The announcement reflects growing competition among enterprise resource planning providers to embed agentic artificial intelligence directly into core business systems as distributors and manufacturers seek ways to automate increasingly complex operational processes.

The company said Continental Fuel Group will pursue acquisitions of distributors specializing in bulk fuel, mobile fueling, on-site fueling and wholesale fuel delivery.

The clearest example of McKesson’s infrastructure build-out is its new Montreal distribution center, launched during the quarter as part of what the company calls its “supply chain of the future” initiative.

The most consequential long-term signal for the distribution industry was Lowe’s $250 million commitment through the Lowe’s Foundation to train approximately 250,000 skilled tradespeople.

The combination of war-related energy costs, tariff-driven supply constraints and lengthening lead times mirrors the conditions that pressured distributor operations through 2021 and 2022.

Growth was driven primarily by increased customer demand for data storage and servers, networking products, software and mobile devices, CDW said.

CEO John Wiborg said the company sees additional opportunities to accelerate organic growth by creating separate teams focused on new customer development and existing account expansion.

Ronald Guzior, CEO and president of Richards Building Supply, said the acquisition strengthens the company’s position as a family-owned independent distributor and expands its geographic reach in the West.