News
All the latest reporting and analysis from Distribution Strategy Group.
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Sysco Targets $500 Million in AI Savings Across Distribution Operations
The $500 million program will be rolled out over the next three years and is intended to change how Sysco manages everyday work in areas including truck routing, merchandising, and sales.
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AI Top 25 Reveals a Wide Execution Gap Across Wholesale Distribution
Distribution Strategy Group’s recently published State of AI in Distribution research found that 93% of distributors consider AI a strategic priority, while just 16% have deployed it across multiple business functions
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Franklin Electric Buys Cat Pumps for $350 Million, Targets Distribution Expansion
Franklin said it will use its international distribution network to expand Cat Pumps in select industrial and infrastructure markets outside North America. The deal also gives Franklin a larger installed equipment base that generates recurring sales of replacement parts and accessories.
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Illinois Opens an Investigation into Essendant Layoffs
The department says WARN investigations consider whether appropriate notice was provided, whether affected employees were properly compensated and whether a company took steps to obtain capital or pursue other options to keep workers employed.
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Core & Main Q2 Sales Rise 2.5% as Infrastructure Demand, Acquisitions Drive Growth
Second-quarter sales increased 2.5% year over year to $2.15 billion from $2.09 billion. Net income rose 6.4% to $150 million from $141 million a year earlier.
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Genuine Parts Names Motion Leadership Team Ahead of 2027 Split
Will Stengel, currently chairman and CEO of Genuine Parts, will become chairman and CEO of Motion when the separation is completed. James Howe, a 30-year Motion veteran who has served as its president since 2024, was named president and chief operating officer, effective immediately.
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Three Years, No Progress: Why Distributor Sales Skills Haven’t Moved Since 2023
Three flat years of skill development isn’t bad luck. It’s what happens when a rep’s development and a manager’s guidance never turn into a habit on either side, meaning a repeatable, replicable process they both follow.
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Continental Battery Takes AI Into Core Sales Operations
The deployment extends AI beyond reporting and analysis and into day-to-day sales execution at Continental.
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MSC Industrial Ends 13-Month CFO Search with TopBuild Hire
Rob Kuhns will receive a $650,000 annual base salary. For fiscal 2027, he will be eligible for an annual incentive bonus targeted at 85% of his base salary, or $552,500, and an annual equity award with a target value of $1.5 million.
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Southern Glazer’s: Beverage Alcohol Growth Shifts to RTDs, Smaller Packages
For beverage distributors, the next phase of growth will depend increasingly on identifying which products are growing, which consumers are buying them and where those purchases are taking place.