Industrial Distribution

4 days ago | inddist.com | Andy Szal |Anna Wells

The 78th annual Survey of Distributor Operations continues with its second and final installment, featuring a look at best practices, employment patterns and what keeps customers coming back. Read part 1, covering economic issues, financial performance and technology trends, here.

5 days ago | inddist.com | Andy Szal |Anna Wells

The 2020s have been – in a word – relentless. First came COVID, then inflation. Now, distributors face further uncertainty as they struggle to predict just how tariffs will impact their businesses. This year’s Survey of Distributor Operations had several similarities to the results we saw last year, when soft business conditions and margin pressures told the story of an industrial market on its heels. You might call 2025 more of the same – and then some – but with some notable shifts.

1 week ago | inddist.com | Nolan Beilstein

LAS VEGAS – NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders addressed thousands at the Epicor Insights 2025 customer conference, stating, “If you ain’t adding, you’re subtracting.”Building on Sanders’ advice to constantly add value, Epicor’s event emphasized making business decisions based on data rather than opinions. As a trade war threatens to disrupt the supply chain and artificial intelligence enters the picture, manufacturers and distributors are forced to adopt new ERP best practices to stay competitive.

2 weeks ago | inddist.com | Anna Wells

Jon-Don, a distributor of commercial supplies, equipment, consumables and know-how to specialty contractors, announced earlier this month on its website that it would be closing its doors after 40+ years due to “financial hardship.”The Chicago-based company was established in 1978 and has made multiple acquisitions since, adding capabilities in jan-san and safety products, coatings and chemicals.

3 weeks ago | inddist.com | Josh Boak |Didi Tang

WASHINGTON (AP) β€” President Donald Trump's agreement with China to temporarily slash tariffs for 90 days offered the world a bit of welcome relief. But what persists is a sense of uncertainty and the possibility that some damage from the trade war could already be done. The Trump administration agreed after talks this weekend in Switzerland to pare back its 145% in tariffs charged on imports from China to 30%.