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From supplier negotiations to difficult employee conversations, AI personas could help distributors practice before the stakes are real. This piece explores how simulated counterparts can strengthen training, preserve veteran expertise and support hiring.
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November 18, 2026 | 1:00 PM ET | Virtual
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Release Date: September 23, 2026
This MDM Case Study examines how Grainger continues to outgrow the MRO market through a connected operating model built on High-Touch customer solutions, curated assortment, private label, digital commerce, data intelligence and fulfillment scale.
Release Date: July 2, 2026
Release Date: June 8, 2026
Release Date: April 2, 2026
220+ distributors ranked across 20 sectors. The definitive annual benchmark.
AI
From supplier negotiations to difficult employee conversations, AI personas could help distributors practice before the stakes are real. This piece explores how simulated counterparts can strengthen training, preserve veteran expertise and support hiring.
November 5, 2026
Finance
Half of distributor respondents in the latest Baird-NAW survey reported a margin hit of at least 25 basis points after pricing and surcharge offsets. Here, we show and analyze how much transportation costs are taking out of distributor earnings.
November 3, 2026
Mergers & Acquisitions
Get our rundown of every deal we published during October, along with our updated monthly deal count and breakdown of year-to-date transactions by product category.
November 2, 2026
Public Policy
About 84% of distributor respondents in the latest Baird/NAW survey report an impact from political uncertainty, while manufacturers more often describe it as major. We break down the figures for distributors and manufacturers and analyze what they suggest.
October 27, 2026
Operations
Scattered supplier updates can leave purchasing teams chasing information instead of acting on it. This piece explores how distributors can close that visibility gap without replacing or overhauling their ERP.
October 19, 2026
Economic Trends
October brought a stronger upgrade to the industry’s 2026 revenue outlook and broader improvement in 2027 projections. Computers, metals and industrial distribution gained ground, while several consumer categories weakened. Get your much more valuable sector-specific revenue forecasts here.
October 16, 2026
Our new-look Intelligence Brief synthesizes our monthly Premium articles into a 6 to 8-page report that distills key takeaways from that content. The perfect quick read for busy executives.
