$10.00 • JUNE 2015 ESTABLISHED 1920 • WWW.EWWEB.COM
A PENTON PUBLICATION
In This Issue:
•
EW’s 2015 Ranking of the Industry’s
Largest Electrical Distributors
• Top 200 Distributors Sound Off
on 2015 Sales Forecasts & Great
Product Launches
Digital Edition Copyright Notice
The content contained in this digital edition (“Digital Material”), as well as its
selection and arrangement, is owned by Penton. and its affiliated
companies, licensors, and suppliers, and is protected by their respective copyright,
trademark and other proprietary rights.
Upon payment of the subscription price, if applicable, you are hereby authorized
to view, download, copy, and print Digital Material solely for your own personal,
non-commercial use, provided that by doing any of the foregoing, you
acknowledge that (i) you do not and will not acquire any ownership rights of any
kind in the Digital Material or any portion thereof, (ii) you must preserve all copyright
and other proprietary notices included in any downloaded Digital Material, and (iii)
you must comply in all respects with the use restrictions set forth below and in the
Penton Privacy Policy and the Penton Terms of Use (the “Use Restrictions”), each
of which is hereby incorporated by reference. Any use not in accordance with, and
any failure to comply fully with, the Use Restrictions is expressly prohibited by law,
and may result in severe civil and criminal penalties. Violators will be prosecuted
to the maximum possible extent.
You may not modify, publish, license, transmit (including by way of email, facsimile
or other electronic means), transfer, sell, reproduce (including by copying or
posting on any network computer), create derivative works from, display, store,
or in any way exploit, broadcast, disseminate or distribute, in any format or
media of any kind, any of the Digital Material, in whole or in part, without the
express prior written consent of Penton. To request content for commercial use or
Penton’s approval of any other restricted activity described above, please contact
the Reprints Department at (877) 652-5295. Without in any way limiting the
foregoing, you may not use spiders, robots, data mining techniques or other
automated techniques to catalog, download or otherwise reproduce, store or
distribute any Digital Material.
NEITHER PENTON NOR ANY THIRD PARTY CONTENT PROVIDER OR
THEIR AGENTS SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY ACT, DIRECT OR INDIRECT,
INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT
OF THE USE OF OR ACCESS TO ANY DIGITAL MATERIAL, AND/OR ANY
INFORMATION CONTAINED THEREIN.
FEATURES
12
THE TOP 200
Many of the electrical market’s largest distributors see solid growth for 2015.
13
TOP 25 IN SALES-PER-EMPLOYEE
Top 200 utility specialists take the lead when ranked by the amount of sales they generate per employee.
14
2015 DISTRIBUTOR ACQUISITIONS
You will see the evidence of lots of M&A activity offshore and a few Top 200 distributors on this list.
18
WHAT’S HOT FOR TOP 200 DISTRIBUTORS
Top 200 electrical distributors sound off on hot markets.
19
A LOOK INSIDE THE LARGEST
Get to know more about some of the very largest distributors on the 2015 Top 200 listing.
29
THE FALLACY OF COMPOSITION
What is true of growth expectations in some markets is not necessarily true of the electrical market overall.
DEPARTMENTS
4
TIMES & TRENDS
Baby Steps Big & Small: This year’s Top 200 distributors
are investing millions in their own companies.
5
NEWS WATCH
Get a recap of the electrical wholesaling industry’s biggest news.
7
ELECTROSTATS
Monitor the electrical market’s key economic indicators.
8
BULLETIN BOARD
Learn about new promotions, distributor and rep news, industry events, training and more.
34
PEOPLE
Find out who’s on the move.
36
SPEAKING OUT
The Mexican Opportunity. Ben Contreras, an
independent rep with years of experience in the Mexican electrical market, says Mexico offers electrical manufacturers some great opportunities for growth.
June 2015 Volume 96, Number 6
contents
12
2 E L E C T R I C A L W H O L E S A L I N G / J U N E 2 0 1 5 EDITORIAL
Chief Editor: James A. Lucy, [email protected]
Executive Editor: Douglas Chandler, [email protected] Art Director: David Eckhart, [email protected] CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Copper Pricing: John Gross, J.E. Gross & Co. Acquisitions: Burk Burkhardt, HT Capital Advisors Data: Beth Badrakhan
Distribution Software and Technology: Dick Friedman, General Business Consultants Economic Forecasting: Herm Isenstein, DISC Corp.
Human Resources: Ted Konnerth, Egret Consulting
Inventory Management: Jon Schreibfeder, Effective Inventory Management Inc. Management & Strategic Planning: Thomas J. O’Connor, Farmington Consulting Group; Frank Hurtte, River Heights Consulting; Howard Coleman, MCA Associates; Scott Benfeld, Benfeld Consulting Group; Neil Gillespie, Growth Wizards Marketing: David Gordon, Channel Marketing Group
Proft Management: Allen Ray, Allen Ray Associates Reps: Jack Foster, Foster Communications
Sales: Mike Dandridge, High Voltage Performance; Bob Finley, former president, Glasco Electric Co.; Terry Sater, veterans sales & purchasing professonal SALES AND MARKETING
Group President, Industry: Paul Miller, [email protected]
Vice President & Market Leader: Linda Reinhard, [email protected] Business Development Manager: Chris Colonna, [email protected] District Sales Manager (Southeast/Southwest and Eastern Canada): Vincent Saputo, [email protected]
District Sales Manager (Western U.S. and Western Canada): Jim Carahalios, [email protected]
District Sales Manager (New England and Mid-Atlantic States): David Sevin, [email protected]
Online Sales: Kimberly Sampson, [email protected] Classifed Advertising: David Kenney, [email protected]
List Rental Sales: Justin Lyman, (913) 967-1377, [email protected] Audience Marketing Manager: Joan Roof, [email protected] PRODUCTION
Group Production Manager: Justin Marciniak, [email protected] Ad Production Coordinator: John Carroll, [email protected] Classifed Ad Coordinator: Linda Sargent, [email protected]
Audited circulation.
Electrical Marketing
Also publisher of:
A Penton® Publication • June 2015 / Vol. 96, No.6 • www.ewweb.com
ISSN 0013-4430
Electrical Wholesaling, Volume 96, No. 6 (USPS: 0499-810) is published monthly by Penton, 9800 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park, KS 66212-2216. (www.penton.com). Periodicals postage paid at Shawnee Mission, KS, and additional mailing offces. Canadian Post Publications Mail Agree-ment No. 40597023. Canada return address: DHL Global Mail, 7496 Bath Road, Unit 2, Mis-sissauga, ON L4T1L2. Current and back issues and additional resources, including subscription request forms and an editorial calendar, are avail-able on the World Wide Web at www.ewweb.com.
Editorial (and Business) Offce: Penton, 9800 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park, KS 66212-2216.
SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE DEPARTMENT: U.S.A., one year - $45, two years - $85; Canada, one year - $64; Outside U.S.A. and Canada, one year - $144. Group rates: U.S.A, $39; Canada, $50; International, $90. Must have fve or more for group rates. Prices subject to change. For subscriber services or to order single copies, write to Electrical Wholesaling, P.O. Box 2100, Skokie, IL 60076-7800 U.S.A.; Customer Service: (US) 866-505-7173; (Out-side US) 847-763-9504; [email protected] or [email protected]; subscribe online at www.ewweb.com.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Electrical Wholesaling, P.O. Box 2100, Skokie, IL 60077-7800 U.S.A.
REPRINTS: To purchase quality custom reprints or e-prints of articles appearing in this publication, contact Wright’s Media, 877-652-5295, penton@ wrightsmedia.com.
PHOTOCOPIES: Authorization to photocopy articles for internal corporate, personal, or instruc-tional use may be obtained from the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) at (978) 750-8400. Ob-tain further information at www.copyright.com.
ARCHIVES AND MICROFORM: This magazine is available for research and retrieval of se-lected archived articles from leading electronic databases and online search services, including Factiva, LexisNexis, and Proquest. For microform availability, contact National Archive Publish-ing Co. at (800) 521-0600 or (734) 761-4700, or search the Serials in Microform listings at napubco.com.
PRIVACY POLICY: Your privacy is a priority to us. For a detailed policy statement about privacy and information dissemination practices related to Penton®, please visit our Web site at www.
penton.com.
Please Note: The designations “National Electrical Code,” “NE Code,” and “NEC” refer to the National Electrical Code®, which is a registered trademark of
the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).
CORPORATE OFFICE: Penton, 1166 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036, (212) 204-4200, www.penton.com
COPYRIGHT 2015 Penton ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Chief Executive Offcer: David Kieselstein, [email protected] Chief Financial Offcer/Executive Vice President: Nicola Allais, [email protected]
Executive Director of Content and User Engagement: Andy Friedman, [email protected]
Winner of the Jesse H. Neal Editorial Achievement Award 1966, 1973, 1975, 1981, 1985 Winner of the Jesse H. Neal Certifcate of Merit 1960, 1961 (First Award), 1976, 1993, 1996 (2) American Society of Business Publication Editors 2004 Regional D E S I G N Gold circulation less than 80,000 American Society of Business Publication Editors 2004 National D E S I G N Award Winner circulation less than 80,000 2008
Quick & Easy
When it comes to exothermic grounding needs, it’s easy to see
why utilities, infrastructure owners and systems installers worldwide
trust industry-leading thermOweld
®to deliver.
And now we deliver to you with $100 freight order minimums*.
The thermOweld® EZ Lite Remote® virtually guarantees ignition 100% of the time.
observations on our industry
times
&
trends
4 E L E C T R I C A L W H O L E S A L I N G / J U N E 2 0 1 5
Baby Steps Big and Small
Think distributors aren’t optimistic about the
future? Wrong. This year’s Top 200 distributors
are investing millions in their own companies.
O
ne of my favoritemov-ies is What About Bob?, a 1991 Bill Murray classic in which he plays a psy-chiatrist’s patient who has totally bought into that doctor’s “Baby Steps” theory of self-improvement. In the movie, Murray succeeds in building a better life, one small step at a time.
This year’s Top 200 distributors are also taking some major strides in self-improvement with what seems to be a far-reaching trend of internal investment. While analyzing the 150 responses to
Electrical Wholesaling’s 2015 Top 200
survey, I was struck by how many of this year’s respondents are investing in their companies in many different ways big and small, despite the uncertain economic climate.
When people think of the big news in this industry, we often look frst to the companies making headlines with big-name mergers and acquisitions. And while these multi-million dollar deals are indeed newsworthy, they overshadow other electrical distributors investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in new ERP systems, expanded warehouses, new branches and new employees.
You can’t downplay the impact these investments make in the business lives of those companies’ employees, custom-ers and vendors, but also in the impact they make on local communities in the form of new business and jobs for lo-cal providers of the capital equipment and services this expansion requires. Following is a sampling of some of the investments Top 200 distributors are
By Jim Lucy, Chief Editor
square feet of new offce space and add-ing new jobs.
Franklin Empire, Montreal, Quebec, is also in growth mode, according to Cara Backman, marketing manager. She says the company will be hosting open houses to celebrate the frst anniversary of its new and larger Ottawa facility, and the opening of a new branch in Sept-Iles, Quebec.
Womack Electric Supply, Danville, Va., opened a facility, too. Says Burke Herring, company president. “We are engaged in the tool supply business in a big way and opened a tool service center,” he wrote in his Top 200 response.
Investing in new ERP systems and other computer software. Quite a few distributors are investing in new software. Franklin Empire’s Backman said the company recently rebuilt its computer system and is in the final test stages before going live with it in a few months. The company also signed on with IDW.
Other Top 200 distributors investing in new software include Winkle Electric Co., Youngstown, Ohio, which recently purchased Tour de Force Enterprise Software CRM software; Forest Hills Electrical Supply Inc., Randolph, Mass., which bought a new xTuple ERP system; and Inline Electric Supply, Huntsville, Ala., now running a warehouse man-agement system Latitude by Pathguide Technologies.
At Idlewood Electric Supply Inc., Highland Park, Ill., Karen Dolins, control-ler, said the company is also investing in software and making other capital improvements. “Updating phone sys-tems, added three new trucks in past year,” she said in her response. “Updating computer systems now that the recession is behind us. Doing all types of general improvements.”
It sure sounds like many of this year’s Top 200 electrical distributors are taking some big steps toward the most important investment they can ever make — their companies.
making in their companies.
Building new branches. Alex Ke-pley, V.P., CBT Co., Cincinnati, says his company plans to start building a new headquarters later in 2015, while David Rosenstein, CEO, Connexion, Buffalo Grove, Ill., says his team will open a new branch and hire 10 more
employ-ees this year. At Echo Electric Supply, Council Bluffs, Iowa, John Franken, president, expects 10% growth in 2015 and says his company will be opening new facilities in Sioux City Iowa, and Fort Dodge Iowa.
Across the country, George Adams, president and CEO, Electric Supply Inc., Tampa, said his company opened a large warehouse addition in the third quarter 2014 and then upgraded much of the existing facility. Werner Electric, Cottage Grove, Minn., is in expansion mode, too. Ben Granley, president, says the company is now expanding its distribution center by 45,000 square feet, adding 15,000
news of the electrical industry
Sonepar Buys Rexel Latin American Assets and Makes Smaller U.S. Deals
In addition to making two smaller acquisitions in Dallas and Philadelphia, Sonepar further strengthened its position in South America by buying out Rexel’s assets in Brazil, Chile and Peru. With 1,400 associates and 88 points of sale, those busi-nesses together have annual sales of €250 million (approximately US$280.1 million).
Confdent in Brazil’s future and in Nortel’s business with in-dustrial customers, Sonepar now intends to improve that entity’s proft margins by leveraging synergy with its other Brazilian subsidiaries in a market confronted with short-term troubles.
Sonepar’s entry into two additional countries, Chile and Peru, where the market for electric products is expanding, will likewise help the group enlarge its footprint further in South America. As a result of this latest acquisition, Sonepar now operates in 43 countries around the world and will be strengthening its market leadership in Brazil.
Franck Bruel, Sonepar’s CEO, said in a press release that the company’s family owners know the deal is a long-term play and fully support the move. “A key advantage of our ownership structure is that we can pursue a strategy grounded in a
long-term vision that also includes proftability as a requirement, given that we fnance our business out of our own resources.”
The company’s domestic purchases were the deals in which the Crawford Electric Supply division bought Trinity Electric Supply, a Dallas-based six-year old distributor, and Cooper Elec-tric purchased Ciro ElecElec-trical Supply Co., Philadelphia. Sonepar said in a press release that the addition of Trinity strengthens Crawford’s footprint in the specialty lighting market, and that all Trinity associates will report to Kelly Johns, the Dallas/Ft. Worth area manager for Crawford.
Founded in 1971, 10-employee Ciro is a family-owned and operated electrical distributor in Philadelphia that has evolved into a full-line stocking supply house currently in its second generation of ownership. Ciro services a diverse customer base of small and medium customers in the Center City Philadelphia territory with what it says is an active, well-maintained counter. Founded in 1969, the family-owned Sonepar Group has a workforce of 40,000 employees in 43 countries through 2,600 branches and sales of €17.2 billion (approximately US$19.29 billion) in 2014.
Smart lighting customized for the user experience was the key theme shaping many of the new LED lamps, fxtures and controls in 500-plus booths at the 2015 Lightfair International trade show and conference held last month in New York.
Smart lighting solutions that users can program remotely with smartphones and tablets with an infnite variety of colors, lighting scenes and schedules is the latest phase of develop-ment with LED lamps, which are fast replacing incandescent, fuorescent, HID, metal-halide, halogen and high-pressure sodium lamps in virtually all lighting applications.
At Lightfair 2014 in Las Vegas and at this year’s show in the Big Apple, dozens of lighting manufacturers are showcasing new ways to remotely control, program and monitor LEDs to create exactly what color they want, when and where they want it from a single LED light source. As an example, there has been lots of talk over the years about the impact of different colored lighting on our moods, and more LED manufacturers are offering single LEDs that can be programmed to offer white/blue light in the mornings when we want to wake up and be alert for the day, and then warm, calming, amber tones at night when we want to reset our body clocks for sleep.
Led by companies like Sensity, lighting developers are re-imagining light fxtures as the new homes for a fascinating variety of new applications, including security, video, audio and WiFi. These developers are taking advantage of the simple fact that LEDs and solid-state lighting are controlled wirelessly
over the internet via IP (internet protocol) addresses, and they are developing ways for these new applications to piggyback on that same node.
Real-world applications are already in place utilizing these new fxtures in the Smart City movement. Cities are relying on light fxtures to not only provide security lighting but to offer video surveillance, public announcements, free public WiFi and even weather reports on road conditions. Simon Property Group, the large commercial property developer, is even working on a pilot project with Sensity that will use video cameras in lighting fxtures to monitor the pavement conditions in the parking lots of its malls so they can provide inexpensive basic maintenance when needed instead of be-ing whacked for expensive pavbe-ing jobs if they wait too long.
Seen and heard on the show floor. Lightfair returned to the Javits Center for the frst time since the facility was closed for expansion and maintenance. Many attendees joked that it looked like the same old Javits Center, right down to what now seems like an antiquated non-LED lighting system in the main halls. The facility now offers free WiFi, but the lack of recep-tacles for those important recharging moments is very 1980s. Tons of new construction around the Javits Convention Cen-ter now, including the zillion-dollar Hudson Yards project, which will bring thousands of upscale apartments and related retail and commercial construction to Manhattan’s West Side. Next year’s Lightfair will be in sunny San Diego from April 26–28.
SMART LED LIGHTING TAKES LIGHTFAIR 2015 BY STORM
news
watch
6 E L E C T R I C A L W H O L E S A L I N G / J U N E 2 0 1 5
Kaman Corp.’s Distribution segment in Bloomfeld, Conn., has launched a new brand, Kaman Automation, Control & Energy or Kaman AC&E, to serve original equipment manufacturers, industrial production plants and infrastructure facilities throughout the world. Kaman Automation, Control & Energy was created through the collaboration of existing resources from within Kaman Industrial Technologies Corp., including its longstand-ing bearlongstand-ing and power transmission business, Minarik Corp., which operates its motion & control business, and KIT Zeller Inc. which operates its automation, power & energy business.
EW NEWS ANALYSIS
Kaman Rebrands Distribution Unit
Worthy’s AMP Electrical Solutions
Buys Gatto Electric Supply
A year and a half after AMP Electrical Distribution Solutions, the new electrical distribution consolidation vehicle led by Richard Worthy, debuted on the scene with the blockbuster acquisition of one of the Ohio market’s most storied family businesses, Leff Electric of Brooklyn Heights, Ohio, the company has made its second addition with a deal to acquire Gatto Electric Supply, Cleveland, a family-owned business in operation since 1954. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Gatto’s headquarters in Cleveland and its Gatto-Portage Electric Supply Co. in Portage, Ohio, will be the frst expansion of merger and acquisition vet-eran Richard Worthy’s latest interest in the electrical wholesale market. Burk Burkhardt of HT Capital Advisors, represented the Gatto family in the acquisition.
The Gatto Electric Supply story reads like so many family-run electrical distributors who have stood the test of time. It was founded by two brothers, Lou Gatto Sr. and Vince Gatto Sr., in the garage of the family home on East 149th St. Their passion for the electrical industry led to the opening of the Cleveland location in 1987 and their Portage location in 1993 to serve the counties of Portage, Summit, Trumbull, Columbiana, Mahon-ing and Geauga.
Ideal Industries Moves Into
Wireless Lighting Control
Ideal Industries Inc., Sycamore, Ill., used the recent Lightfair International trade show to launch a major initiative into the lighting market with its Audacy wireless energy management system for the retroft, new construction, retail, and institutional lighting markets.
Lighting is a new market for Ideal and Jim James, the company’s chairman and CEO, told Electrical Wholesaling at Lightfair that Ideal’s product development team was challenged to “revolutionize our thinking beyond our core business of Wire-Nuts, but keep it just as simple to install and operate.” In six months, the product development team had a working prototype using Ideal’s push-in wire termination expertise and a proprietary, patent-pending wireless technology that can extend the life of battery-powered devices such as sensors and switches to 25 years.
Nolan Bello, business unit manager, Advanced Wireless Solutions, for Ideal, said an early Audacy installation at UCLA’s Athletics Dept. provides wireless control via a mobile app over multi-building lighting systems by automatically sensing and adjusting to ambient light, movement and room occupancy. Com-pleted beta tests of the system have consistently delivered energy savings from 30% to more than 50%. He said the systems can be installed in one-eighth the time of competitive wired systems.
WESCO International Inc., Pittsburgh, was recently awarded a five-year contract with The Cooperative Purchasing Network (TCPN) for MRO ser vices and supplies. TCPN is a national governmental purchasing cooperative that has contracts with national vendors for commonly purchased products and services such as furniture, office supplies and equipment, security systems, technology, and other goods and services. The new five-year contract, which went into effect April 1, significantly expands the number of products avail-able through TCPN, and creates new opportunities for WESCO to work with a broad range of government related agencies, including K-12 schools, cities and municipalities, both private and state colleges and universities, private and charter schools, religious organizations and non-profit organizations.
WESCO Inks New Contract
Gexpro, Shelton, Conn., is moving into on-site power storage, a market that recently gained a lot of visibility with the announcement that Tesla will offer home-scale battery storage. Gexpro, a subsidiary of Rexel, Paris, will offer a battery energy storage solution (BESS) to commercial and industrial customers. The systems will allow customers “to optimize their energy consumption and reduce their energy bills by relying on their own energy system, thereby avoiding demand charges during high peak hours.”
The company is offering the battery storage system in conjunction with Growing Energy Labs Inc. (Geli), Ideal Power and LG Chem. Geli provides the software, Ideal Power the inverters and LG Chem the lithium-ion batter-ies. Gexpro will be the system integrator using technology from each of the supplier companies.
Gexpro Selling Battery Storage
electro
stats
NEW CONSTRUCTION
STARTS UP 10% IN APRIL
The value of new construction starts in April increased 10% from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $698.7 billion, according to Dodge Data & Analytics, New York.
The nonresidential building sector came in particularly strong, lifted by the inclusion of two massive projects as April starts — an $8.1 billion petrochemical plant in Louisiana and a $1.2 billion of-fce/retail high-rise in New York.
Through the frst four months of 2015, total construction starts on an unadjusted basis were reported at $208.2 billion, up 24% from the same period a year ago. The current year has so far witnessed the start of eight massive projects valued each in excess of $1 billion, compared to four such projects during the corresponding period of 2014. Excluding projects in excess of $1 billion, the result for total construction starts would be a 3% decline in April on a seasonally adjusted basis compared to March, and a 10% gain during the frst four months of 2015 on a raw (unad-justed) basis compared to last year.
“The presence of unusually large proj-ects in early 2015, particularly several liquefed natural gas (LNG) terminals and several petrochemical plants, has elevated the level of activity shown by total construction starts beyond the underly-ing trend,” said Murray, chief economist for Dodge Data & Analytics, in a press release. “It’s also increased the volatility on a month-to-month basis, with total construction up 16% in February, down 13% in March, and now up 10% in April.” Murray said that despite these wild swings, the upturn is broadening in scope. “For residential building, single-family housing has shown some improvement yet remains hesitant, while multi-family hous-ing is generally proceedhous-ing at a healthy clip, he said. “The electric power and gas plant segment has provided a substantial near-term boost that will soon recede, while public works is beginning to face constraints after surprisingly resilient activity in early 2015.”
VITAL STATISTICS
Footnotes: 1 - preliminary; 2 - revised; 3 - includes residential improvements; Z - less than 0.005 percent; SA - seasonally adjusted; SAAR - seasonally adjusted annual rate. Sources: Construction Put-in-Place statistics - Department of Commerce; Housing starts - Department of Commerce’s Census Bureau; Electrical contractor employment numbers and hourly wage - Department of Labor; Copper prices - Metals Week; Electrical manufacturers’ shipment data - Department of Commerce; Machine Tool Orders - Association for Manufacturing Technology; Industrial Capacity Utilization - Federal Reserve Board; and Purchasing Managers Index - Institute for Supply Management.
Note: Additional economic data relevant to the electrical industry is available on a bi-weekly basis by subscribing to Electrical Marketing newsletter. For subscription information see www.electricalmarketing.com.
CONSTRUCTION
New Construction Put-in-Place ($ billions, SAAR)
Mo. % YTY %
Mar ’15
1 Feb ’152 Change Mar ’14 Change
Total Construction 966.56 972.87 -0.6 947.3 2
Total Private Construction 702.39 704.67 -0.3 682.3 2.9
Residential 348.95 354.61 -1.6 358.1 -2.6 New single-family 200.8 -1.8 204.4 186.2 7.8 New multi-family 49.2 -2.1 50.2 39.9 23.4 Lodging 17.21 16.28 5.7 14.1 22.4 Offce 42.25 41.07 2.9 33.5 26.3 Commercial 57.45 59.04 -2.7 51.3 12.1 Health care 29.18 29.04 0.5 28.4 2.8 Educational 15.6 15.68 -0.5 16 -2.6 Religious 2.88 3.04 -5.2 3.5 -17.8
Amusement and recreation 8.87 9.18 -3.4 6.8 29.5
Transportation 13.47 13.03 3.3 11.3 19
Communication 16.19 14.46 12 17.7 -8.6
Power 79.08 79.79 -0.9 94.1 -16
Electric 35.2 36.23 -2.9 63.9 -44.9
Manufacturing 69.81 67.93 2.8 46.3 50.7
Public construction ($ billions) 264.17 268.2 -1.5 265 -0.3
Residential 5.79 5.84 -0.9 5 16.5 Offce 7.69 7.81 -1.5 8.2 -6.3 Commercial 2.18 1.94 12.4 1.6 35.8 Health care 8.77 8.83 -0.7 9.6 -9 Educational 58.43 59.73 -2.2 60.3 -3.1 Public safety 8.06 8.3 -3 9.1 -11.5
Amusement and recreation 9.46 9.73 -2.7 8 18.9
Transportation 31.16 31.14 0.1 29.6 5.4
Power 10.28 10.32 -0.3 12 -14
Highway and street 78.05 79.93 -2.4 82.6 -5.6 Sewage and waste disposal 23.85 23.88 -0.1 19.7 21.2
Water supply 11.82 11.31 4.4 11.6 2
Conservation and development 7.4 8.36 -11.5 6.7 11.1
Mo. % YTY %
Housing starts (SAAR) Apr ’151 Mar ’152 Change Apr ’14 Change
Total (millions of units) 1,135 944 20.2% 1,039 9.2% Single-family (thousands of units) 733 628 16.7% 639 14.7% Multi-family (thousands) 389 295 31.9% 391 -0.5%
EMPLOYMENT WAGE & PRICE STATISTICS
Latest Mo. % Year YTY %
Mo. Month Change ago Change
Employment, Electrical Contractors (thousands) MAR 794.8 0.6 769.3 3.3
Hourly wage, Electrical Contractors ($) MAR 27.83 2.9 26.71 4.2
Copper prices (cents per pound) APR 275.3 1.7 306.7 -10.2
INDUSTRIAL MARKET
Latest Mo. % Year YTY %
Mo. Month Change ago Change
Electrical Mfrs’ Shipments ($ billions) MAR 3,226 -1.9 3,425 -5.8
Electrical Mfrs’ Inventories ($ billions SA) MAR 5,018 0.2 4,960 1.2
Electrical Mfrs’ Inventory-to-Shipments ratio MAR 1,555 2.2 1,448 7.4
Electrical Mfrs’ New Orders ($ billions SA) MAR 3,326 -0.2 3,467 -4.1
Machine Tool Orders ($ millions) MAR 393.5 31.3 478.8 -17.8
Industrial Capacity Utilization (percent, SA) APR 77.2 -0.1 pts. 77.0 0.3 pts.
bulletin
board
Local and state offcials joined Werner Electric to celebrate the ground breaking of their 60,000-square-foot expansion project on April 29. Ben Granley, Werner’s presi-dent, kicked off the ceremony by talking about the excitement around this
expan-sion and the impact it will have on the local community and State of Minnesota. Granley and his team were joined for the celebration by Lt. Governor Tina Smith, CEO of Greater MSP Michael Langley, and Co-President of RJ Ryan
Jack Grotkin. Werner Electric’s expansion will allow the company to support the growth of their customers by growing their project staging offerings, inventory, and increased technology capabilities, the company said.
Werner Electric Breaks Ground on Expansion
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) launched a new indoor lighting campaign to increase the use of high effciency lighting technologies in commercial buildings. Through the Better Build-ings Alliance, the DOE said it is working with key stakeholders and end users in both the public and private sectors to install and demonstrate advanced technologies.
"Through the Better Buildings Alliance, building owners are fnding novel and exciting ways to save energy all across their portfolios," said Dr. Dave Danielson, Assistant Secretary for Energy Effciency and Renewable Energy. "By deploying
cost-effective technologies available in the marketplace today, we’re seeing building owners and tenants realize major business and environmental benefts resulting in substantial energy savings."
The Better Building Alliance’s Interior Lighting Campaign (ILC) will support building owners as they commit to upgrade current fuorescent lights. The goal for the frst year is for partners to install 100,000 high effciency troffers and share their success and learning with others. Upgrading 100,000 fxtures can reduce energy use by 5 million kWh, cut greenhouse gas emissions by 3,000 metric tons of carbon, and save $500,000 in electricity bills annually.
DOE PROMOTES BETTER COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS
8 E L E C T R I C A L W H O L E S A L I N G / J U N E 2 0 1 5
Got an Item for Bulletin Board?
It’s easy to have your company included in the pages of Electrical Wholesaling’s Bulletin Board. It’s as simple as submitting a description and photographs.Send pertinent information to Doug Chandler, Executive Editor, 9800 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park, KS 66212. Or you may e-mail information to [email protected]. All electronic photos should be in “jpg,” “tif” or “eps” format at no less than 300 dots per inch. Questions? Call (913) 967-1796.
Some of the subjects covered in Bulletin Board include: • Charitable Events/Donations • Product Promotions • Contests • Distributor Support/Training • Ground Breakings • Industry Awards/Recognitions
ideas, finds and resources
Visit freeproductinfo.net/ew
For more information on IDEA’s Data Certifcation Program, please contact IDEA or visit:
www.idea4industry.com
When incomplete
isn’t enough.
IDEA’s Data Certifcation Program guides manufacturers in providing trading partners the product and pricing data necessary for business. Compliant data ensures that product information
is complete, so you don’t have to worry about missing the things that matter.
The Industry Data Exchange Associa-tion, Inc. (IDEA), Arlington, Va., announced a list price campaign with strategic partner ElectricSmarts Network that’s designed to help maximize use of the pricing data avail-able in the Industry Data Warehouse (IDW) through the Smart eCat electronic catalog. Smart eCat (powered by ElectricSmarts) is a web-based national list price catalog populated with product and pricing data directly from the IDW.
“Smart eCat is probably the best-kept se-cret out there,” said Paul Molitor, president & CEO, IDEA, in a press release. “Electric-Smarts has created a phenomenal interface for computers and mobile devices, which is extremely powerful when combined with the manufacturer-supplied product data from IDEA. The value of Smart eCat will only become greater as manufactur-ers continue to improve the quality of their product content through IDEA’s Data Certifcation Program.”
IDEA and ElectricSmarts have been strategic partners since 2011. Through this partnership, ElectricSmarts populates the Smart eCat catalog with manufacturer-supplied and -authorized data directly from the IDW. The IDW holds more than 2.4 million products, and this direct connection enables Smart eCat to receive real-time data updates as manufacturers make changes to their product information in the IDW.
Distributors subscribing to the IDW have access to the Smart eCat module, which can be provided to their customers on tors’ websites. Smart eCat also gives distribu-tors easy access to the list pricing information they need to conduct customer negotiations and win bids for large industrial accounts and government contracts.
Manufacturers who have authorized Smart eCat to access their IDW data in-crease the visibility of their products in front of large industrial and government buyers, on distributors’ websites, and in estimating systems and mobile apps used by contrac-tors, specifers, and other end users. End
IDEA ANNOUNCES LIST PRICE
CAMPAIGN WITH ELECTRICSMARTS NETWORK
users are able to use Smart eCat to receive a direct feed of manufacturer-supplied pricing information for required list price verifcation, change orders, and bidding.
“The connection between Smart eCat and the IDW helps trading partners work together more effciently by using complete, accurate information,” said Keith Peck, president, ElectricSmarts Network, in the press release. “End users have instant ac-cess to quality product data straight from manufacturers that they need for
specify-ing, biddspecify-ing, and online ordering from their distributors, and no time is wasted on incorrect orders or misquoted bids.”
As part of this campaign, IDEA and ElectricSmarts are also currently com-mitted to expanding Smart eCat’s reach to government purchasing agents looking to validate price quotes during the procure-ment process, seeking support from the National Association of Electrical Distribu-tors (NAED) and the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA).
bulletin
board
INDUSTRY EVENTS
July 15–17
NAED LEAD CONFERENCE
Chicago; National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED) www.naed.org
August 10–12
ADVENTURE MARKETING CONFERENCE Chicago; NAED, www.naed.org
August 12–13
NAED TECHNOLOGY BOOTCAMP Chicago; NAED, www.naed.org September 14–17
SOLARPOWER15
Anaheim, Calif.; Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA),
www.solarpowerinternational.com September 15–16
NAED CONGRESSIONAL FLY-IN Chicago; NAED, www.naed.org September 20–24
BICSI FALL CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION Las Vegas; BICSI, www.bicsi.org/fall. October 18–21
AD NORTH AMERICAN ELECTRICAL Division Annual Meeting
National Harbor, Md.; Affiliated Distributors, www.adhq.com
November 9–11
NAED EASTERN CONFERENCE Orlando; NAED, www.naed.org January 18–20
NAED WESTERN CONFERENCE Phoenix; NAED, www.naed.org February 3–6
NEMRA ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Dallas, National Electrical Manufacturers Representatives Association (NEMRA), www.nemra.org
Caterpillar Donates Backup
Power Solution for Thomas
Jefferson’s Monticello
Caterpillar Inc., Peoria, Ill., has donated a 500kW Cat C15 diesel generator set as part of a complete backup power solution for Monticello, the historic residence of Thomas Jefferson located just outside of Charlottesville, Va. Carter Machinery, the Cat dealer in Virginia and southern West Virginia, made a donation of its own, providing technical support, commissioning and testing.Jefferson’s Monticello is recognized as a United Nations World Heritage Site and National Historic Landmark, and today features both a world-class museum and an academic think tank, attract-ing more than 400,000 annual visitors.
The donation from Caterpillar and Carter Machinery is part of the “Mountaintop Project,” Monticello’s multi-year effort to authentically restore the House and grounds to their appear-ance during Jefferson’s retirement (1809-1826). Included will be comprehensive upgrades to Monticello’s HVAC, electrical and water systems while dramatically expanding the experience of the House and dependences, opening up the 38% of the House that is currently not on view and the 50% that has not been fully restored and interpreted. For the frst time, visitors will be able to learn about Monticello’s enslaved population through the physical and virtual re-creation of structures along Mulberry Row, once the plantation’s dynamic ‘Main Street.’
“The role that Monticello plays in the nation’s remarkable past shouldn’t be underestimated,” said Jim Parker, CEO of Carter Machinery. “Working with the Thomas Jefferson Foundation to assist in protecting this extraordinary piece of history is really a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
Cop
yright F
ox Photos, Getty Ima
ges
ideas, finds and resources
Visit freeproductinfo.net/ew
Milbank Manufacturing Co., Kansas City, Mo., has been selected as the pre-senting sponsor of the 2016 National Conference on Microgrids to be held in Kansas City April 13-16, 2016. Techni-cal sessions will focus on a wide range of topics pertaining to microgrids and distributed energy technologies including generation, storage, advanced controls, metering and communication protocols. Conference attendees will get a behind-the-scenes look at Milbank’s microgrid, which manages the company’s wind and solar-powered Milbank National Training Center in Kansas City, Mo. More than 200 engineering and utility professionals are expected to attend the conference, which is produced by Active
Communications International. Milbank began its research and devel-opment efforts in the microgrid arena in 2011. The result is an energy management platform that is set to redefne long-stand-ing electrical industry paradigms about the movement and management of energy. The solution, known as SynapSuite, has been deployed on several high‐profle beta sites including the Mid-West Energy Research Consortium (M-WERC) and the National Association of Home Builders’ New American Home. More recently, the system was selected to manage Solar Vil-lage, a microgrid demonstration site and living laboratory at Missouri University of Science & Technology (MS&T) in Rolla, Mo.
“Microgrids are made possible by the in-tegration of a highly sophisticated controller that serves as the conductor of the electrical symphony of generation, consumption and storage solutions. Microgrid controllers con-vert seemingly random energy movement into an amazing harmony of electricity fow that’s both reliable and economical,” said Lavon Winkler, Milbank’s president and CEO, in a press release. “With distributed energy generation and storage becoming an increasingly important consideration in addressing the world’s energy needs, the full capabilities of these technologies will only be realized through the sophisticated manage-ment of electricity fow—both generation and consumption— via a microgrid.”
1 2 E L E C T R I C A L W H O L E S A L I N G / J U N E 2 0 1 5
W
hen we compileour annual listing of the Top 200 we always learn just as much from re-spondents about how they do business as we do about which companies are the biggest.
Along with providing data on the size of their operations, many respon-dents take the time to answer ques-tions about business condiques-tions, their
internal investments and plans for expansion. One of the more interest-ing areas of commentary in this year’s responses was the variety of views on exactly where the electrical economy is at right now. The sales forecasts pro-vided by Top 200 distributors ranging in size from several billion in sales on the high end to approximately $15 million on the low end seem to be much wider than in past Top 200 surveys.
For instance, one large Texas
dis-tributor with broad exposure to the oil industry sees a 20% drop for his company, while 39 respondents — 32% of the 121 Top distributors offering a forecast — expect their 2015 sales to increase by at least 10%. Surprisingly, only six respondents expect their 2015 sales to decline from 2014. The market drivers fueling distributors’ forecasts were all over the map. As expected, the plunge in the oil & gas business cut into the forecasts of distributors active in the energy market. But Top 200 distributors had different takes on the health of the commercial, industrial and residential markets.
Jared Colker, president of the 80-year-old West Virginia Electric Sup-ply, Huntington, W.Va., had an interest-ing perspective in that his company saw some growth over the past year in gas and oil fracking projects and upgrades to industrial facilities and utilities, but wrestled with a decline in the OEM and mining segments of the coal market. One growth sector for him has been LEDs. “Stocking LED was a growth factor with replacement bulbs and lighting fxtures in the educational, commercial and small industrial facili-ties,” said Colker, who has tweaked his
Despite concerns about a dramatic slowdown in the
oil and gas market and a sluggish start to the year for
the overall U.S. economy, many of the electrical market’s
largest distributors still see solid growth for 2015.
THE TO
TOP 25 AS RANKED BY SALES PER EMPLOYEE
As in the past, specialty distributors, which tend to have fewer customers and employees than full-line electrical distributors, dominate the list of distributors as ranked by sales per employee. The companies here were among those respondents that provided both a 2014 sales number and an employee count for publication in this year’s listing. Several other distributors (both full-line and specialists) would have been in this listing but asked their sales data be used confdentially. The average sales-per-employee for the 136 respondents (specialists and full-line distributors) that provided both 2014 sales and employee data was $793,725. The average sales per employee for the 113 respondents that identifed themselves as full-line electrical distributors was approximately $651,317, down from last year’s fgure for full-line distributors of $668,515. Several respondents who requested that their sales data be kept confdential were not included in this ranking, but their data was used to calculate the average sales-per-employee fgure.
Rank Company Name Town/City State Per Employee2013 Sales
1 Western United Electric Supply Corp. Brighton CO 3,200,000 2 Rural Electric Supply Cooperative (RESCO) Middleton WI 3,052,571
3 Tri-State Utility Products Inc. Marietta GA 2,687,500
4 Cooperative Electric Utility Supply Inc. (CEEUS Inc.) West Columbia SC 2,631,579 5 TEC Manufacturing and Distribution Services (Texas
Electric Cooperatives Inc.)
Georgetown TX 2,266,667 6 Arkansas Electric Cooperative Inc. Little Rock AR 1,844,444
7 Gresco Utility Supply Inc. Forsyth GA 1,636,364
8 Houston Wire & Cable Co. Houston TX 1,547,663
9 General Pacifc Inc. Fairview OR 1,508,333
10 The Reynolds Co. Fort Worth TX 1,500,000
11 Villa Lighting Supply Inc. St. Louis MO 1,463,158
12 International Electrical Sales Corp. (IESCO) Miami FL 1,375,000
13 Electrical Distributors Irving TX 1,235,294
14 Benfeld Electric Supply Co. White Plains NY 1,060,284
15 PEPCO Eastlake OH 1,014,286
16 Sunrise Electric Supply Addison IL 1,006,098
17 Atlanta Electrical Distributors Duluth GA 914,286
18 Werner Electric Cottage Grove MN 872,000
19 Caniff Electric Supply Hamtramck MI 870,968
20 Gallant & Wein Corp. Long Island City NY 857,143
21 WESCO International Inc. Pittsburgh PA 851,515
22 American Electric Supply Inc. Corona CA 833,457
23 Rumsey Electric Co. Conshohocken PA 808,362
24 Electric Supply & Equipment Co. Greensboro NC 795,181
25 Kriz-Davis Co. Grand Island NE 783,097
1 4 E L E C T R I C A L W H O L E S A L I N G / J U N E 2 0 1 5
2015 sales forecast down a few points but still sees single-digit 2015 growth.
Matt Brnik, Schaedler/YESCO, Har-risburg, Pa., also sees a mix of growth opportunities in his company’s core markets. He pegs overall 2015 growth at a solid 6% for his company, but his fore-casts for key niches vary, with commer-cial sales up 22%, government business down 10%, contractor business up 2% and industrial OEM up 2%. “The frst quarter was strong across the board but April was horrible industrially,” he said.
Brnik reported that Schaedler/ YESCO had a busy year on several fronts. The company celebrated its 90th anniversary; had a big two-day expo that he says created “major buzz” with
customers and vendors; added SYDtv to all branches; dramatically expanded its wire and cable series; launched a mobile smart app; and installed a new phone system across the company.
Schaedler/YESCO’s Brnik wasn’t the only Top 200 distributor who sees a va-riety of sales growth in different niches. Doug Feustel, business analyst, Shealy Electrical Wholesalers, West Columbia, S.C., says the company is looking for total 2015 sales to increase about 8% in 2015, due in part to a 200% increase in Shealy’s international business last year, which had been down 50% in 2014 from 2013. He sees a more moderate 5% to 7% increase in the company’s 2015 construction sales and an increase
of 3% to 4% in industrial sales. Shealy made a big acquisition in 2014 with its acquisition of the Charlotte, N.C.-based Nova Lighting and made a move into the industrial market last year, too.
The green growth theme colored forecasts all over the country for both full-line and specialty distributors. Doug Root, CEO, Atlanta Light Bulbs, Tucker, Ga., said the transition from being a light bulb and ballast supply house to an energy solutions provider for lighting retrofts has been a big paradigm shift for the company. This lighting specialist’s MRO, stock-and-flow business for legacy lamp and ballasts has lagged, but Root has seen an increase in the need for complete
2015 DISTRIBUTOR ACQUISITIONS IN THE ELECTRICAL MARKET
Company Acquired Location Acquirer Location
Anixter International’s OEM Fasteners Business Unit
Glenview, IL American Industrial Partners New York Gatto-Portage Electric Supply Co. Portage, OH AMP Electrical Solutions Farmington, CT Central Electric Supply Lebanon, NH Baynes Electric Supply Brockton, MA C. Andersen Electric Supply Niagara Falls, NY City Electric Co, Inc. Syracuse, NY Connect-Air International Inc. Seattle EIS Inc. Atlanta Star Electric Supply Wichita, KS Elliott Electric Supply Inc Nacogdoches, TX Process Instrumentation Division/
Measuremax
Peterborough, Ontario Franklin Empire Montreal, QU Advantage Industrial Automation Duluth, GA Graybar Electric Co. St. Louis G.C. Fabrication (GCF) Northvale, NJ Kaman Industrial Technologies Bloomfeld, CT Chapman Metering Avoco, IA Kriz-Davis Co. Grand Island, NE Queen City Electrical Supply Allentown, PA Schaedler YESCO Distribution Inc. Harrisburg, PA Ciro Electrical Supply Co. Philadelphia Sonepar North America/
Cooper Electric Supply
Charleston, SC Trinity Electric Supply Dallas Sonepar North America/
Crawford Electric
Charleston, SC Rasko Supply Honolulu, HI Sonepar North America/OneSource Charleston, SC Rasco Supply Kaua’i, HI Sonepar North America/OneSource Charleston, SC QED (Quality Electrical Distributors) Inc. Henderson, NV Sonepar North America/OneSource Charleston, SC Electrical Distributors Houston Sonepar North America/OneSource Charleston, SC Rexel’s Latin American assets Brazil, Chile and Peru Sonepar SA Paris, France HipTung Cables Hong Kong and Macau Sonepar SA Paris, France Min Kwong Electric Hong Kong and Macau Sonepar SA Paris, France Solar Deutschland Neumünster, Germany Sonepar SA Paris, France Vanas Beyond Tools Antwerp, Belgium Sonepar SA Paris, France Gruppo Matel SpA Padua, Italy Sonepar SA Paris, France Maxfex Holdings Birmingham,
United Kingdom
Sonepar SA Paris, France
Dilon Singapore Sonepar SA/Oakwell Paris, France
ETS Engineering and ETS Provider Thailand Sonepar SA/Oakwell Paris, France Miller Electric Supply Dubuque, IA Van Meter Inc. Cedar Rapids, IA Hill Country Electric Supply Austin, TX WESCO Distribution Inc. Pittsburgh
1 6 E L E C T R I C A L W H O L E S A L I N G / J U N E 2 0 1 5
It always foors EW’s editors that so few new products make an impression with Top 200 distributors. This year was no different, as respondents just mentioned a pretty small handful of new products. The products that did get multiple mentions included RAB’s LED lighting line, the Southwire SIMpull reel, and the Philips Lighting EvoKit LED Retroft fxture. The folks at Southwire will be delighted to hear what Mike Pratt, CEO/president, American Electrical Supply, Corona, Calif., had to say about SIMpull. “This one simple reel makes it safe and effcient for one person to move a reel up to 6,000 lbs. through 36-inch doors and set up and pull a wire run right beside electrical equipment or conduit. Southwire has changed wire from being a commodity that was all about what price is it today on the market, to where it’s fun to go out and sell their wire with all the labor savings advantages they bring to the market.”
And Doug Borchers, vice president, Dickman Supply Inc., Sidney, Ohio, had this to say about RAB’s LED
fam-ily: “Pick one, they’ve all been done well. They know how to get the right message out in the right format (and provide samples) such that our people can hit the streets running as soon as they get it.”
Dennis O’Leary, president, FD Lawrence Electric Co., Cincinnati, offered electrical manufacturers some great real-world advice from the point of sale about how to improve their new product marketing strategies. “Too many new products are launched via e-mail due to lack of manufacturer resources,” he wrote. “Suc-cessful launches begin with face-to-face discussions, training followed by joint sales calls.”
Other products that distributors mentioned included Lithonia KAD lighting fxture; Osram Sylvania’s Omnip-oint LED lighting fxture, which won top honors as the most innovative product at the 2015 LightFair show; and the Philips Lighting EvoKit LED Retroft fxture, which one respondent said was a “cost-effective non labor intensive LED troffer retroft.”
DISTRIBUTORS MAKE THEIR PICKS ON THE YEAR’S HOTTEST PRODUCTS
lighting audits and energy consulting on lighting upgrades, rebate calculations and installations. “With the company’s transformation into an energy solutions provider have come changes in some customers and personnel and increase in competitors looking to cash in on the LED revolution. The Internet has proven to be a part of our business that has seen decline due to prices declining and customer demand for free shipping and more services,” he says.
Lighting also will continue to pro-vide growth opportunities in Southern California for Mike Pratt, president/ CEO, American Electric Supply, Corona, Calif. Pratt expects green business, as well as privately funded new commercial projects and the tenant improvement market to do well in 2015. “Our Green Solutions market through utility-based programs will see 22% plus growth this year,” he said. “The one segment in our market that we participate in that is down is both the state/municipality/ school, public works construction and the federal military market. It still has not fully recovered from the recession. “The key factor that kept our 2013/2014 sales almost identical was the California Energy Regulation Title
TOP 200 ERP SYSTEMS
Of the 128 Top 200 distributor execs who provided information on their RP systems, 57% used Epicor software, including Eclipse, Prophet 21, or Trade Service. (Note: Other software includes JD Edwards, Microsoft Dynamics, Sage, Rubicon, Takestock, xTuple and Ximple.) No less than 73 Top 200 distributors are on an Eclipse/Epicor system.
24 going into effect on July 1, 2014. This put a stop on the programs until both contractors, distributors and manufac-ture were able to comply with required technology. We are just seeing this come back in late frst quarter of 2015.”
In his Top 200 survey responses over the years, American Electric’s Mike Pratt has often offered some terrifc insight into the day-to-day challenges of
be-ing an electrical distributor. This year was no different. Even though it hasn’t been unusual for his company has often grown at double-digit annual rate, he still has many of the same challenges as execs managing businesses growing at a more moderate pace. Says Pratt, “We continue to implement lessons we learned from the recession to make our company stronger and leaner without
Visit freeproductinfo.net/ew
affecting our best of the west customer service model. The recession with all its perils and hardships sent out a wake-up call to all of those that run a business. “Our generation of business entre-preneurs will look back and remember the lessons learned along with the hard-ship much as our elders looked back at the lessons and hardships of the depres-sion. We are pleased and proud of our team. Together we have come back to our pre-recession sales to celebrate our 31st year in business.”
Methodology. To compile this list-ing, in April of this year EW’s editors sent out a survey to several hundred distributors of electrical supplies that have either been on the list in the past or have at least $10 million in annual sales, according to our data sources. In addition, we get data from publicly held distributors and other companies that make their sales and company data
public. This year we got information back from 151 Top 200 distributors, our best response ever. Many of these companies ask us to use their sales data confdentially and only for placement on the listing.
You will also notice that we rank companies that have been acquired in either 2014 or 2015. Our general rule of thumb here is that when a company has been acquired, we include their sales (or a sales estimate) for that calendar year, but take them off the Top 200 list-ing the next year, when they are fully integrated into the acquirer.
In those situations where a distribu-tor is large enough to make the listing but did not respond to our surveys, if we have reliable sales or employee data from the past few years, we will place them on the listing, using a sales-per-employee average, or the average sales increase based on responses from Top
200 respondents or other EW sales data. However, if we haven’t heard from you for a while and your company is on this year’s listing, there’s no guarantee it will be ranked again next year. We make every effort to make this listing as accurate as possible, and can’t rely on sales estimates or other company data that’s more than a few years old.
Strictly by the numbers. With an estimated $65.3 billion in North Ameri-can sales, EW estimates the Top 200 distributors controlled approximately 65% of sales through electrical distribu-tors in North America. According to EW estimates, these 200 companies employ at least 103,000 employees and run at least 6,284 North American branches. From the 113 full-line distributors that provided both sales and employee data, we estimate that Top 200 full-line dis-tributors averaged $651,317 in sales per employee.
For more information about Group CBS and For more information about Group CBS and its affiliate companies, visit GroupCBS.com. its affiliate companies, visit GroupCBS.com.
Circuit Breaker Sales Co., Inc.1315 Columbine, Gainesville, TX 76241 940-665-4444 | info@ Cbsales.Com
CircuitBreaker.com
(800) 232-5809
(800) 232-5809
Toll Free
With more than 5 million breakers and parts in our 200,000-square-foot warehouse — including switchgear, transformers, substations, protective relays, loadbreak switches, electrical contacts, motor controls and centers, vacuum interrupters, and more — Circuit Breaker Sales has you covered.
replacement parts and equipment
remanufacturing, retrofits, and upgrades
reverse engineering, 3D printing of obsolete partsSee how CBS stashes priceless electrical artifacts in the warehouse
CBS stocks every low- and
medium-voltage circuit breaker
made in America since 1945.
1 8 E L E C T R I C A L W H O L E S A L I N G / J U N E 2 0 1 5
Electrical Wholesaling’s editors always find that one of the most interesting facets of analyzing data and market insights from Top 200 distribu-tors each year is learning which end-user markets are providing the most growth opportunities. As in most years, some niches are hot in some regions of the United States but slow in others. Following are some niches that stood out.
Michigan’s auto market. Four Michigan-based Top 200 electrical distributors commented that the state’s auto industry is showing some nice sales growth in 2015. Devin Ezop, general manager for wire specialist Metro Wire & Cable Corp., Sterling Heights, Mich., is looking for sales growth of 5% to 10% in 2015, based in part on an increase in industrial jobs in Big Three auto plants. He is also seeing increases with electrical contractors special-izing in industrial and utility work and public utility spending.
Solar in spots. Not everyone is seeing growth in the installation of photovoltaic panels, and in some states like former hotbed New Jersey, some Top 200 electrical distributors said solar work is drying up because of changes in the state’s utility rebate programs and other financial incentives.
That apparently is not the case in Las Vegas, where Steven LaTorra, president, Sun Valley Electric Supply/Energy Electrical Distribution, expects a 12% increase in his company’s 2015 sales, fueled in part on the rise of Las Vegas residential construc-tion and solar. “More opportunities for an upsell of the solar,” he wrote. “In addition, the state rebates and federal incentives combined with ‘cheap money’ allow the solar work ‘to pencil.’ We grew five percent in this product group in 2014.”
And although Matt Brandrup, president and CEO, Rural Electric Supply Cooperative (RESCO), Middleton, Wis., expects business to be flat this year because transmission construction is slow-ing a bit in his market area in the Upper Midwest region, he is seeing an increase with Rural Electric Cooperatives installing their own “community solar projects” where they build a 40KW or 80KW sys-tem and sell/lease the individual panels to their member-customer. “This has resulted in some nominal business for RESCO,” he said.
Electric utilities power sales. Comments on the utility segment were generally quite positive, with some Top 200 electrical distributors mentioning the growth in demand for advanced metering technolo-gies. Timothy Berry, president and CEO, Kriz-Davis
Co., Grand Island, Neb., said the company’s recent acquisition of Chapman Metering will help the com-pany increase a diverse revenue channel and extend its service offering for the public power market.
Johnny Andrews, COO, of the utility specialist TEC Manufacturing and Distribution Ser vices, Georgetown, Texas, said in 2014 his company en-joyed some large advanced metering Infrastructure projects and utility system upgrades due to the oil & gas business, and an increase in residential de-velopment. He sees 5% 2015 growth from business with his company’s utility customers.
In nor thern Ohio, Joseph Borkey, president, PEPCO, Eastlake, Ohio, said he expects utility infra-structure work to be strong in 2015. Transmission and substation work fueled some of the company’s 2014 growth, too. Borkey expects 2015 growth to be in the low single digits.
Data centers. Clarence Robie, president, B&S Electric Supply Co. Inc., Atlanta, said the data center construction market was extremely strong for his company in 2014. “Critical power and industrial construction are the most active. Commercial con-tinues to lag,” he said.
LEDs light the way. No surprise to hear many Top 200 distributors talk about LEDs as a key market driver. Kevin Schulte, CFO, for the Atlanta-based lighting specialist E. Sam Jones Distributor Inc. said, “The newest generation of LED are very nice and pricing has improved greatly. LEDs and other related energy-driven products are surging. Traditional incandescent and linear fluorescent sales are dragging.”
But while LEDs have created all sorts of new sales opportunities, they also demand new sales skills and stocking strategies, as we learned from Doug Root of Atlanta Light Bulbs in his comments on page 14.
Mix of marine, commercial and oil & gas. De-spite the drop in oil prices, Quentin Walker, vice president, Scurlock Electric, Houma, La., still saw some growth in business related to the oil and gas market in the Gulf Coast region through early in 1Q 2015 and he expects a 15% increase in his overall business this year. The company’s growth last year was related to expansion into a new territory and an increased work force to accommodate larger volume of business. Scurlock Electric also moved its ERP computer system to the cloud and launched an interactive website at www.scurlockelectric.com to enhance its digital presence.
E
lectrical Wholesaling’s editors thought ourread-ers might be interested in some of the stories behind the numbers in this year’s Top 200 list-ing, so we are publishing capsule summaries of what’s happening with some of the largest Top 200 distributors. We based these reports on news articles we published on these frms over the past 12 months, company
websites and other public information sources.
Writing up capsules on all 200 companies on this listing would take more than 30 pages of the magazine, but we thought you might enjoy some additional infor-mation on the some of the largest distributors in North
America. Check out www.ewweb.com for additional
profles and links.
THE FIVE LARGEST DISTRIBUTORS IN NORTH AMERICA
Company Name Town/City 2014 Revenue Employees Branches
Sonepar–North America Charleston 8,500,000,000* 40,000** 934*
WESCO International Inc. Pittsburgh 7,520,000,000 8,500 460
Rexel–North America Dallas 5,422,841,156 8,653 605
Graybar Electric Co. St. Louis, MO 5,978,861,000 8,260 260
Consolidated Electrical Distributors Irving, TX NA 6,200e 500 In 2014, the five largest full-line distributors in North America had and estimated $31 billion in combined revenue and operated 2,759 branches. According to Electrical Wholesaling sales data, these five companies account for no less 31% of an estimated $100 billion-plus in electrical sales in the United States and Canada. (Note: All data reported for North America unless otherwise noted *United States only; ** Worldwide
e: Forbes magazine estimate)
THE WORLD’S TWO LARGEST ELECTRICAL DISTRIBUTORS
Company Name Town/City 2014 Revenue Employees
Number of locations:
Rexel SA, Paris Paris, France $15,841,637,760 30,000 2,200
Sonepar SA Paris, France $19,200,000,000 40,000 2,600
In 2014, the two largest electrical distributors in the world operated more than 4,800 locations, had 70,000 employees and did an estimated $35 billion in sales in at least 38 countries (EW sales estimated converted to U.S. dollars from Euros using the 12/31/14 exchange rate).
