

Eaton sales rise 8 percent

Eaton Corporation reported that sales in the first quarter of 2018 were $5.3 billion, up 8 percent over the same period in 2017.

Emerson posts strong sales gain

Emerson announced net sales of $4.2 billion were up 19 percent in the second quarter, reflecting strong global economic conditions and continued favorable demand.

AD sales up 12 percent in quarter

AD reported a 12 percent increase in member sales across 12 AD divisions, totaling $9.7 billion.

Timken sales up 25 percent

The Timken Company reported first-quarter 2018 sales of $883.1 million, up approximately 25 percent from the same period a year ago.

Holladay wins BSA's Lifetime Achievement Award

Motion Industries announced that Ellen Holladay is the 2018 recipient of the Bearings Specialists Association (BSA) Lifetime Achievement Award.

Gates acquires Rapro

Gates Industrial Corporation has completed the acquisition of Rapro, a manufacturer of molded and branched hoses and other products used primarily in commercial, heavy-duty and light vehicle replacement applications.

DeVilling & Associates aligns with Forward Collective

DeVilling & Associates and Forward Collective announced an alignment of services to provide clients with resources for executive recruiting, strategic consulting and marketing.

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