More Free Benchmarking Information

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A few days ago we posted on Benchmarking your sales growth... and getting the information for free. Below is a recent (and more detailed) listing posted today by Modern Distributor Management:

Here's a quick synopsis of sales trends for public distributors and manufacturers. Second quarter 2010 is compared with second quarter 2009. (Find specific news about the largest distributors and manufacturers on MDM's Company News page: www.mdm.com/company-news. Find sector-specific news here: www.mdm.com/sector-news.)

All of these distributors are MDM Market Leaders. Find the list of top distributors in eight sectors, including 2009 sales trends, at www.mdm.com/marketleaders.

•DXP Enterprises: Up 6.6%
•Airgas: Up 7% (6% organic growth)
•Fastenal: Up 20 %
•MSC Industrial: Up 28.5%
•Grainger: Up 16% (9% increase in the U.S., excluding acquisitions)
•Bossard: Up 18% in first half
•Builders FirstSource: Up 20.5%
•Wesco: Up 8.6%
•L&W Supply: Down 12%
And some manufacturers:

•3M: Up 18%
•Textron: Up 2.7%
•Illinois Tool Works: Up 20%
•Alfa Laval: Down 2%
•Zep: Up 24.4%

News from another source ----
This just came in from Rockwell Automation....
Sales for the quarter increased 25% and Rockwell's operating margin nearly doubled

Comments

David Gordon said…
The benchmarking data for the electrical industry shows the divergence in the markets. Rexel's business was essentially flat / slightly down whereas Grainger (which does 15-20% of its business in electrical), WESCO and Graybar were up.

In looking at these companies, WESCO and Grainger focus on the industrial markets. Graybar is pretty focused on industrial, datacom and government work. Rexel, eventhough it has some Rockwell locations, is more focused on contractors - resi and commercial ... these markets are hurting. The Gexpro part of Rexel reportedly is performing better than the Rexel US divisions - here again - market focus ... Gexpro is more industrial, large contractor, some national accounts, and renewable energies (i.e. wind).

The key to benchmarking is knowing what you are benchmarking against so you can pick the right players to compare yourself against
August 3, 2010 at 9:38 PM
The Distributor Specialist said…
Here's a bit more along this line:In “supplemental financial data” filed with the SEC, WESCO provided additional information. Here is the breakout of end-market sales changes from Q2 2009:

Industrial: +25%

Construction: +4%

Utility: -10%

Commercial, Institutional, Government: +11%
August 4, 2010 at 10:06 AM
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