Mike Robuck

PPG (NYSE: PPG), which is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, announced on Monday it has promoted two of its executives, both of which will be effective July 1. Diane Kappas, who is currently vice president, automotive OEM coatings, Americas, will become vice president, global sustainability. Andrew Carroll, currently vice president, industrial coatings, Americas, will become vice […]

Schneider Electric announced it has promoted Barbara Frei as the new executive vice-president of its industrial automation global business. Frei took over that role from Peter Herweck, who was named CEO of AVEVA, which is one of Schneider Electric’s partners, on May 1. Having served as Schneider Electric’s executive vice-president for Europe Operations since 2019, […]

Kennametal Inc. announced on Thursday that it has hired Sanjay Chowbey as president of its metal cutting division, which is effective June 14. Prior to Kennametal, Chowbey was president of services and solutions at Flowserve. “Sanjay brings more than 20 years of experience in P&L roles for global industrial companies, like Flowserve and Danaher, making him […]

Privately owned housing units authorized by building permits  in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,76,000, which was 0.3% above the March rate of 1,755,000 and 60.9% above the revised rate from April 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Single-family housing authorizations […]

Although three decades into the existence of e-commerce, distributors and manufacturers are still making some of the same mistakes they did in the early days — a hurdle in the effort to become even more digitally enabled. How to improve? During a recent “un-webinar” from MasterB2B, panelists squared off on topics such as bringing in […]

Sonepar USA announced on Wednesday that Dana Mouritzen has been named as the next president of its West Region. Mouritzen, who was previously president of OneSource Distributors, will start his new job at Sonepar USA on July 1. Mouritzen will replace current West Region President Jon Mitchell, who is a 50-year industry veteran, but the […]

Ferguson PLC, (NYSE: FERG), based in Wokingham, United Kingdom, reported Wednesday that its third-quarter revenue climbed 24.5% from the same quarter a year ago to $5.9 billion while its trading profit increased 65.4% to $579 million. As the U.S. market has started to open up this year, Ferguson said the strong revenue growth included 20.1% […]

On Wednesday, Lowe’s Cos. Inc. (NYSE: LOW), Mooresville, North Carolina, reported first-quarter revenues of $24.4 billion, up 24.4 % from the same quarter a year ago. Net income increased to $2.3 billion, or $3.21 per share, from $1.34 billion, or $1.76 per share, a year earlier. Total sales rose 24.1% to $24.42 billion from $19.68 […]

The Home Depot (NYSE: HD), Atlanta, Georgia, reported revenues of $37.5 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2021, an increase of $9.2 billion, or 32.7% from the first quarter of fiscal 2020. In Tuesday’s earnings, comparable sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2021 increased 31% while comparable sales in the U.S. increased 29.9% […]

After a strong start to the year, the economic recovery across the U.S. is projected to continue for the rest of 2021, according to a survey of purchasing and supply executives. The Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) spring survey said expectations for the remainder of 2021 have strengthened somewhat compared to December as there is […]

Acuity Brands, (NYSE: AYI), which is headquartered in Atlanta, announced on Tuesday that it has picked up artificial intelligence accelerator accelerator Rockpile Ventures. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Seattle-based Rockpile Ventures is a developer of early-stage artificial intelligence (AI) companies. Acuity said in Tuesday’s press release that the deal to buy Rockpile Ventures […]

Distributors benefit from e-commerce platforms that deliver better customer experiences to their buyers, but there’s often a gap between what buyers want and what businesses deliver. Digital experience platforms (DXP) can help even the slowest digital adopters boost their e-commerce presence, growth, digital revenue and improve profitability, according to MDM’s recent webcast, “How a DXP […]

The combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments for March, adjusted for seasonal and trading day differences but not for price changes, was estimated at $1,638.2 billion, up 5.7% from February 2021 and 18.5% from the same month in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Manufacturers’ and trade inventories for March, adjusted […]

On Thursday, Seattle, Washington-based Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) announced that it is hiring 75,000 new employees for its fulfillment and logistics operations across the U.S. and Canada. Amazon benefitted from the COVID-19 pandemic as consumers turned to online shopping in droves due to shelter-in-place and quarantine policies. By hiring more logistics employees, the company is betting that […]

Weighed down by a recent antitrust fine, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., (NYSE: BABA and HKEX: 9988), Hangzhou, China, on Thursday reported fourth-quarter revenues of 187.4 billion yuan (U.S. $28.6 billion) was a 64% increase year-over-year. Alibaba posted a net loss in the March quarter of 5.47 billion yuan. In April, Alibaba was fined $2.8 billion […]

In January, MSC Industrial Supply Co. CEO and President Erik Gershwind announced a bold move forward by permanently shuttering 73 branch offices while also slashing roughly 115 jobs. At the same time, MSC also announced the closure of 73 branch offices in order to transition to virtual customer care hubs. While MSC did eliminate around […]

U.S. cutting tool consumption totaled $149.5 million in February, according to the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI) and The Association For Manufacturing Technology (AMT). That total, as reported by companies participating in the Cutting Tool Market Report collaboration, was up 3.3%  from January’s $144.8 million, but down 17.1% when compared with the $180.3 million reported […]

Industrial gases distributor Air Products (NYSE:APD), Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, reported second quarter revenues of $ $2.5 billion on Monday, which was a 13% increase over the same quarter a year ago. Net income was $477 million, which was down 3% from the prior year. “Despite ongoing challenges from COVID-19 globally and the severe winter storm […]

U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders totaled $437.85 million in March, an increase of 41.6% from the same month a year ago, according to the U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders report published Monday by AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology. Total orders to date for 2021 reached $1.1 billion, almost one-third above the total orders in the […]

To continue reading this article you must be a paid subscriber. Subscribe to MDM Already Subscribed? Click here to log-in | Forgot your password? • The January announcement to close 73 branch offices in favor of virtual customer care hubs was years in the making. • While MSC eliminated about 115 jobs, it created 135 […]